Question about heat source and day/night temperatures

[Crunchyhippo]

I have a new baby red-tail boa Imperator. It's in a 10 gallon aquarium setup. For its heat source I have a 75 watt infrared lamp from above. It's heats the one side up to near 90 degrees. My aquarium temperature, without the heat lamp, goes down to about 72. Is this what I would want at night for the boa, or does it need the 80 degree heat range 24/7?


Also, the problem is that that red infrared light is bright during the night when I'm trying to sleep. I guess I could get a non-visible ceramic light, but that would also require a special light fixture. I'm starting to get into some costly excess items now. My aquarium top is mostly plastic, not metal screen (although it has some), so I can't lay the lamp on top or it'll melt the plastic. And there's nothing for the lamp fixture to clamp onto, unless I go to Home Depot to fabricate something. I'm thinking that the best and least expensive solution is to just get a different screen top - one that's all mesh and has no plastic except for the edges. I could eliminate the whole problem with a heat pad underneath the aquarium, but I don't know that it would heat the hotter side to the upper 80s or not.



Lastly, my aquarium temperature, without the heat lamp, goes down to about 72. Is this acceptable at night for the boa, or does it need the 80 degree heat 24/7?

[EL Ziggy]

If your hot spot is reaching 90 and the ambient temp is 72 you should be ok. I keep my boas with a hot spot of 86ish and an ambient temp of about 75 at night. It gets as low as 70 during the winter and they're still fine. As long as they've got a good thermal gradient you shouldn't have any issues.