Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm in the process of hatching over 30 baby Borneos, and have come across a few discrepancies in regard to proper temps for the babies, so I figured I'd check in to see what some of you feel is most appropriate?

Also, if baby temps are higher than adult temps, at what point (age/size) would it be safe to switch to adult temps? My adults are unheated in a room that fluctuates from 75F night into the low 80's during the day, and they have always preferred cooler temps.

Thanx

Freight

I always keep my hatchlings at around 80-82 with no lower than 78 at night. Since the containers are only 14 inches long, there is not enough space for a thermo-gradient in air temperature. However, they can sit over the heat tape which makes up about 1/4 of the floor space and this is kept at around 90F-92F with 1/8 to 3/16" space between the heat tape and the container bottom. This creates a surface temperature of around 84-85F over the heat tape.

With the exception of the size of the enclosure, I maintain the same range of temps up to adult size. The only difference with my adults is I do expose them to a slightly larger range of temps in a thermo-gradient in their cages. So the highs are up to 85-86 and the lows down to 75-76F. However they can move between the two ranges easily as the cages are 3-4ft wide.
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That sounds a bit more like what I read on the net. Of course, I can't remember where at this point.

A friend of mine that works quite extensively with bloods says he keeps them a bit warmer, but I was wondering if it was truly necessary. Most of my snakes (mostly high end colubrids) are environmentally heated, and do not have any heat sources in their cages. I keep my Borneo adults the same way, and would like to be able to do the same with the babies, but it looks like supplemental heat at night will be most appropriate.

I just installed some temporary heat pads in the backs of two 55gal tanks, which provides a warm spot for the babies at one end of their shoe boxes, so I'll adjust the temps, and should be good to go!

Thank very much for your input.

Would you be willing to take a look at a few pics of my babies to give me an idea of what I really have? Many of the babies have at least some striping, and since I do not ever deal in the Boid market I'm a bit at a loss for pricing.

Freight

email or post pics and I can look to see what species you have.
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Support your local herp society
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