40 gal tanks are tall - you would be using lots of power to heat the cage floor from a bulb above. And sandboas pretty much only use the heat on the cage floor.



If you want to use a bulb, ceramics do the best job. Snakes do great under ceramic bulbs. They are able to thermoregulate better than with any other type of heater. But you would need 60 watts (plus a dimmer) to do what an 8-watt heat pad could do. So in this case, I would consider the heat pad option.



Substrates: Sandboas will do well on anything. I like krinkled Kraft paper or newspaper for boids (uline.com). Sandboas love to hide in and under paper with their noses sticking out of the edge waiting to ambush the next thawed rodent being dragged by.



I find aspen too dusty, but I am in the minority, as most keepers use aspen. Sand is fine for the snake (conducts heat well, stays cooler in hot weather) but gets all over everything so is tough on the keeper. Some folks use Care Fresh or the other many paper by-products. All of those can work. I still find paper sheets the best with undertank heat and fat boids.
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Mark

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