Few Questions

[Shrub]

I just got a dome light with a 100 watt Ceramic light pointing directly down over my red tail boa's basking branch. This is in a 20 gallon high style tank. His branch is about half way up the tank. His temps are around 83-84 one or two inches above the substrate. His basking branch is about 3 inches above that so his temps should be a little higher. I also have a 25 watt nocturnal light running 24/7 that emmits almost no heat but keeps the cool temp side up a degree or two. Is this good temps or should I return the 100 watt and go for the 150 watt to get up to 88 degrees? I also have a 30-40 gallon sized heat pad on the underside but it only warms the substrate on the warm side but not the air temps, atleast not much.
Are these temps ok or are they under what they need? Kaluah (my snake) seems to move around different places from the warm side to the cool side often so I believe he is fine.

Now the big question [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]. How long can snakes survive without human contact? I am in a bit of trouble comin up next week. I will have a 5 day period in which I can not get someone to check on the little guy. I know food wise he will be ok, but I am concerned of water. I have a deep bowl about six inches long that he can fit his entire body in comfortably. I havn't seen him bathe or drink yet because his temps are on a bit of the cooler side (83-84). Would he be ok if I fed him three days before I left, then my dad would check on him three days after I leave (easter sunday if anyone cares) to see if he took a poo, then he would be out of town. Then there is a five day period (monday-friday) where he would have no one to check on him. Will he be alright or should I really really try and get someone to check on him? Thanks for the info guys. Sorry this took so long! [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_redface.gif[/img]

Here is a link to pics of my snake and his cage/waterbowl. (Note: That black tube light on his cage was replaced by a dome light with 100 watt CHE)

http://www.ofoto.com/PhotoView.jsp?c...07303&US=0
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	Ceramic Heat Emitter Ceramic Heat Emitter: A porcelain heating device that screws into a standard porcelain incandescent socket

[DianeOr]

You have a pretty Kaluah, I envy it is 'small'....!!!!!!!!!! These folks will be able to answer your questions, you came to the right place!!!!!! [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]
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[NYCSpeedcore]

Unless you can put the light on a timer, I would suggest keeping it off the entire time. The 100W ceramic heat emitter should be enough for a 20H if your room temp. is around 68-78 deg. but I would invest in a thermostat sooner or later. Just make sure the hot side of the tank is close to 88F and the cool side is around 78F. The water bowl you have sounds like it should be fine for 5 days. At his size some poo is not so bad to have there for 5 days... it's gonna smell but not the end of the world. What gets to be bad is when he is around 7' and let's one go... now that stinks! Side note... invest in a heat pad as well hooked up to a reostat, it's very effective at heating the bottom of the tank over a ceramic heat emitter. Some flexwatt and a ProProducts heat pannel will do wonders for your heating bill down the line.
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[Shrub]

I do have a timer I can hook it up to. But without the CHE on his temps could drop down to about 73 degrees or less, when I let the 60 Watt CHE off for two hours when I returned it to get the 100 it went down 7 degrees. I think I can leave it on safely and it won't budge past 84 degrees. If he gets too warm the right side of his cage hovers around 79-80 degrees and his water bowl is ready for him. I already have an under tank heater and a slightly oversized one for my 20 gallon terrarium but it needs the extra heat. Also, once warmer weather rolls around my room temp will jump about 8 degrees so I think I will do fine with my current setup and my temps will eventually rise up to 87-88..I may borrow a human undertank heater from my mom if I feel his temps ever get too low, or just buy a low powered bulb for the extra slot in my trilight.
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	Ceramic Heat Emitter Ceramic Heat Emitter: A porcelain heating device that screws into a standard porcelain incandescent socket

[Shrub]

Oh also, because the aquarium I have is a high style, the height really works against me in terms of keeping one side hot. The heat seems to dissapate pretty quickly so I had to upgrade to a higher wattage. And also, for energy consumption my houses heating/cooling is set up so that it turns way down during the day to conserve, and then itturns back up at night. So, it can get pretty drafty during the day and so I leave my ceramic light on.
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