Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey, posted this on the Husbandry website. Heard from Mr. Gilbert and thought might get more exposure here. Sorry for the redundancy.

Ok, so I think I am going to make the jump to my first Bolivian BCA after previous years working with Dumerili, Rosy, and BCI’s. I thank Chris Gilbert for some backchannel thoughts on working with this species and welcome additional anecdotal thoughts, particularly as to how they may differ from BCC.

I do have a particular question about housing, as in our new house the only option is to keep the snake in the finished basement. My main question has to deal with temperature. I would say that the basement hovers around 65° year-round. So, I will probably need a pretty solid PVC cage to retain temperature. Based on my experience with Boids, I am planning on going with belly heat.

My main questions are:
1) how do I manage a reasonable temperature gradient of 90° on the warm side and 75° on the cooler side with such a low ambient temperature. I laughed when reading Gus Rentfro’s article, where he commented that most people keep their interior homes between 74° and 84°. Sadly, not in Wisconsin!

2) Without purchasing a thermostat with night drop, it doesn't seem that I will be able to achieve that 10° drop in the evenings. Think that will be a problem?

I will be using my 24” Neodesha for now, but are there any thoughts on reasonably priced and readily accessible PVC cages? Back when I was active in the hobby, the options were Neodesha and Vision. For heat, I was planning on an under tank mat controlled by a Zoomed 500R.

Any other ideas that might be more practical or will allow for future expansion would be appreciated.
Thanks all,
Jon

Follow-up:
How about a 36" cage with a 12x24 heat pad controlled by a Zoomed 500R and some of those halogen hockeypuck lights (Junglehabitats as some on their site) on the basking side that are on a 12 hour timer? Too hot?
Jon

We're in Chicago, and our house is kept at a nice toasty 60-degrees in the winter. The snakes have their own room, which is kept at a more snake-friendly 78-80 degrees via a space heater. We simply plugged our spaceheater into the cage's thermostat and it seems to keep the room's temperature quite consistant.
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1.1 96, 04 Het Albino - "Suzie" & "Lumpy"
0.1 03 Poss. Het Albino - "Ami"
0.1 05 Super Salmon - "CreamSicle"
0.1 04 Anery Het Snow- "Squelchy"
1.0 04 DH-Sunglow - "Dwayne"
1.0 06 TH-Moonglow - "Gargamel"
1.2 01 BRBs- "Gobball", "Larva" & "Tofu"

Ha! Maybe you can ask my wife if she would allow a dedicated snake room. That would be great to have a space heater regulated room dedicated to snakes though. Must be nice and relatively cost-efficient if well insulated.
Regards,
Jon

I don't know much about the Halogen lights you are thinking of but Halogens typically burn at fairly high temperatures. If you just want lights for viewing flourescents would be best.

These are what I'm talking about.
http://junglehabitatsplastics.com/webstore/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=34&products_id=67

On the website, it is mentioned that they do generate a fare amount of heat and on a dimmer can be used as a basking spot. There doesn't appear to be any cover or protection for the snake should it get too close to what's probably a really hot bulb and that's my biggest concern. Anyone have experience with these Junglehabitat cages BTW?
Jon

The halogens you are looking at do produce heat but as mentioned using a lamp dimmer will allow this to function as a "mini RHP" of sorts as it will up the ambient air in the cage itself as the air passing under this will be heated. In regards to burning themselves, I have not had a snake burn themselves in my care in 8 yrs using these in cages. The lights to worry with are un protected incandescent bulbs in a cage as the snake can crawl over the bulb thus the burns on the belly . I have seen my boas raise up to inspect these lights feel the heat and pull back, contrary to belief the snakes wont burn themselves when they fell the heat like this. Depending on the height of the cage the hot spot will vary between 88-94 in a 12" cage in a 24 diameter approx. and in a 18" cage it will drop abut 4 degrees /- 1-2 degrees , and a 24" cage it will drop bout 6-8 degrees under the light. Many people use these in the cages and are very happy with them and in a cold cage environment they do greatly aid in the heating of a cage for little cost to the operator and the snakes seem to dig them also .
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Thanks Jungle,
So how about
A 36" w/ 18" height cage with a 12x24 heat pad controlled by a Zoomed 500R and some of those halogen hockeypuck lights on the basking side that are on a 12 hour timer?

I'm thinking I may just have to buy the stuff and tinker w/ it to get the right gradient and night drop : )

You can definitely keep the cage nice n toasty with these two items, as to the temp to dial them in you will need to toy with them as every setup will be different depending on house and climate and substrates etcetc used in the cage.
Alan
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signature file edited, contact an admin 6/12/06