University's boa is eating mice and has unregulated uth, what to do?

[katiekat]

Like the title says, my school's rescued boa is only being fed 2 mice every week or so and has a unregulated heat source.. The feeding record is next to the enclosure, so this 6 ft columbian is not getting enough food. There is also a display that lists the professor to contact if you have questions about the boa, I plan to email her about the situation but I'm not sure how to go about writing it without sounding too harsh... any suggestions?

[The Serpent Merchant]

Be as professional as possible, bring it up as a question (Professor ____ are you aware that the rescued boa is not getting the proper care...) List the issues then offer solutions. Maybe attach a good care sheet.

[darthkevin]

Be as professional as possible, bring it up as a question (Professor ____ are you aware that the rescued boa is not getting the proper care...) List the issues then offer solutions. Maybe attach a good care sheet.

X2 BUT if they are a biology professor don't think you are going to change their mind easily. But that's where the caresheet steps in


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk that's why it is probably misspelled

[jjmitchell]

I would fallow along with the agreed upon plan above.... I however wouldnt worry about changing the mind of the professor.... I took an advanced Human anatomy and physiology class last year, and my instructor is capable of teaching this class but has a multiple degrees in wild life management and conservation, those degrees require advanced animal biology classes.... During class he made a reference to shivering used to raise body temps and compared it to the way boas incubate their eggs.... He knew that I keep raise and breed snakes, so he looked at me when he made the statement and ask me if I had heard of this... I looked at him and told him that pythons use that method to raise temps in incubation but boas give live birth.... He admitted he was probably wrong and moved on...

If you are polite, correct and firm in you knowledge, and back it with supportive information they should take notice and take advice....

[loonunit]

Write a very professional letter pointing out the dangers. Don't get angry; just express concern for the well-being of the animal. Then find a few earnest, animal-loving friends who don't hate snakes, and ask them to do likewise. A small letter-writing campaign will get noticed, and that level of attention may motivate a shift. Especially if the animal is in a public display.

(Several people at ASU wrote letters to the biology department about the inadequate housing of their famous rattlesnake display. The changes aren't everything I would have hoped for, but the letters did help improve the housing conditions.)

ps. copy the head of the department. All the more reason to keep it calm and simply concerned. But that will really do it.

[katiekat]

Thanks everyone, I plan on sending him an email today
After doing some research this professor does teach herpetology so maybe he has just put someone else in charge of the snake, and they are the one's doing something wrong.. thats what I'm hoping at least.

[Annarose15]

Above all, be respectful and provide sources for your information. Avoid words like "wrong" and "poor" that could put someone on the defensive, and offer solutions (like I know you were going to anyway). Good luck!

[kitedemon]

The other thing is make sure you are correct. The feeding is light but is the UTH one that runs hot or is it self regulating? There are some on the market that are designed to stay with in a 90-95 range Pointing out a problem that exists, and one that does not exist, will get both dismissed. personally I would pose the unregulated pad as a question. Personally I feel all uths need to be regulated but I have loans of ones that yes I had a Tstat on it but the Tstat ran 100% power all the time and the pad held temps correctly. This represents a fair situation that perhaps a regulated UTH does not need a tstat. Especially in climate controlled spaces.