Boa stays in the air on the cool side..

gloss0rz · 10-16-03, 06:06 AM

Hi I was wondering if my female bci ( 3 months old ) is acting normal. I have a climb spot
on the cool side of the cage, and she stays ontop almost 24/7. I haven't noticed any differences
in her behavior, feeding is great, very calm handling, etc. Sometimes the temperates on
the cool side reach as low as 65 degrees fahrenheit, and she continue to lay there. I have
checked the heat on the hot side and it is about 85 degrees fahrenheit which is heated by
and under tank heat pad, which i have personally held my hand on underneath the substrate
to see if the basking spot was a bit too warm, and I believe that it is not. It's warm but thats
about it, not near hot enough to my knowledge to cause any burns, etc. The only time she
is on the warm side is either after i have held her, or she was just fed. I assume retreating
to her hide spot on the warm side is instinct after eating, but about 15-20 minutes later there
she is ontop of the high spot again. Anyone have any idea if this is normal or something I
may be doing wrong?

tHeGiNo · 10-16-03, 06:34 AM

Doesn't sound like too much of a problem to me. Do you have an accurate thermometer? If so, 85 is still too low for a basking spot. I would up it to 90 F.

gloss0rz · 10-16-03, 06:46 AM

I am using Dial thermometer and hygrometer which the pet store said was decently accurate, and yes i am raising the basking spot up a few degrees.

Linds · 10-16-03, 09:04 AM

Your temps are waaaaaaaay too low. I'd bump your overall temps up. The basking spot should be at least 90. The ambient/cool side should be 80, but no lower than ~75. Don't listen to pet stores, 99% of the time the have no clue what they are talking about. Dial thermometers are not the way to go. You need something that measures the surface temps. Get yourself either a digital thermometer w/ remote probe or a temp gun (bit more pricey).

521 1N5 · 10-16-03, 11:24 AM

if his temps were to low I wouldn't see why the boa would stay in the cool area..

that doesn't make much sense.

Linds · 10-16-03, 12:49 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by gloss0rz
which i have personally held my hand on underneath the substrate
to see if the basking spot was a bit too warm, and I believe that it is not. It's warm but thats
about it, not near hot enough to my knowledge to cause any burns, etc.

I just reread your post again and missed this part. Our skin temp is ~100 degrees. What feels warm to us is very hot to a snake.
Again, dial thermometers do not measure surface temps, only air temps (which is not what you are measuring when you measure the basking spot). Using your hand is not a good way of mesuring surface temps either.

JaredAren · 10-16-03, 11:59 PM

You can purchase a temp gun from pro exotics for $35. Then you will know what your hot spot is. I agree that your overall temps are too low. I would shoot for a cool side of 82 and a hot side of atleast 90-95.

JaredAren · 10-17-03, 12:00 AM

I meant hot spot of 90-95. Actual hot side air temp should be lower, like around 88.

T.O-SK8TER · 10-17-03, 12:59 AM

Gloss,
Here it is ok, using those thermometers that stick to a wall in the cage work but you are measuring the wrong part of the tank. You need to go to home depot and get a themometer with a probe. You most put the probe on the floor of the tank near the epicenter of the heat source. The middle of the heat source especially when using heat lamps is the warmest spot. It may read 85 when on the wall but in the middle it could be 100. This happened to me before and then I switched to this methode of measuring the temps, now all is well. This is most likely why your boa is always in the coolest possible place of the enclosure.

Good Luck Adam!