Basking Shelf

[CloudtheBoa]

I have a couple of T12's (4'x2'x2') with basking shelves in them. I use an 80w RHP in them, and that's almost overkill except during the winter when I use a space heater...are you sure you need a 100w?

I have the probes holes drilled underneath the basking shelves right under where the panel is, roughly halfway down the length of the panel. Then, I poke the probe through from the outside of the enclosure, and tape down the wire with aluminum tape on the outside. No wires inside the enclosure.

Then, using a thermometer and a temp gun I set up the thermostat so that the top right corner (where the panel is in my cages) reaches 88-90F ambients and no more than ~95F hot spot measured with the temp gun. This means I keep most of the enclosure at ambient temps, and the boas can utilize their shelves if they need extra heat. So they can stay at more comfortable temps most of the time. The top left sits around 85F+, and the bottom half of the enclosure sits at 80-85F during the summer and can drop down to 70-75F during weather transitional periods when I'm not running the space heater.

So, basically, I'm only really trying to heat the top half of the enclosure to warm temps, allowing the bottom to sit at cooler temps. Boas ime don't really like to be constantly exposed to higher temps all the time, but a 4'x2'x2' (or 15") doesn't really offer enough room to allow for a true cool end under most circumstances. So I *personally* would probably drop those temps, but part of the problem may just be the size of panel you're using. When my 80w panels are on, they heat the enclosure very strongly, and I imagine it would be even harder to control the amount of heat put out with a 100w, even in tandem with a thermostat.

With how short your enclosure is, I'd focus more on just offering a hot spot on the shelf vs raising ambients above 85F. But that's just my .02.