Temperature settings for baby Brazilian Rainbow Boa

[dannybgoode]

I would recommend keeping the temps the same, as long as there is no lighting involved. It is not necessary to provide night dips in temperature, and for babies this can even stress them out. Try to provide the same temperature both day and night, this will allow your baby boa to get comfortable and used to it's environment.

On what evidence are you basing this? I would always advocate a temperature drop at night for snakes regardless of age.

It is a perfectly natural phenomenon in the wild so why not replicate it in captivity?

All my snakes have been provided with drops similar to the drops they'd experience in the wild (so for example my Natrix natrix experiences a larger drop than say But imperator) and they all thrive and show no signs whatsoever of stress.

[DJC Reptiles]

Originally Posted by dannybgoode

On what evidence are you basing this? I would always advocate a temperature drop at night for snakes regardless of age.

It is a perfectly natural phenomenon in the wild so why not replicate it in captivity?

All my snakes have been provided with drops similar to the drops they'd experience in the wild (so for example my Natrix natrix experiences a larger drop than say But imperator) and they all thrive and show no signs whatsoever of stress.

Yes it is a natural effect that happens outside of captivity. In my experience providing a temperature that remains the same, does not harm the snake. Neither it would hurt the snake to provide a dip in night time temperature. Although it may be hard to do this properly. Providing both a cold section and a hot section will allow the snake to choose the temperature it wants regardless of the time of day. As long as you have both of these, the snake should be able to do perfectly fine in this type of setup. I do not have a problem with people who provide a temperature dip, but for a baby boa it may be stressful not to have a place to warm up (even if it is only a slight temperature change). You are right, many keepers provide a temperature dip and their boas remain perfectly happy. I am not saying no keeper should provide a dip in temperature, I am saying it is not needed, and therefore it is up to the keeper for what he wants his snake to experience.