BCI enclosure and heating questions

[BigLou3]

I will be getting a baby columbian red tail boa in the next few months and I have a question about enclosure size and heating. I plan on getting an AP pvc enclosure for him. Now I know that it is not recommended to put ball pythons into a larger enclosure when they are young however I read that boas are fine in something bigger as long as there are hinding places and multiple water bowls. What is your opinion on this? Also I was looking into getting a pro products radiant heat panel to heat the enclosure. Should I put flexiwatt on the bottom of the hot side as well the the panel or will just the panel be suffient? Thank you for your input, I'm just trying to do my research before setting up his home.

[Sauzo]

You will be fine. I put my Colombian girl in a 48x24x14 Pro-Line cage when she was about 22" and she loved it. I just gave her a hide on the warm and cool side and of course a water bowl. Depending where you live, you might just need 1 large water bowl. That's all I use under my PH3 Pro Products 65w RHP and it creates plenty of humidity. I personally don't have any heat tape on the bottom, I just use the RHP on a Herpstat and she has been fine for just over 3 years. I am going to get her and my sunglow girl AP T13s this summer and then just give my Pro-Line cage to my BP though as I want the added height and depth for my girls. I probably will have flexwatt put in on those cages though but not sure if I will use it or not. Might order it from Ap or just get some THG tape from RBI and do it myself as THG is supposed to run a lot cooler and not get so hot as flexwatt. Anyways, you'll be fine as long as you give the boa a couple hides. They aren't nearly as shy as BPs and definitely are more gung ho eaters.