i love snakes I have a burm an a king as of now but i want a rainbow boa badly and I found one thts really nice a baby now older than 6months maybe 7 tops. i have a 20gal high tank as of now to put him in thts free and the intire hot side cold side is confusing me how do I keep one side of the tank cold and other hot?? i found the ceramic heat emitter but dont understand how I can use a therostat to keep the temp steady how do I do tht? im sorry there dumb questions but I want the best for the rainbow for when I do get him what do I need and how do I go about of setting it up?? thanks and im new to the forum.

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brazilian rainbow boa--- Pandora
Cali King---Oreo

Life is to short to worry about your mistake's as long as you learn from them.

Hello,

Welcome to HC. Creating a heat gradient is not difficult, especially in larger enclosures. If you place the Ceramic Heat Emitter on one side of the enclosure, that side will be warmer than the other side. A rheostat or thermostat will allow you to adjust the amount of heat that the Ceramic Heat Emitter is outputting. In conjunction with the thermostat/rheostat, you will want/need a good thermometer. (Digital is best.)

When all of these are used together, you can create the temperatures that the snake will need.

How are you currently housing the other snakes? They too should have a heat gradient.

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i just have a heat lamp on them now but it doesnt work to well and about the thermostat how does it control the temp in the cage? it only reads the temp right? and could I possibly get a list of things I need to have a good set up i dont understand how a thermostat will control the heat plz help me again

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brazilian rainbow boa--- Pandora
Cali King---Oreo

Life is to short to worry about your mistake's as long as you learn from them.

Firstly, I suggest you don't even consider getting a rainbow boa right now - research, research, research. Do you even know what temps you are going to need to sustain? Or humidity levels? Or anything about the history of this species?

I have to admit, I don't mean to offend, but I am very concerned that you don't know how to keep a temp gradient when you already have two snakes - what temps are you keeping your other snakes at? And in what conditions? -they are separate with the correct temps etc aren't they??

My advice is to make sure you are looking after your current snakes properly before you get another, and thoroughly research this snake's needs before buying it.

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"If you know everything you may as well blow your brains out because the reason for existence is to learn more everyday." - Mark O'Shea, 2004

If you don't know about heat gradients, how are you keeping your other two snakes?
A 20gal high would be no good for a rainbow, they need lots of humidity, mine are in contico boxes which work great, keeping the kind of humidity they need in an aquarium would be very difficult, for a baby rainbow especially as they need higher humidity than adults at around 90% I do believe.

Rainbows are awesome snakes, but not the easiest to care for, I spent a while reading through forums and care sheets before I got mine, and without doing so, if I had tried to keep them like my other snakes, I doubt they would be alive (humidity issues). Good luck!

Also you probably wouldn't want to be using a heat lamp with a rainbow, as they seem to dry out the air in the cage.

yes my snakes r seperate and hides water bowls etc.. and my current snakes temps r king is at 86 day night 78 and my burm is around the same and r in good conditions the way I stated tht was wrong the rainbow is different than snakes I have they require more humidity and by the way a heat lamp u can use them with a rainbow just have to mist the cage

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brazilian rainbow boa--- Pandora
Cali King---Oreo

Life is to short to worry about your mistake's as long as you learn from them.

You are confusing a thermostat and a thermometer. A thermostat is essentially an electronic switch. The heating unit plugs into the thermostat. When a certain temp is reached the thermostat shuts off the heating device. When the temperature drops below a certain point it turns it back on.

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

ohh ok I got it now thanks would it be ok to have a rainbow in a 20high tank and with a ceramic heatin light and steady temp of about 79F an night temp of 70F and mist the cage everynow and then

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brazilian rainbow boa--- Pandora
Cali King---Oreo

Life is to short to worry about your mistake's as long as you learn from them.

Nope, those temps are too cool, a rainbow needs to be kept around 86-88°F at the warm end down to 78°F at the cool end, these are important as they don't tollerate temps outside of this range very well, and as for misting the cage 'every now and then'....you must insure the correct humidity level for rainbow boa esp. when they are young, you need to maintain 75-80% when young, this can drop to 60-70% when adult......I suggest you read more about what you intend to get and listen to the advice that is been given...

This is fine for the King but the Burm needs a hot spot of 90-92°F with an ambient of 86°F down to 78°F at the cool end, but it must have access to a hot spot.....I too suggest you learn more about the snakes you currently own before embarking on keeping a rainbow boa, as these are far less forgivinig of mistakes in husbandary

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I'll think of something to put here soon.......

i knw alot about my king and far as the burm goes I will not have him for to much longer a friend loves burm and currently owns 2 and wants the one I have so im going to allow him to have it so by the end of this week I will only have oreo my king snake. how would I keep the humidity up in a 20high tank? for rainbow boa

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brazilian rainbow boa--- Pandora
Cali King---Oreo

Life is to short to worry about your mistake's as long as you learn from them.