Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey all,

I recently purchased a 4 foot boaphile for my blood. They installed the UTH, and I have it hooked up to a thermostat, which is set to 90 degrees. I have cypress mulch, and the humidity is about 80%.

This week we had our first cold front of the fall move through, and temperatures dropped to 45 degrees overnight. I live in a tin box (trailer home) so the temperature in my home gets rather cool until the furnace kicks in. Its currently set to turn on at 65 degrees. I was rather alarmed when I woke up this morning to find that the ambient temperature of my cage was 66 degrees. This is right on the edge of the heat mat no less!!!

What can I do to get the temperature to a reasonable level inside the cage? Do I need to get some flexwatt and hook it up to a seperate thermostat?

Any suggestions are appreciated. I really didn't expect this, especially after I took all the recommendations off the boaphile website, rearranged my room so she could have the only unused interior wall in the house... I thought i had things planned out, but I guess not! Help please!!!

Alinda

Hey Alinda

What was the ambient before the cold snap? Was she laying on the heat mat when the temp got that cold? Do you have a temp gun? you might want to see what the temp of the actual snake is. I have always found it difficult to get to much of an ambient temp rise with an under tank heater once your cage has some size to it. I am not familiar with the boa phile cage but I assume it doesnt have cut outs for heat lamps on top? If I were you I would get a radiant heat panel set on the same thermostat and that would help the ambient out quite a bit, does the cage have a place to put an electrical cord inside the cage? If so shoot me an email I think I probably have a heat panel lying around that you could have. Let me know and I can bring one to dm or we could work something out before that if you are worried.
let me know
Chris

The ambient has been right around my room temp, which is between 75 and 85 during the warm fall weather. The "snake room" is also my bedroom, so heating the whole room isn't an option. I need my beauty sleep so I can pay attention in class.

Yes, the snake was on the heat mat. She patrols at night, but seems to spend the majority of her time in the heated area. I'm only worried about it if its a problem. I know its far from ideal. If I can fix it, I'd certainly sleep better at night.

Hey,
I think Chris is right, you should work with a heat panel, and for get the UTH, as the temps in the cage are not going to be any where near what they are suppose to be using an UTH. Heat panels are much better at producing heat and are much more efficient at warming larger enclosures with cooler ambient outside temps any time. Find out what size heat panel he is offering and make use of it. It's a great offer.
-Angel
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In life you can fall many times, but you're only a failure, if you don't try to get back up!
Evil Canevil

An easier way to go would be to just pick up a kerosene heater for your "snake room". They have a built in thermostat anyway so you could keep the room temps about 78 through the cold months. And kerosene heaters generally operate with very low to no fumes at all. Or the heat panel might work too...follow your heart.

Steve

To heat the room with a space heater? You could either use one of the oil filled ones (best for humidity) or the ceramic types (cheapes and warms up fastest).

Just a thought.

45 degree's...damn, I think if it ever got that cold down here they'd be predicting the next ice age.

I actually purchased an oil heater yesterday. And then of course it doesn't drop below 60 degrees last night so I probably won't get to test it for a while... grrr

45, man thats nothing. Come december, I'm going to be ready to put shorts and a t-shirt on when its 45 degrees out... LOL

Luckily my house won't get that cold, it just caught me by surprise that once my room temp gets below 70 the heat no longer keeps the air warm.