Many questions about dumerils boa

[IW17]

The thermostat plugs in to the outlet, and the heat source us plugged in to the thermostat. If your using a heat mat or tape, place it under the enclosure with the probe between the mat and the enclosure. You'll need to experiment with the temp to find a sweet spot, as the temp on the probe and the temp inside the enclosure will be different. Once the desired internal temp is achieved, set your thermostat to whatever temp the probe is reading. This all needs to be done before the animal is in it's enclosure. A temp gun will really make life easier doing this, and it's very useful in keeping snakes overall. I would suggest picking one up. Any Lowe's or home depot will have them for around $20.

[soad]

Thanks much for the help! Time to get this girl comfy

[soad]

And then the heat gun that would basically be for measuring the ground temperature correct?

[SnoopySnake]

IW17 explained it perfectly. Yeah, the temp gun measures ground temperatures. I also just wanted to add that it'd be a good idea to add a bunch of branches for your snake to climb on and some fake plants to help them feel more secure, I notice my rainbow boas climb a lot at night, and they climb through the plants as well.

[soad]

Right on thanks again and is there a way to sterilize drift wood from outside or is it better to buy them

[soad]

And when you say ditch the heat lamps should I just have no heat source all together other than the heating pad? that way it will have a warm and a cooler side still. and should I still use a regular light for day/night cycles or is that unnecessary as well.

[SnoopySnake]

I don't think you really need to sterilize the branches you find outside, just make sure there's no rotting or anything, and that they're not completely covered with bugs. I haven't sterilized any of mine and so far so good.

Yes, just use the heat mat hooked to a thermostat. The ambient air temp should be fine for the entire cage, and the warm spot only really needs to be the heat mat. My rainbows only ever use the warm hides when they're digesting.

Using a light for day/night cycles isn't really necessary, but if you want to, I'd go with a fluorescent fixture. They don't heat the air much and look really nice.

[marvelfreak]

Originally Posted by soad

Right on thanks again and is there a way to sterilize drift wood from outside or is it better to buy them

You can bake it like around 180 degrees for a haft hour. If you do this soak it first in water this will help stem out any pest. Or you can bleach it, rinse then give it a couple days to air dry.

Originally Posted by soad

And when you say ditch the heat lamps should I just have no heat source all together other than the heating pad? that way it will have a warm and a cooler side still. and should I still use a regular light for day/night cycles or is that unnecessary as well.

Ditch the heat lamps all together. All you need is a heat pad with a thermostat. Also remember temp over 85 degrees can be deadly to Rainbow Boas. Do you have windows in the room the snakes in? If so you don't need any lights. If not then the room light works just fine.

[soad]

I appreciate the input you guys have helped out a lot!

[soad]

So I've noticed she decided to borrow down into the 1.5 inch thick substrate(too much?) I've taken the light off awhile ago but it still dried up the top layer of the substrate and underneath is quite humid. so I misted the tank and now heading to get a thermostat and some good moss for her new hide.

[SnoopySnake]

Originally Posted by soad

So I've noticed she decided to borrow down into the 1.5 inch thick substrate(too much?) I've taken the light off awhile ago but it still dried up the top layer of the substrate and underneath is quite humid. so I misted the tank and now heading to get a thermostat and some good moss for her new hide.

Sounds good Yeah, they like to burrow. Would love to see pics of your snake!

[soad]

Here's a decent picture of her!

[soad]

So a little update. I came home (before I left I unplugged the heat mat) and with no heat source the terrarium is perfect and a little bit of moss made the humidity perfect so far.

[soad]

What is a good hygrometer to use? I feel like the one I have is inaccurate reading 96% but it doesn't seem that high in there

[SnoopySnake]

Looking at your pic, I notice your probes are really close to the ground, This could be why your humidity is measuring so high, I would try moving them up some.