Boa stays on the cold side..

[gloss0rz]

Hi, I was wondering why my BCI stays on the cool side of the tank ALL the time, even when temperatures get in the 70's ? I don't think it's too hot on the hot side, because all I have is a human heat pad with a hide over it, and every few hours a light that turns on and off on a timer. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[Jeff_Favelle]

The "cool" end of your gradient should be 78-80F anyways. Get proper temperatures, and then try to figure out why your animals do things. You have to let them be normal boas until you can understand why they do things.

[Linds]

What is the temp on the hot side? Usually snakes will stay to one side of the enclosure for two reasons... they are either choosing a side that has more security than the other (for instance if you give them one hide to use), or improper temps. If he's sticking to the cool side he may be too warm. Measure the basking spot with either a temp gun or a digital thermometer w/ remote probe. Those stick on things are crap. A gradient of 78-90 works well I find.

[gloss0rz]

well, i have a human heat pad set on HIGH 24/7... to me it doesn't feel hot enough to burn, but at night he stays ontop of his half tree hide, ( the hide I have for him over the basking spot, you know the like hollowed out half of tree).

[Frankie]

I keep my heat pads set on medium. I'm not no expert by any means but if he's staying on top of the hide it might be to warm on the inside.

[Invictus]

Our male BCI does the same thing. At one time, even when the temp gradient was around 80 on the cool side, he'd spend all of his time cooling off in the water dish. He just does not seem to like the heat very much. I wouldn't worry about it too much, just make sure that the warm side isn't TOO warm. The human heat pad on high might be too high for your boa.

[HetForHuman]

i have my human heat pad set on medium and it is under 5/8 melamine and i still get a hotspot of about 93 or so.

i think it being on high is way to much.
get a digital thermometer with a probe and set the probe right on top of the heat pad inside the cage that will let you know how hot it is.

[Linds]

Originally posted by Invictus
I wouldn't worry about it too much, just make sure that the warm side isn't TOO warm. The human heat pad on high might be too high for your boa.

I wouldn';t say don't worry about it until he knows the actual temps in the tank. Checking with your hand doesn't count. And if it is 88 all over that is definitely too hot for his boa...