Quote Originally Posted by JoshSloane View Post
I completely understand your frustration with conflicting information online. First, I would say that about 50% of reptile information online is just plain wrong and biased, 40% needs to be taken with a grain of salt, and only about 10% is actually factually correct. The reality is that when keeping reptiles we have an enormous challenge to overcome, in that we need to artificially change heat and humidity, not an easy task. As you can imagine, depending on the region of the country lived in, and specific species kept makes a enormous difference in how information regarding reptile care is disseminated. I'm in Colorado, and I constantly battle low humidity, while someone in Texas or other parts of the south might have far too much humidity. Add into this multitude of options for enclosures and it can seem incredibly overwhelming to put together a respectable reptile habitat.

That being said, I wouldnt put too much stock into what others say is the right and wrong temp gradients or heating devices. The fact is that there are literally only two parameters that you need to achieve with most snakes: they must achieve a core body temperature of around 82-83 degrees, and humidity needs to be within the individual species given parameters The actuality of the situation is that snakes do not need a temperature gradient inside their enclosure. We as reptile keepers, limited by the tools we had available for heating and enclosures, used the gradient to essentially hedge our bets, and allow the reptile the opportunity to move between regions of cool and hot, finding that perfect body temperature. With the usual 90/80 hot/cool gradient split, the hot side overshoots the ideal reptile body temperature, acting really as a pool of heat the reptile can soak up, and then move off of when it has had enough time at an elevated temperature. So you can see that with the heat gradient model, if you charted core body temperature vs time, an oscillating wave pattern would appear, with the animal's body temp rising up and above the ideal temperature while the snake is on the heat pad, and then falling down and dipping below ideal while the animal is off the heat pad. To avoid being labeled an iconoclast I will simply say that this model has become the 'tried and proven' method employed by reptile keepers for years, almost based solely off of empirical evidence that the animals continued to eat, defecate, breed etc.

However, I honestly believe that with the advent of PVC cages, RHPs and the like, there is absolutely no need to provide the typical heat tape hot spot. Using one heating device is simpler, safer and more efficient. I personally have been using ambient heat only in my reptile room for many months now, and I feel it has made a much needed positive change. Granted, I understand that in your situation it isnt economical to heat an entire room just for one enclosure. I would recommend ditching the heat tape, keeping the RHP, and shooting for a constant and even 82-84 degrees inside your enclosure. Since i switched to ambient heat only, my snakes seem much happier, alert, active and friendly. Sheds are amazing and humidity stays right where it should. When you are ready to upgrade enclosures, grab an Animal Plastics t8 for your boa. They are perennially on sale for 150$, hold heat and humidity amazing.

Don't let all the shlock written on the internet about reptiles irritate you like it did me for so many years. People especially in the reptile hobby love the herd mentality, they latch onto some dogmatic line of thought, and then lambaste those who dont follow suit.

that is a super interesting notion, although i'd be a little scared to try it, "hedging bets" is a very good way to put it. Let me ask you about RHP's, i have a 40 watt (in my OP i said 80, but its 40) and it heats the surface 14 inches below it to about 82.5 F, which is great, but it's "footprint" is rather small. That is to say there is a very definitive line where the heat stops and beyond it the temp drops about 6 or 7 degrees. Would a more powerful one cast wider, or would it simply be able to get the same size area hotter?
i just checked out the T8, great price for great floor space, but the height (12") seems a bit short, especially with a RHP a few inches thick on the ceiling. what do you think?