Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi there,
I have a stack of three Boaphile four footers with BCI in them.
I use RHPs in all of them, but am noticing the need for supplemental heat, as we moved to a house with really crappy insulation and unreliable heating. our house regularly hits mid to low 60's at night. The temps are CLOSE to what I want for these guys, but I need a bit more so I have a bit of a worry buffer at night and absolute optimum conditions for them.

My question is this:
Is it better to have a wide (11-inch by two feet, likely) strip of flexwatt on the same end as the RHP (the 'normal' gradient setup that I'm used to), or would it be easier to raise the overall ambient temp a bit by using a narrower (4", probably?) strip all along the cage bottom on the back side?

Any opinions would be valued, as would any alternative suggestions.

Thanks!

IMO for an adult boa, a 4-inch wide strip is too narrow. The sheer mass of the snake makes that narrow strip of heater not very effective. It can certainly help in your situation to supplement the RHP (compared to nothing), but I do not think it is ideal.

An alternative is 2 strips of 4-inch to make an 8-inch wide heater. This is better.

You can use the 11-inch wide as well. My opinion on this is as follows: Run a strip across the entire width of the cage (4ft) and use a controller to keep this about 80 deg. This is your base temp so the cage floor and air in that area is never too cold. Then use the RHP (on a separate controller, even just a dimmer if you want) as your main basking heat source. You still have a good amount of cage space unheated for safety.

I had to do the same thing. The snake room gets into the low 60s, not ideal at all for boas/pythons but great for colubrids. In some cases I used a low-watt light to keep the cage air temp reasonable while I used Flexwatt to be the main basking source. With RHPs and CHEs though, I use those as the main basking source because they work so well for that purpose, and I use Flexwatt/heat pad to keep the cage floor from being too cold. Works great.
-----
Antaresia maculosa
Antaresia childreni

Mark G

That was EXACTLY the type of info I was looking for!
I really appreciate it.
I'm assuming it's not a good idea to just put the temp probe inside the cage?
I keep reading that it HAS to be directly on the flexwatt to correctly regulate it.

When controlling belly heat with a controller that has a probe, it is absolutely necessary to make sure the probe is held fast. The best place would be inside the cage over the heated area but the snakes will move it, so that is out.

You have options.

Option #1:
You allow some of the Flexwatt to extend from the cage bottom out so you can tape the probe onto the Flexwatt. This way you can see the probe at all times and make sure it is on the heater. There will be a slight difference in cage temp vs probe temp due to the outside air surrounding the probe, if the outside air is alot cooler than the air in the cage. But the difference is not a big issue at all.

Option #2:
You setup a second piece of Flexwatt (can be just a 1ft piece) and plug it into the same controller as the 4ft Flexwatt from the cage. Fix the probe onto the 1ft piece. Or alternatively, fix the probe to the bottom of a small plastic container sitting over the 1ft piece of Flexwatt to even better simulate what the cage bottom sees. Both pieces will be controlled.

Option #3:
If you have a spare cage, even a small one. Setup a piece of Flexwatt under that, and fix the probe inside the cage over the heated area. Plug this Flexwatt into the same controller as your cages housing animals. This is the most accurate way to control what is happening inside your real cages w/o having the probe in them for the reasons mentioned.

Option #4:
Elevate the cage so you can tape the probe on the Flexwatt under the cage. The problem with this method is that you cannot see if the probe has fallen off. I do not like this option. Go with 1, 2 or 3. Option 3 is the best if you can do it.

Good luck.
-----
Antaresia maculosa
Antaresia childreni

Mark G