Trouble with Temperture in a 150 gallon enclosure
I recently "rescued" a big male boa who was going to be euthanized after he was seized by the police and the county was unable to provide him with care (every cop in the station was terrified of the poor boy, don't know how they even got him in a pillow case).
Anyway, my friend in the police force threw my name out there and after a few papers signed, he was mine. He's a big, beautiful male (not sure of morph, I'm awful at that kind of thing) and he seems to have a slight upper respiratory infection. He opens his mouth occasionally, like a mini-yawn where he only cracks it open a few centimeters for a second or two and spends a lot of time basking.
I'm guessing his previous owners didn't care for him very well, but the inside of his mouth isn't "cheesy" or mucus covered or anything so that's good. In the past with ball pythons I've used Baytril to clear up URI, and if the heat doesn't help it in a few days I'll try to procure some.
He seems to "hiss" a lot, even when I'm not in the room and I can hear it very clearly. It almost sounds like snoring, with every breath but it only seems to occur when he's basking. Could this be actual hissing or a side effect of the URI?
The 150 gallon tank is glass or acrylic I'm not sure which, probably acrylic, and it has a screen top I've weighed down with cat litter and unused aquarium sand. I have a 150 watt and a 100 watt Zoomed basking bulb shining directly on the log I set up as a basking spot and he spends almost all of his time directly underneath those lamps. I do have extra fixtures, so I can install another bulb if needed I just don't have any more bulbs on hand. The under tank heater I used to use on this setup is busted, guess it didn't store so well.
Any tips on how I can warm my new friend up? He's alert and relatively active (he has, after all only been in the setup for a little over two days now so he's probably still exploring). I'm worried about the URI and I'm tight for cash so my usual vet might have to wait a bit if there's something really wrong.
Anyway, heating is my main concern. I'll try to setup a thermometer and get some temp's but for now it just doesn't seem to be heating up enough for him.
Re: Trouble with Temperture in a 150 gallon enclosure
Yeah that bad boy is 25 inches tall, it's a nightmare getting lamps to cut all the way down. I got a very big log about 8 inches under the basking spot to allow him to get up close and warm up.
I'll try and pickup an under tank again soon.
I've got a large plastic tub, about 18 iniches long and 12 inches wide, about 8 inches filled with water on one side (cool side tho) and I'm gonna try fixing my old power mister so that I can help with humidity.
Thanks for the tips, I'll see what I can do for him.