Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Im building a plywood cage for my boa. what works best for heating it. thnx

I did the same and use a combination of an in cage heat mat (by Cobra s/t or other company with a ESU thermostat standard 30w florescent bulbs. In a 4x2x2 cage this allows for focal 87 degree temps and a general temp of about 80. If I was going to add anything I would add a ceramic heat emitter for basking heat (and still may do so). Good luck.

my cage is alot bigger. i was going to order a proheat heat panel, do u know anything about them?theyr pretty expensive so i was trying to find a way i could heat it with lamps even thogh its about 33" high.

I looked at them but found the other option more readily available. I'm not sure that you will find size matters as much if it is well enclosed (versus having a screened top). You could have commercial 6' boxes or more verticle boxes and do a good job heating with a single ceramic heater and just ambient lighting. I use the heat mat to cover about 1/5th the floor of the cage and he will use it at night or after a meal. I also keep the water bowl over it to maintain the higher humidity. Some will mount the heat panel to the back of the cage but I haven't found that it produces sufficient ambient heat to take care of general air temp in the cage. In sum, I think you can do very well with a combination of ceramic heater and ambient light source and may want to add below substrate heat mat for more focused needs. Good luck.