diff --git a/.env.template b/.env.template
index 741419f..d0bb0cc 100644
--- a/.env.template
+++ b/.env.template
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=
 
 # Fill this in if using the Metaculus API
 METACULUS_TOKEN=
+METACULUS_API_BASE_URL=https://www.metaculus.com/api
 
 # As of Jan 23rd 2025, only used for free semantic similarity calculation in Deduplicator, but defaults to OpenAI if not filled in
 HUGGINGFACE_API_KEY=
diff --git a/forecasting_tools/data_models/questions.py b/forecasting_tools/data_models/questions.py
index 757e5d2..ee37fee 100644
--- a/forecasting_tools/data_models/questions.py
+++ b/forecasting_tools/data_models/questions.py
@@ -403,8 +403,15 @@ def _get_bounds_from_api_json(
         lower_bound = api_json["question"]["scaling"]["range_min"]
         zero_point = api_json["question"]["scaling"]["zero_point"]
 
-        assert isinstance(upper_bound, float), f"Upper bound is {upper_bound}"
-        assert isinstance(lower_bound, float), f"Lower bound is {lower_bound}"
+        try:
+            upper_bound = float(upper_bound)
+            lower_bound = float(lower_bound)
+        except (TypeError, ValueError):
+            logger.error(
+                f"Error parsing bounds from API JSON. "
+                f"Upper bound: {upper_bound}, Lower bound: {lower_bound}"
+            )
+            raise
         return (
             open_upper_bound,
             open_lower_bound,
diff --git a/forecasting_tools/helpers/metaculus_client.py b/forecasting_tools/helpers/metaculus_client.py
index 888f1c4..669cb02 100644
--- a/forecasting_tools/helpers/metaculus_client.py
+++ b/forecasting_tools/helpers/metaculus_client.py
@@ -38,6 +38,8 @@
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
+API_BASE_URL = os.getenv("METACULUS_API_BASE_URL", "https://www.metaculus.com/api")
+
 Q = TypeVar("Q", bound=MetaculusQuestion)
 T = TypeVar("T", bound=BaseModel)
 
@@ -138,7 +140,7 @@ class MetaculusClient:
 
     def __init__(
         self,
-        base_url: str = "https://www.metaculus.com/api",
+        base_url: str = API_BASE_URL,
         timeout: int = 30,
         sleep_time_between_requests_min: float = 1.5,
         sleep_jitter_seconds: float = 0.5,