new herper with new Hogg Island boa, please give advice

[sunnyscales2day]

Hello, I am new to keeping snakes, I've had a ball python normal for abt. 8mos now and I just acquired an adult female Hogg Island boa. I have had her for almost 2 weeks and I have fed her once, 3 days ago-3 medium rats, because it's what I had on hand and she seems skinny to me. Which leads to my first question, how can I tell if she is a healthy weight? She has folds of skin on her neck and just looks thin, even for a slender snake.
Also she has very audible breathing and appears to breathe a lot faster than my adult ball python. At first I thought she was hissing quietly at me when I first got her because of being bought and taken to a new place by a new person while being in the blue, pre shed. But I held her today for the first time and noticed that every breath she exhales sounds forced with a slight whistle and a little the same as she starts to inhale. Is it possible she's just anxious and hissing with every breath? She seemed anxious at first when I got her out of her bin, but I got her to calm down and perch on my shoulder for a few minutes before I put her up but the audible breathing/whistle never stopped. These might be stupid questions but please help?

[Daybreaker]

Do you have photos?

How much does she weigh? Three medium rats in one sitting seems like WAY too much to me, even if she's underweight (and even if she is, IMO stuffing an underweight snake with food all the time/that much right off the bat isn't the way to go). How often are you/do you plan on feeding her?

Do you see any bubbles around her nose/mouth? Whistling can be a sign of a respiratory infection (RI).

What are you keeping her in, what are the temps in the enclosure, and how are you measuring them?

[sunnyscales2day]

I don't know how much she weighs, I've been leaving her alone for the most part because of the move, shed, and feeding. Her previous owner said she was 6ft, 30lbs, but she doesn't feel even half as heavy as my son and he's 32lbs. I agree 3 Rats was probably too much in retrospect, even if they were on the small side. Her previous owner said she was fed a jumbo rat every 2 weeks or a large every week. This seems fair to me, but I'm new and that's why I'm asking the question here. No I didn't see any bubbles.
She is kept in a 4'×18"×12" plastic tub with a two large heating pads side by side under it to give her about a square foot of heated space and 3ft to get away from it if needed. The tub came with her and I supplied the heating pads and put newspaper bedding down. I don't have heat or humidity readers yet. Please don't rip me one for that, I know they're needed and I intend on getting them soon. A coworker gave her to me because she couldn't take care of her anymore.

[artgecko]

Hello!
I just got my first boa a few weeks ago, so I'm not an expert by any means, but I'll try to give you some advice from what I do and what I've read..

First, I'd get a thermometer asap... You can get this one online from amazon or from walmart.. It's cheap, but works well to read your hot side temp, cool side temp, and humidity. Here's a thread that tells how to setup a tub using this type of thermometer (it's also got handy info for other tub setup specs.)

Secondly, unless you already have the heating pads on a thermostat or rheostat (lamp dimmer) or something, you'll want to do that asap as well.. an unregulated pad can get over 100f and possibly melt your tub. If money is an issue, you can use a rheostat if you play with the settings and monitor well. Here is a thread about how to set one. A hydrofarm thermostat is a "step up" from that and costs about $35. That allows you to set a temperature and it should keep it there... Sometimes the setting isn't accurate (i.e. you set it to 90 and it is actually 86), hence why you need the thermometer to check it and adjust as needed.

As far as feeding goes, I don't know a ton about boas, but I do know that most people say less is more.. To feed a meal that is just the width of the snake at the largest part (does not leave a lump after eating) and to only feed every 2-4 weeks depending on age, when the boa experts get here they can give you more pointers for that.

Good luck!

[bcr229]

...I have fed her once, 3 days ago-3 medium rats, because it's what I had on hand and she seems skinny to me.

That is a bit much for one feeding. I'd leave her alone for another few days to digest. My biggest girl is her size and she gets a jumbo every 3 weeks, and I know breeders with male boas the size of your female who give one medium rat every two weeks. Boas are supposed to be on the thin/squarish side, not round like king snakes or ball pythons. A round boa is a fat boa.

Also she has very audible breathing and appears to breathe a lot faster than my adult ball python. At first I thought she was hissing quietly at me when I first got her because of being bought and taken to a new place by a new person while being in the blue, pre shed. But I held her today for the first time and noticed that every breath she exhales sounds forced with a slight whistle and a little the same as she starts to inhale. Is it possible she's just anxious and hissing with every breath? She seemed anxious at first when I got her out of her bin, but I got her to calm down and perch on my shoulder for a few minutes before I put her up but the audible breathing/whistle never stopped. These might be stupid questions but please help?

My boas tend to huff and puff a bit when moving around, but you don't hear them breath when they're at rest. I also doubt it was a hiss, that sound is unmistakable and impressive in a larger snake than a ball python - think "Darth Vader" type breathing, and from a six foot animal a hiss will last for a loooooooooong time.

If she's in shed the noise could be from dry skin in/around her nostrils, or she could have an RI. Have you noticed any other signs - mucus, bubbles, laying with her head pointed straight up the side of the tub, yawning, etc?

[Evenstar]

1) 3 medium rats probably is not too much for a 6ft, 30lb boa. However, I'd like to see pics of your new snake to help you determine just how big she actually is and what size prey she should take. She probably isn't actually that big and so 3 mediums was likely too much. And, like Daybreaker said, stuffing a lot of food into an under weight boa is NOT a good idea at all. Generally, a single large or jumbo rat every 2-3 weeks is fine for most adult boas. Boas are NOT ball pythons - they have slower metabolisms and cannot process too much food well. So less is better with boas. When in doubt, opt for smaller prey less frequently. Also, boas should look lean and square so she might appear skinny to you if you are used to dealing with balls, but she may not in fact be skinny at all.

2) Get that thermostat asap. And I do mean ASAP. This is your single most important piece of equipment. The Hydrofarm off amazon is a good choice if you're on a budget. It is inexpensive, but it's a workhorse. I use 6 or 7 of them in my collection and don't have any trouble with any of them. But as Artgecko said, heat pads can get well over 100 degrees. Boas can and will exhibit neurological symptoms if they overheat. It would be better to step up the temps in the room she's in and take away the heat mat until you get a t-stat. If you can get the room temps up to 76-78 degrees, she should be fine for several days (just don't feed her during this time).

3) Some boas can be very vocal and will huff and puff when stressed. My adult female het leopard will sigh repeatedly when handled. I would keep a close eye on things and if you see any type of bubble or mucus in or around her mouth, I'd take her right in to a qualified herp vet for an exam. But if a few weeks pass and you don't see any additional symptoms, I'd chalk it up to her going in shed and/or huffing out of stress.

Looking forward to some pictures and we'll try to help you more!

[Gio]

Don't freak out yet.

Well I personally think 30 pounds is HUGE for a "Hog Island" boa male or female. However there is enough mixing within the Imperator lines that she could be Hog and Colombian. 30 pounds would still be pretty good sized but more likely if not a pure Hog Island.

As stated photos will help.

Going with the previous advice, feed less, especially right now. Move, stress, post shed and uncertain health. If there are any health issues, even minor ones, massive amounts of energy are required to digest prey. That can weaken the immune system's ability to fight off infection.

BUT,,,, don't be overly concerned just yet.

I few things I've noticed about our royal come to mind when reading your post. If I let her swim and then take her out of the water she will increase her breathing rate and there can be a little whistle sound, but not a wheezing sound. She does not do it when at rest, she does not do it if I just hold her, but I can tell the water may cause some stress or just get in her nose and on occasion I hear it.

My boa does not whistle although when he is out and on the move, he works hard at climbing and exploring. I occasionally will hear some heavier breathing and some of it has a higher pitch. Your boa is much larger than anything I have, so the audible breathing you hear may be normal but sound louder based on size.

A whistle now and then is not usually a serious concern. Sometimes my people's noses will make sounds at night because people and animals do have fluids in their bodies. They dry and remoisten. Rapid air movement can make interesting sounds.

However there is a big difference from a slight whistle that occurs now and again, from a consistent wheeze.

I would certainly watch for fluids and bubbles, and listen to the snake at rest to determine if the noise is constant.

Prepare to upgrade anything sub parr in your setup. Thermostat, thermometers, heat sources if needed.

Evenstar, Daybreaker and Doolittle are very good resources here.

If you are very concerned, don't hesitate to head to a reptile vet, but first see if anything mentioned here seems to be what is going on.

[sunnyscales2day]

Thanks all of you for your helpful replies. On the 14th I came home to find out she had pooed in her tub and as I went about the cleaning I just let her do as she pleased. She climbed up onto the side of her tub and just looked around for the most of the time. I did not hear her breathing any more and she seemed fine as far as breathing. I didn't take pics because I wanted the encounter to be as brief and stress free as possible for her. She seemed fine until I went to pick her up and put her back in the tub and the heavy breathing started again. It seems to me now that she just gets anxious about being handled and says so with quiet hissing. A big snake huffing and puffing with exertion also makes sense to me. Today when I get home I will try to take some pictures of her.
The tip about boas being squarish as apposed to pythons being round was very helpful, I couldn't find anything like that on the Internet. Also about the feeding, I am just going to have to say it's a lesson learned.
P.s. I fed her 2 days after she shed.

[Evenstar]

Sounds like you're on the right track. And one large meal isn't going to hurt her - what would hurt would be if you did it all the time. But you won't be doing that, so no problem! Looking forward to the pictures!

Btw, did you get that thermostat yet??

[sunnyscales2day]

Thermostats in the mail. I took her out last night and she was fine, she didn't seem as anxious about me and didn't hiss at all. I took plenty of pics but I couldn't figure out how to post them. I went through the forums to see if someone else had asked how and someone said tapatalk and another app is what is needed. I downloaded tapatalk but couldn't get it to work, it might be my crappie connection but I couldn't even find where to put my pictures in the app.
Can someone please explain how to post pictures?