Heating for taller boa enclosure

I am upgrading my 71/2 foot boa from a 4x2x2 to a 4x5x2 tall this weekend and am concerned about heating. I keep the reptile room warm at 78 and provide UTH with thermostat and temps are perfect. Will it be the same in the larger enclosure? Should I provide a heat lamp at the top since it is so far from the bottom where the warm spot is? The enclosure has large branches bolted in place so she will be able to use the full height. The only time she goes on the warm side now is after she eats for a few days, and spends the rest of her time in the middle or cool side.

I acquired her from my son who moved out and she has doubled in size over the past few years. I'm used to ball pythons so this big tall cage a little daunting, but she is in need of something bigger and loves to climb. I think she's gotten quite round, she used to be square. Hopefully some extra room for her to move around will keep her fit and healthy lol

Here is a picture of the enclosure I am purchasing this weekend. Any input on how to heat it would be appreciated!

Thanks for any input![IMG]https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...om/2mxpw20.jpg[/IMG]

Also for clarification, this is not the setup she will be moving into, this is the advertised picture. I will have different substrate and a hide, bigger water dish, etc.

I would provide 11"x36" of heat tape under the floor toward the back of the enclosure as a basking area since your reptile room is already at the optimum cool side temp.

Replace the mesh top with plexiglass or PVC to keep the humidity inside, maybe put a small RHP on it in case your boa wants to perch and bask. Maintaining humidity in that tall of an enclosure will be your biggest challenge even with a large water dish.

To be honest with you, that cage is too tall. Problem with really tall cages is like bcr said, humidity. Personally i would not go with anything over 24 inches for a boa. I would give more floor space. I use 72x30x18 AP cages for my adult boas. I do offer the optional shelf which is 10 inches wide. Plus the screen top is just a big no no. That cage would be pretty nice for an arboreal snake but that is a completely different set up than for a boa. No idea how much you are paying but if you havent bought it yet and dont need a cage immediately, i would look into Animal Plastic cages.

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Originally Posted by Sauzo

To be honest with you, that cage is too tall. Problem with really tall cages is like bcr said, humidity. Personally i would not go with anything over 24 inches for a boa. I would give more floor space. I use 72x30x18 AP cages for my adult boas. I do offer the optional shelf which is 10 inches wide. Plus the screen top is just a big no no. That cage would be pretty nice for an arboreal snake but that is a completely different set up than for a boa. No idea how much you are paying but if you havent bought it yet and dont need a cage immediately, i would look into Animal Plastic cages.

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I have my male BCI in 7,2 long x 2,60 deep x 4,60 high enclosure. So i guess i could give normandcass an advice out of my own experience. You can see that although i have a high enclosure, i have provided enough floor space. Your floor space is not sufficient i think for 7 and half foot boa. For such a boa you need 6 feet long or more enclosure. I have the humidity about 45% to 50%. Its hard to get it higher in such a big enclosure. This is an acceptable humidity level for boa constrictors when they are not in shedding. When my BCI is in shed, i raise it to 70%. This is a must. I achieve that through misting the cage several times a day and reducing the ventilation in the last 2 to three days of the shedding process. I have also real plants in the enclosure. Certainly you can provide as much height as you can afford for a boa as long as you you provide a sufficient floor space cause its more important.

I have only 3 real plants now in the enclosure, i am going to increase them to 6 very soon
[IMG]https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...com/m9sjzt.jpg[/IMG]

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Originally Posted by Dutti

I have my male BCI in 7,2 long x 2,60 deep x 4,60 high enclosure. So i guess i could give normandcass an advice out of my own experience. You can see that although i have a high enclosure, i have provided enough floor space. Your floor space is not sufficient i think for 7 and half foot boa. For such a boa you need 6 feet long or more enclosure. I have the humidity about 45% to 50%. Its hard to get it higher in such a big enclosure. This is an acceptable humidity level for boa constrictors when they are not in shedding. When my BCI is in shed, i raise it to 70%. This is a must. I achieve that through misting the cage several times a day and reducing the ventilation in the last 2 to three days of the shedding process. I have also real plants in the enclosure. Certainly you can provide as much height as you can afford for a boa as long as you you provide a sufficient floor space cause its more important.

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Not quite sure why you are quoting me and talking about the floor space. I give my adult boas the equivalent of a 6x3x1.5 which is plenty for an adult boa.

And honestly 45-50% humidity is NOT high enough. The lowest you want to go is 60% with optimum of 65-70%. Sure they can live in it but again, just like overfeeding(which im not going to get into again), you wont notice the damage until its done. Snakes from higher humidity regions need that humidity not only for hydration but also to keep their lung from drying out and cracking which can let bacteria in which causes URI.

And misting can compensate for the lack of humidity only so much. You dont want to make the snake sit in a constantly wet environment as that is breeding grounds for bacteria, fungus and mold which can lead to any number of RI be it fungal or bacterial.

You are right though that floor space is more important than height.

I do mist my cages though but usually only once or maybe twice a week in the winter and it completely dries out and keeps 65-70% humidity.

Another thing you can do OP is use a mister to help with humidity if you are set on that cage but you need to cover at least 3/4 of that top to control the air flow or else no matter how much misting you do, you wont beat the whole rooms humidity lol.

Oh and to add one more thing, there is a big difference between humidity and just water all over the place via misting. Like i said above, misting will work here and there to help especially in winter but if you have to mist more than once or twice a week once a day, then you need to evaluate your setup and limit the airflow better.

And another thing, a bad shed doesnt necessarily mean you your humidity is bad. A lot of it has to do with the hydration of the snake which indirectly is from humidity of the environment combined with how much the snake drinks.

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Originally Posted by Dutti

I have only 3 real plants now in the enclosure, i am going to increase them to 6 very soon
[IMG]https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...com/m9sjzt.jpg[/IMG]

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Hope you sealed that cage with a good waterproof sealant or that pressboard is going to just melt when you throw in 65-70% humidity in it after a year or so. Not to mention the concrete power of boa piss haha. It's almost as bad retic piss.

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Originally Posted by Sauzo

Not quite sure why you are quoting me and talking about the floor space. I give my adult boas the equivalent of a 6x3x1.5 which is plenty for an adult boa.

And honestly 45-50% humidity is NOT high enough. The lowest you want to go is 60% with optimum of 65-70%. Sure they can live in it but again, just like overfeeding(which im not going to get into again), you wont notice the damage until its done. Snakes from higher humidity regions need that humidity not only for hydration but also to keep their lung from drying out and cracking which can let bacteria in which causes URI.

And misting can compensate for the lack of humidity only so much. You dont want to make the snake sit in a constantly wet environment as that is breeding grounds for bacteria, fungus and mold which can lead to any number of RI be it fungal or bacterial.

You are right though that floor space is more important than height.

I do mist my cages though but usually only once or maybe twice a week in the winter and it completely dries out and keeps 65-70% humidity.

Another thing you can do OP is use a mister to help with humidity if you are set on that cage but you need to cover at least 3/4 of that top to control the air flow or else no matter how much misting you do, you wont beat the whole rooms humidity lol.

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I have quoted you not because of your floor space, because you said that you won,t go higher than 24 inches for a boa. My opinion is yes you can go higher as long as provide enough floor space cause its more important and because of the humidity issue in a high enclosure. To be honest, my BCI is doing very much fine in the current humidity level that he has. They will get respiratory problems if the ventilation is not enough and the air get stagnated, that,s for sure

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Originally Posted by Sauzo

Hope you sealed that cage with a good waterproof sealant or that pressboard is going to just melt when you throw in 65-70% humidity in it after a year or so. Not to mention the concrete power of boa piss haha. It's almost as bad retic piss.

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Yes i have sealed it with 3 layers of the best material available in the market. No chance that water would penetrate it

And i wont. Anythng over 24 inches just gets to be a hassle to heat and keep the humidity high enough. I wont let my boas drop below 65% humidity. And too dry of humidity will definitely cause cracking in the lung. Take for example you. ever be in a really dry environment for a long time and the inside of your nose dries out and in extreme cases, you get a little nose bleed? Or your in a dry environment and your skin dries and cracks? The same thing will happen to a boa's lung as they are designed for high humidity. Look at where they come from, the humidity there can get up to 90+%. And it pretty much never drops to 45%.

And yes, too stagnant of air can cause an RI but only if there is bacteria or mold or fungus which is usually created by people trying to mist cages too much with too low of airflow and the cage never being able to dry out. Like i said, air humidity is different than just being wet. A mister or humidifier will raise the air humidity but not create a single drop of actual water unless you have it set to high lol.

Anyways, not going to debate anymore. OP, my opinion is ditch that cage and use the money to buy a PVC cage that is 72x30x18 or 24. You will be much happier and it will be much easier to keep the environment spot on.

Here is an example of my cages. The left side is 48x24x12 and 48x24x15. The right side is 72x30x18 cages.
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...5b2efd55_k.jpg

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Originally Posted by Sauzo

Oh and to add one more thing, there is a big difference between humidity and just water all over the place via misting. Like i said above, misting will work here and there to help especially in winter but if you have to mist more than once or twice a week once a day, then you need to evaluate your setup and limit the airflow better.

And another thing, a bad shed doesnt necessarily mean you your humidity is bad. A lot of it has to do with the hydration of the snake which indirectly is from humidity of the environment combined with how much the snake drinks.

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A bad shed means first and foremost your humidity is bad. My BCI always sheds in one complete piece. He does not drink that oft, he drinks once or twice after eating and that is it. For example, he ate last time on the 8th of December. He pissed two times after that only

Thanks for all the great information everybody! The top is solid with a mesh cutout for lighting, but I will definitely cover to maintain humidity. I was planning on getting a few extra humidity gauges so I can measure humidity throughout. I picked up a waterfall/mister to put in, so that should help.

I work from home so I am able to check on temp/humidity throughout the day. I know it will be harder to maintain a taller enclosure, but she absolutely loves to climb and perch, even at her size. I want her to be happy and be able to see more natural behavior, so I don't mind putting in the extra work to make sure all the levels are correct.

What type of plants do you use and how do you prevent them from getting smashed?

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Originally Posted by normandcass

What type of plants do you use and how do you prevent them from getting smashed?

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Big boas generally bulldoze anything you put in there. You can use all sorts of plants though like Pothos, Nerve Plant, Prayer Plant, Dragon Plant, Parlor Palms etc. The list is long. I personally use Parlor Palm, Pothos and Prayer Plant in my GTP set up.

As for preventing them from getting smashed, good luck there. I dont use live plants in my boas' cages as them, my retic and my BP have all managed to pull down, break, destroy and flatten plastic plants i've put in their cages. Cant imagine poor live plants.

I wouldn't even try to use live plants in an adult boa enclosure. Plastic décor is usually durable and easy to clean.

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Originally Posted by normandcass

What type of plants do you use and how do you prevent them from getting smashed?

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In the photo of my enclosure you can see that i keep the plants hanging in plastic pots and not on the floor to avoid them being smashed by my boa. I use only Epipremnum aureu because this plant need very little light.

If you are going to hang the plants, make sure they are secured VERY well. Boas like to climb and a hanging plant is like a giant beacon to them to come and try to destroy it lol.

lol ok. Using live plants to maintain humidity was mentioned and my first thought was, she climbs on anything she can and the poor plant would be in pieces! I have already purchased the enclosure and am picking it up tomorrow morning, so I will try to make it work. If she ends up needing more floor space or if she keeps growing, I can see about adding panels. It's a modular from customcages.com and they claim you can expand in any direction.