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  1. #1
    Registered User RZBishop's Avatar
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    Enclosure Heating Question

    So I have my 3 month old Boa Imperator in a 116qt sterilite, and he has been doing great. I have a UTH under his warm side hide that he seems to like, and up until recently I was using a red heat bulb in a dome on top of his tub for basking (shines on top of his warm hide) and ambient heat. He seemed to like that as well and I was able to maintain a nice hot spot and gradient.

    After reading and conversing, I decided to replace the red bulb with a CHE so he wouldn’t have constant light. I read/heard this may be better for boas. I understand this is a debated topic also. I did observe some weird behavior whilst using the red bulb that kind of concerned me. Every day at one point or another, my boa would stand up on his hide log and stretch all the way up to the screen where the light is, and just stare at it/stay really close to it. Not sure the potential ill effect of staring into the bulb point blank, but I feel the temp is too hot that close at the very least. He just seemed attracted to it, and it concerned me.

    So now I have the CHE installed, and he hasn’t come out from his hide in about 3 days or so (at least I haven’t seen him come out accept for 1 time he came halfway out for a minute or two and quickly returned). He usually would come out almost on routine every night and sometimes during the day. It has also been more difficult to maintain the same gradient I had without maki g his hotspot too hot.

    Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!
    Last edited by RZBishop; 07-19-2022 at 07:59 AM.

  2. #2
    BPnet Veteran Homebody's Avatar
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    Re: Enclosure Heating Question

    I hope you don't mind, but I took the liberty of grabbing a couple photos from your gallery to illustrate your set-up.

    Last edited by Homebody; 07-19-2022 at 08:49 AM.
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  4. #3
    BPnet Veteran Homebody's Avatar
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    Re: Enclosure Heating Question

    Quote Originally Posted by RZBishop View Post
    So now I have the CHE installed, and he hasn’t come out from his hide in about 3 days or so (at least I haven’t seen him come out accept for 1 time he came halfway out for a minute or two and quickly returned). He usually would come out almost on routine every night and sometimes during the day. It has also been more difficult to maintain the same gradient I had without making his hotspot too hot. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!
    First, what are the hot, cool and basking temps with the CHE? What were they with the red light bulb? Which hide is he now using, the one on the hot or cool side? Thanks.
    Last edited by Homebody; 07-19-2022 at 08:54 AM.
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  6. #4
    Registered User RZBishop's Avatar
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    Re: Enclosure Heating Question

    So, with the red bulb, the warm side was around 85f, cool side 75-78f. In the pics the right side is the warm side. The basking spot is on top of the right hand hide log. The center of the basking spot is was 95f by n a really small spot of around 1,5 inch diameter. The rest of the log under the lamp was around 91-93f.


    with the CHE, the temps have fallen because I have to lower the CHE temp. I have it on a dimmer. If I get the ambient temps up to where I want, the basking spot ends up being 120f+. When I get the basking spot back down to normal, the gradient ends up being 79-81f on the warm end, and 75-77f on the cool end.

    also, substrate on top of UTH (under warm side hide) sits at around 84-87.
    Last edited by RZBishop; 07-19-2022 at 10:04 AM.

  7. #5
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    Re: Enclosure Heating Question

    Quote Originally Posted by RZBishop View Post
    also, substrate on top of UTH (under warm side hide) sits at around 84-87.
    What is the temp of the tub floor over the UTH if you remove the substrate?

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  9. #6
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    Re: Enclosure Heating Question

    From here, I'll defer to the boa keepers and CHE users for advice on how to tweak your set up. I am neither. Good luck.
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  11. #7
    Registered User RZBishop's Avatar
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    Re: Enclosure Heating Question

    Quote Originally Posted by bcr229 View Post
    What is the temp of the tub floor over the UTH if you remove the substrate?

    The UTH has a thermostat which is set to about 103f, which I found is the perfect temp to heat the top of the substrate to 85-87f, which I check regularly using a temp gun.

  12. #8
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    Snakes are excavators and they like to burrow. Thin out the substrate over the UTH to around 1/4" - just enough to absorb waste - and dial the thermostat back to compensate.

    I would leave the CHE alone for now. Bear in mind when your boa is under it, its back will be closer to the CHE than the log is, which means he'll be a bit warmer than the log.

    Low side temp of 75-77 isn't ideal but it's not awful either.

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  14. #9
    Registered User RZBishop's Avatar
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    Re: Enclosure Heating Question

    Quote Originally Posted by bcr229 View Post
    Snakes are excavators and they like to burrow. Thin out the substrate over the UTH to around 1/4" - just enough to absorb waste - and dial the thermostat back to compensate.

    I would leave the CHE alone for now. Bear in mind when your boa is under it, its back will be closer to the CHE than the log is, which means he'll be a bit warmer than the log.

    Low side temp of 75-77 isn't ideal but it's not awful either.

    But what about the behavior I noticed while using the red bulb? Should I not be concerned?

  15. #10
    Registered User RZBishop's Avatar
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    Re: Enclosure Heating Question

    So, I learned that the odd behavior from Titus was not due to heating, but rather he was going into shed. This was his first shed with me (and my first snake, so never been through a shed before period). But, I decided to let him soak for about 30 minutes 2 nights ago and when I placed him back in his enclosure, he shed completely within 1.5 hours. I noticed he was on top of his hide for the first time in almost 2 weeks, so I picked him up and noticed he was lighter in color. Found his shed under his hide. He did perfect, nice one piece.

    I decided to go back to the CHE, and he seems to like it. He was actually out cruising around last night, checking out the new driftwood branches I put in for him. And he actually came out of his hide times after hearing my presence, coming up to the side to investigate and stare at me. This was the first time he has done that, and it was really cool.

    Overall, I am very happy with the way it went, and super relived that nothing is wrong with him. Now, post shed pics:
















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