Adelita - 2019 Hypo Sonoran

[WrongPython]

Another week's gone by and this girl continues to spoil me with how good she is. She took her second f/t meal at home and continues to be an angel when I have her out. I seriously lucked out with her - she's all I wanted in a first snake. My only cause for concern with her is that she hasn't pooped or passed urates yet - she seems to be adequately hydrated, but almost three weeks seems like a long time.

Big changes will be coming her way in a month or so. I'm in the process of ordering her PVC enclosure, and it should get here in mid-October if all goes well. I've had some good luck locating information about Sonoran boas' habits in the wild, so I should be able to design a nice naturalistic biotope for her before she has to move in in late-October/November. While I'm a bit nervous about moving her up to a bigger cage at her age, I just don't feel like struggling to keep the temps up over the winter in her current glass tank. The average ambients in my apartment were 62-64 F last winter, and I don't know if that will change for the better or not (I have steam radiators and no real control over the heat).

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[dakski]

First, she looks great! Glad she's eating and calm when handling.

Secondly, getting a PVC cage makes all the sense in the world. I have Boaphiles and many people here have AP cages.

Get a good cage that's well insulated, especially if you are going into the low 60's in your apartment in the winter.

Also, go overkill on the heating elements and get a good thermostat, preferably a redundant one.

If you put enough hides in there, she should be ok. I moved Feliz into his 4X2X1' Boaphile at about 180G, if that. However, hides, hides, hides. Make the tank feel cluttered.

PVC cages will also hold humidity well, especially if well insulated. I use paper and in the winter, when it's 25% in basement and 66-68F, I big bowl and occasional misting does the trick.

I would get a RHP and Heat Tape. I would do the heat tape on both sides of the tank if it's bigger than a 3X2'. If it is a 3X2', I would definitely consider very mild heat tape for the cool side.

My 4X2' tanks have an RHP and heat tape on one side and then lower wattage heat tape on the other side (cool side). They all run off the same thermostat and it keeps the hot side/hot spot about 88F and 78-80F on the cool side even in the winter.

I would consider a lower tank - like a 1FT high tank also. Easier to heat.

I never let my basement/reptile area get below 65F, however, I would not worry if it did, as I know I have put more than I need in terms of heating elements. I would rather have them barely run in summer and less in winter, as opposed to running all the time to try to keep up.

For what's worth, I recommend Jeff Ronne and Boaphile because he knows his tanks in and out and if you tell him what the temps get down to, and what size tank, etc. he will customize it for you.

Remember, Radiant Heat Panels (RHP) create a hot spot, but also warm the tank air. Heat tape/heat pads only heat the area they touch.

Additionally, RHP's do not dry the air as much as lamps do.

Please let me know if I can be of any help.

[WrongPython]

Thanks dakski!

My main concern with this coming winter is the ambient temps in her enclosure - I don't want my girl getting an RI, especially at her age. I've reached out to Pro Products for the RHP and Kages for the enclosure, and from the bit of talking I've done so far, both groups seem to agree that the RHP should be able to keep the ambients up. I also plan on building some stone/rock structures for the basking zone to provide some nice belly heat, and this comes with the added benefit of the stone/rock retaining heat and reflecting it back into the enclosure. Between all that and some supplemental UV-B lighting (I'd imagine T5 lights give off a bit of heat), I'm hoping that I won't have to resort to getting additional heat tape.

My biggest question now is if I want the enclosure to be built in a way that I could go bioactive in the future if I wanted to (ie. raised substrate board, extra vents). My end goal is to build something that's as close to a slice of her part the Sonoran Desert as possible, with a good bit of stone/rock structure, some cork and/or branches, and a few desert plants. I'll only be keeping things naturalistic for the next year or so, though, and I'll probably bump her up to a new 6' x something enclosure when she approaches 5'. I'll be mentally chewing on things for the next few days before I formally place my orders.