Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i'm ganna use a zoo med heat pad and zoo med basking spot lamp, but should my light be 50w or 75w i'm ganna be using a 30 gallon aquarium for now. i'm ganna use both in the day but for night should i use just the heating pad or a differant kind of light. thanks

I can tell you that keeping the appropriate humidity in a glass aquarium with a heat light will be next to impossible. Depending on your room temp. - you may only need to use the heating pad. Boas need an ambient temp. of 82-85F and a basking spot of about 90F. You may want to block off part of the screen top with either plexiglass or some sort of non-absorbant material. This will help keep the heat in and the humidity up. If you are new to owning a boa - it would be a good idea to buy one of those "Guide to owning Boas" books. They cost about $7.00 or so and it will help you get the right conditions for your boa.

I have a 40 or a 45 "breeder" tank. With just the zoomed heat pad, it gives me the good basking spot, but I just added a fluker's 5.5" lamp, with a zoomed 50 watt nocturnal heat lamp. This works good. Half of my top is glass, and half is screen however, so my humidity is good. Try doing as the other reply stated by blocking off half of your screen if it is a full screen top. You should only need the heat lamp however if your air temps aren't 82-86F.
Erik

ok thank you,

Columbian Boa Constrictors should be kept at 86-88 degrees on the warm side. No hotter. I hope you realize the 30's and the 40 breeders are only going to hold them for a year. With the heat pads don't forget to use a rheostat, the zoomed pads get hot enough to burn your snake.