Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i am not new to hobby, but new to sand boas.... i picked up a small baby kenyon sand boa last night... this is what i have/had... i currently have a 25 quart sterlite container..24x15x6.. i used to house a ball python, i have two UTH underneath, one is the smaller 6x7 zoomed that i use with a dimmer for warm and and on the cool end i have a larger exo terra 8x8 hooked up to dimmer to warm up the cool end...i have to have two uth because i live in upstate ny and the room is only room temp and the cool end would only be around 70 degrees without it.. with that said, i know this 25 quart is too big for the young sand boa, so i purchased another sterlite container, this one is 14x11x3.. much smaller.. problem is i can only fit either the one 8x8 uth or i can buy another 6x7 zoo med and use both zoomeds side by side... i dont want to use just one uth as i think it will once again not provide a temp gradient... long story short, i have just one 8x8 hooked up, half the tub is 91 degrees right under the aspen bedding and around 71 on the cool end.. is this too cold for a cool end for a sand boa? or should i purchase the other 8x8 and dim it to around 80 degrees for the cool end and just unplug it at night for him? im leaning this way, but want to make sure before i purchase another heater... once he/she is big enough, i will put him/her back in the 25 quart to live its life... ...thank you for reading...

oops sorry, meant to say im currently using the 6x7 zoomed and might purchase the other 6x7 zoomed to put next to it for coolend if 71 is too cool for cold side

70 deg is fine as long as your basking area is regulated to a safe temp, like about 84 to 90 deg F. Babies are fine at the lower end of that range. If you use a substrate like aspen, they can go up or down to adjust as well, just place some newspaper or cardboard over the aspen.

I had a baby male Kenyan escape during the Fall, and I found him in Feb in a linen closet. Air temps in the house were often in the low 60s in that area. The snake was fine, and ate as soon as I put him in his box with heat. These are tough snakes. They handle keeper mistakes quite well.

Seems to me that as long as the snake can elevate its body temp, the temperature of the cool side is not as important. Obviously too cold is not good, but 70 deg is not too cold, especially for a baby. Now for an adult, I like your idea of one heat pad for basking and another for just keeping the cool area floor in the 75 deg range. These snakes can go colder for short periods just fine.