Temps

[L.West]

What is the highest temp on the warm side that is still safe. I guess I am wondering at what temp does it become dangerous for the snake.

I noticed yesterday when I got home that my hot side temp gauge was reading 96. I have an RHP hooked up to a VE300 thermostat but my accurite was reading 96. I think it was due to the warmer weather outside and my house heated up. I have since turned on my air conditioning to prevent this from happening.

My snake seemed fine - he was on the cool side at the time I noticed it. I normally have 90/91 on the hot side.

[Fraido]

Why not just lower it?

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[JoshSloane]

A temp of 96 isnt going to do any damage to your snake. Imagine what a super hot day in Colombia would feel like. I imagine these animals in the wild frequently are exposed to temperatures of this nature. What was your thermostat set to? What kind of enclosure are you using? What is the background room temperature where your enclosure is?

I have found with my boas that they prefer lower temps than the usual 90 degree hot spot. I actually only use ambient heat to heat my animals, and they sit at a constant 83-84 degrees. If you still want to do the old hot spot routine, I wouldnt have a hot spot greater than about 87-88. Above that and my boas tend to avoid the heat.

[L.West]

Do you mean lower the setting on the tstat that is running the RHP??

[L.West]

He is in an AP T8 with a divider, so he is only in half. I have a 40 watt RHP. I goal is 90 hot side and 80 cool side. My room temp fluctuates with the weather. Its a steady 72 in the winter though. He is small, only 24" and 174 grams right now. I wish I could fire up the 80 watt RHP and use the whole darn cage but I was told that would be too big for him.

Personally, with the hides and water bowl and fake plants - it looks a little crowded to me with only using half the cage. Here is a pic.

[JoshSloane]

Using half the cage is fine, he looks to have plenty of room. Boas are not as easily stressed as BPs, if you really wanted to you could take out the divider and let him have full access to the cage. With some hides and cover he will do just fine.

Regarding your temps, the t-stat should keep the hot spot at a relatively even temperature. You will have to play with the thermostat to get the hot spot temps where you want them. Especially with using a tstat and RHP, and depending where your probe is placed, often you have to set the tstat to a temperature much different than what the actual temperature is on the floor of the cage. Using an IR temp gun makes this process a lot easier. Basically the only thing that matters is that the temp you get with the IR gun, is what you want. It doesnt really matter what the tstat says.

From what I have seen, the tstat probe should be up off the enclosure's floor, so that the snake cant dislodge it, or move it around to cause temp variations. I find most people secure the probe to a wall of the enclosure, under the RHP, and up off the floor. It might take a few tries setting the tstat to the correct desired temps, but once you get it dialed in it should stay regular.

[Fraido]

Do you mean lower the setting on the tstat that is running the RHP??

That is what I meant. (:

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[L.West]

In the pics I posted - I have the probe secured to the bottom of the cage right in front of the accurite in the pics.

It is secured and then brought up thru the paper bedding.

I guess I will just have to tweek the setting a little better. It seemed like I was running a steady 90/80 and then all of a sudden we got a hot day and the temp on the accurite was saying 96. I assumed it was because the interior of my house had heated up.

[L.West]

I will mess with it tonight. I just don't understand why it was fine for days and then we got some hot weather and everything went askew.

[JoshSloane]

Was the probe pushed around in any way? Usually heat variations withe a thermostat are the result of the probe being out of position.