Christmas Boa Heat Concerns

[Evenstar]

I would personally ditch the tank and put her in a sterilite tub and use the heat tape with that. It will hold in the heat much better than a glass tank. Get 32 qt tub and she'll be fine in that for a good 6 months before she outgrows it. You can get a 32 qt sterilite for less than $10 at Walmart or Meijer. PLUS, in a tub, you'll only need to have the t-stat set to 88-90 and it'll make the perfect hotspot and raise the ambient temps enough in the tub. Tubs hold heat much better than glass.

You don't need lights, heat bulbs, or anything of that sort - those will only suck whatever humidity you have right on out of whatever enclosure you use. Tanks frankly suck for most snakes. Get the Sterilite. You'll be very pleasantly surprised. If you want a display enclosure, you can set one up later when you're more financially able.

So. You can do what you need to do for your snake for about $10. Get the Sterilite, use the heat tape and the t-stat, and you're good to go for at least 6 months. If you don't have $10, borrow it. I'm not trying to sound mean or insensitive, but $10 is not a lot of money. Collect some pop cans and turn them in if necessary. Just trying to offer you some very reasonable suggestions. With the tub, you don't have to worry about the ambient heat - it'll take care of itself.

[Gio]

I would personally ditch the tank and put her in a sterilite tub and use the heat tape with that. It will hold in the heat much better than a glass tank. Get 32 qt tub and she'll be fine in that for a good 6 months before she outgrows it. You can get a 32 qt sterilite for less than $10 at Walmart or Meijer. PLUS, in a tub, you'll only need to have the t-stat set to 88-90 and it'll make the perfect hotspot and raise the ambient temps enough in the tub. Tubs hold heat much better than glass.

You don't need lights, heat bulbs, or anything of that sort - those will only suck whatever humidity you have right on out of whatever enclosure you use. Tanks frankly suck for most snakes. Get the Sterilite. You'll be very pleasantly surprised. If you want a display enclosure, you can set one up later when you're more financially able.

So. You can do what you need to do for your snake for about $10. Get the Sterilite, use the heat tape and the t-stat, and you're good to go for at least 6 months. If you don't have $10, borrow it. I'm not trying to sound mean or insensitive, but $10 is not a lot of money. Collect some pop cans and turn them in if necessary. Just trying to offer you some very reasonable suggestions. With the tub, you don't have to worry about the ambient heat - it'll take care of itself.

Best advice you'll get right now is the quote above.

Whoa,,, you have a lot going on right now. I am a bit concerned about the breeder not being available. Is your money already in hand there? I'm also skeptical you are actually getting a CA BCI with that 8 FT Dam and even a 5 Ft sire. I'm not saying impossible, but a bit odd for the CA boas to be that large. It sounds like you agree.

Usually a good breeder will contact you a day or 2 before they send you the animal to make sure you are all ready.

The post says "yesterday" on the top, so do you mean next week Tuesday? Or did it show up yesterday the 31st ?

I think your ambient room temp of 70 is pretty good especially this time of year and IF the heat tape they are sending works you'll be able to do just fine.

I have 1 glass tank and I agree with Kali, they pretty much suck unless you want to spend $$ to make them work which I did and it works, even still, I will eventually get our Royal into our boa's Pro-Line and get a bigger one for the boa.

Keep us posted and good luck!