Scarlette - 2022 Colombian BCI

[Ailuros]

Fed her last night. Much better strike and coil this time. She's doing well.

[Bogertophis]

Fed her last night. Much better strike and coil this time. She's doing well.

The old saying, "practice makes perfect", applies to snakes too. Just think if we'd had to crawl out of our cribs to find food?

[Ailuros]

She's been eating and growing well, already around 2'2". Increasingly less headshy, and she has a great temperament. Her 6'x2'x2' is built, substrate is in (Coco Husk), along with some decor and climbing options. As of now I'm just watching the heat and humidity and looking for more enrichment.
Needless to say, this animal is amazing.

[Ailuros]

Sorry for the lack of posts, I ended up in a hospital for about a week and care for the animals was left under someone else. Needless to say they were cared for far better than last time. Weighing her today, she came in at 156 grams and is going into blue. She did refuse food last week. I wont be offering any this week due to her shed. She still has not been moved to the 6' enclosure, and I'm not rushing to move her. Still loving her, very much!

[Bogertophis]

Sorry for the lack of posts, I ended up in a hospital for about a week and care for the animals was left under someone else. Needless to say they were cared for far better than last time. Weighing her today, she came in at 156 grams and is going into blue. She did refuse food last week. I wont be offering any this week due to her shed. She still has not been moved to the 6' enclosure, and I'm not rushing to move her. Still loving her, very much!

So sorry to hear you were in the hospital for a bit- hope everything's okay now. Sounds like your boa is doing fine- I'd do the same thing right now- no rush to move her- especially not while she's in shed.

[Ailuros]

Fed her just a few minutes ago, I'm seeing what you all mean by hitting HARD. She struck harder than even my 3 year old carpet, with a surprising amount of strength for such a small animal. She is on small adult mice right now (17-20 grams) once a week. Shes gained an inch since I got her, along with some weight. She seems to be doing well on this.

[Bogertophis]

Yeah, you always want to stay out of the way of hungry boas. So much fun to feed though.

[Ailuros]

She's doing great. I moved her to the 6' enclosure a bit back, and she is doing good in it. Humidity is sitting higher and there's much more enrichment and vertical space. She doesn't really explore much, mainly staying in her warm hide (mid 80's). She eats well and has shed twice since my last post. She is now 190 grams, and around 26 inches. Her body condition is looking good, I'm not concerned with weight and she's decently lean. She's eating every 7-10 days. My only worry is hydration, she has a large water bowl (plenty big enough to soak in) and a humid hide, but her skin elasticity isn't great and she often just seems dry. I've given her a few soaks to try to help with this, but it doesn't do much. I've only seen her drink once from her bowl. If she has everything she needs will she take care of herself or should I step in more? Both her sheds have been complete with eyecaps, vent, and tip of the tail. Besides the hydration thing, I'm loving her personality and how well she handles. She's growing well.

[Bogertophis]

She's doing great. I moved her to the 6' enclosure a bit back, and she is doing good in it. Humidity is sitting higher and there's much more enrichment and vertical space. She doesn't really explore much, mainly staying in her warm hide (mid 80's). She eats well and has shed twice since my last post. She is now 190 grams, and around 26 inches. Her body condition is looking good, I'm not concerned with weight and she's decently lean. She's eating every 7-10 days. My only worry is hydration, she has a large water bowl (plenty big enough to soak in) and a humid hide, but her skin elasticity isn't great and she often just seems dry. I've given her a few soaks to try to help with this, but it doesn't do much. I've only seen her drink once from her bowl. If she has everything she needs will she take care of herself or should I step in more? Both her sheds have been complete with eyecaps, vent, and tip of the tail. Besides the hydration thing, I'm loving her personality and how well she handles. She's growing well.

Just a guess here, but skin elasticity might have more to do with digestion of fats & proteins in her diet, not hydration per se. It's a good sign that her sheds are complete, but how do her stools look & smell? Are they unusually malodorous? Was she ever fed live prey? Snakes can get intestinal parasites from eating live prey, & if that's the case, it might help to have her stool checked by your vet? I'm not saying that IS an issue, but it's just one thing that might be relevant to what you're perceiving as a problem with dry skin & reduced elasticity. Or it might really be nothing?

I know from experience that not all snakes digest equally well either- just a genetic quirk. Or if they were ever dosed with antibiotics (like before you got her?), you might try adding snake probiotics to her food- it might help her digestion (to get more out of everything she eats) & couldn't hurt.

[Ailuros]

Just a guess here, but skin elasticity might have more to do with digestion of fats & proteins in her diet, not hydration per se. It's a good sign that her sheds are complete, but how do her stools look & smell? Are they unusually malodorous? Was she ever fed live prey? Snakes can get intestinal parasites from eating live prey, & if that's the case, it might help to have her stool checked by your vet? I'm not saying that IS an issue, but it's just one thing that might be relevant to what you're perceiving as a problem with dry skin & reduced elasticity. Or it might really be nothing?

I know from experience that not all snakes digest equally well either- just a genetic quirk. Or if they were ever dosed with antibiotics (like before you got her?), you might try adding snake probiotics to her food- it might help her digestion (to get more out of everything she eats) & couldn't hurt.

I have only ever fed her f/t and when we first got her she was on f/t. Her waste don't smell like much, and I have seen no abnormalities. I don't believe she was ever given antibiotics, but I will certainly look into probiotics. Do you recommend any specific types, places to get them, or things to look out for?