Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was wondering if boas are ok with back heat as opposed to belly heat. I understand belly heat is what most people use but is there a problem with heating a small rack system with back heat? pros and cons?

Thanks,

Mat

I use back heat (flexwatt) on my stack of boaphiles, neodeshas and homemade baby rack, all with newspaper substrate. As long as you set the thermostat so the temps are correct it shouldn't be a problem. My probes are inside the cage, on the floor, about 3-4" from the back. Get a good temp gun too, it can be a very useful tool. I've kept my snakes in this type of set up for 8 years without problems, they thermoregulate normally. For gravid females, I also put a heating pad in the tank which is sometimes used, sometimes not. I also have a few glass tanks which are set up with either under tank or over-head heat.
As long as you check temps, I believe either set-up works well.
-April
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'There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."' -Rainshadow

and I've noticed that the I have to run the back heat alot hotter to get the temps I want. The belly heat is more accuritely placed heat in my rack set ups. I personally dont like the back heat racks I have. Dan

Boas need some form of belly heat. Other heat sources are good for increasing ambient temps or fine tuning gradients, but should not be used exclusively. They can be used exclusively, but that is not the best option.
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Gilbert Boas
The Boa List!

"Heat lamps, spot lamps and infrared emitters are not recommended. Boas thermoregulate in subtle ways by raising and lowering the mass of their bodies on a heated surface; this is largely denied to them by using radiant heat."

From a page on Gus Rentfro's site.
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Gilbert Boas
The Boa List!

I have baby racks with back heat, and some with belly heat, and the floor temps remain good. I have subadult racks with belly heat, and They work alright but they don't work as well to me as my cages that have Radient Heat Panels heating from above. The cages with the RHP's not only have great ambient temps, but also the floor (belly heat)stays at a perfect 82-90 (using a temp gun)from cool side to warm side. My rack with the belly heat gets nice and warm in the area of the flex-watt, but the ambient temps remain cool, and the Boas seem cooler to the touch. The wierd thing is that my snake room is kept at 80-82, but the cool end of the subadult tubs stays 78-80 (cooler than the room itself -- How?)
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I'm just the snake room janitor

Heat is heat. We no longer make the racks with the back heat except for customers who have them already and wish to get matching units. It does not matter where the heat is created, so long as a basking area of sufficient temperature is available. The source of that heat is irrelevant. For instance, in one of the old style Boaphile Racks, which I house hundreds of Boas in myself, the heat source was in the back. The heat emanates from the rear of the rack heating the back end of the drawer. This allows the right temperature within the drawer at the rear of that space. The snake has no idea, and could care less, if that heat came from the back of from Flexwatt below the drawer itself. Just so long as the heat is there and the animals can raise their own temperature to the desired level. The exact same thing is true our newer RhinoRaXX. These are heated with Flexwatt built into a recess in the shelf itself. This too creates a heated space at the rear of the drawer exactly like a rear heat rack does.

All that being said, from an engineering standpoint, the in-shelf heat is a more efficient way to deliver that heat and can provide for a wider warm area for your critters. The 5 watt per foot 4" Flexwatt we had specially made for us, provides a nice wide warm area for the animals to sit. All in all, I would say for sure the newer RhinoRaXX are a superior product for many reasons with the different heating system being just one of them. I have hundreds of animals in both style of racks and they do very well in both.
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Boaphile Home
All Original/Boaphile Plastics
The Boa Network

Back heat is very inefficient.
jsc
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"As hard as I've tried, just can't NOT do this"
John Crickmer