Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I currently have my boa in a 20 long. One side is 91degrees using UTH. The other side is 69. Isnt that way too cold. I Am also wondering why the snake keeps hiding on the cold side. I have three different hides on the warm side and only one on the cool side and he chooses the cool side.

So if the temp is too cold on the cool side how do I warm it up without overheating the tank?
-----
.........
0.0.1 Redtail Boa
1.0 Eastern Kingsnake
1.0 apricot pueblan milksnake
0.0.1 Northern BTS (Huffy)
1.1 Ball Pythons
1.0 Western Hognose (Fuego)
1.1 cornsnakes (Asmodeus and Strawberry)
0.2 Bearded dragons (itchy and scratchy)
0.1 Rosehair T. (Jigglypuff)
1.0 dog BC..(Kippy)
2.1 cats (Thomas,Sunflower,Diablo)

Yeah, you are doing the thing that so many newbies do with boas and pythons: heat the floor hot in one spot with the rest of the cage cold. Bad for any exotic snake. Fine for kingsnakes, cornsnakes and such.

First off, buy some 1/2" styrene foam insulation and cut pieces with scissors to cover the back outside wall and sides of the tank. This will insulate the tank, because glass tends to let all the heat out.

Next, get a thermostat. Hook that up to a heat pad large enough to cover 50% of the cage. Set that to 84 deg.

Cover most of the screen top of the tank with styrene foam pieces.

If the cage is still too cold on the cold end, get another heat pad and mount it to the side or back wall under the foam. This will help heat the air in the tank. You can just use a lamp dimmer for this pad, since the snake won't be sitting on it.
-----
Mark G

Mark gave some great advice. You could also use a ceramic heat emitter on the hot side of cage and also have the heat pad under the cage on same side. Make sure you get a thermostat and have the probe in tank on the hot side floor to keep from getting hot side too hot. I also recomend the digital dual temp gauge they sell at walmart for $15 bucks. You can set it at the cool side of tank and run the probe to the hot spot. It will show you both temps at a glance. They also make one just like it but has a humidity gauge at the bottom too. Andy

Thanks for the help. I do happen to have some styrofoam pieces hanging around that will work perfect.i also have a few ceramic heat emitters but I stopped using them for the snakes because they seem to me to dry out the enviroment too much especially in winter.
this tank is temporary, I will build him a new enclosure this spring. I hate glass tanks and dont normally use them but this was an unexpected purchase.
Thanks again I will see what I can do.
-----
.........
0.0.1 Redtail Boa
1.0 Eastern Kingsnake
1.0 apricot pueblan milksnake
0.0.1 Northern BTS (Huffy)
1.1 Ball Pythons
1.0 Western Hognose (Fuego)
1.1 cornsnakes (Asmodeus and Strawberry)
0.2 Bearded dragons (itchy and scratchy)
0.1 Rosehair T. (Jigglypuff)
1.0 dog BC..(Kippy)
2.1 cats (Thomas,Sunflower,Diablo)