Potential BRB owner with a few questions...

[VanSickel_Balls]

Hello,
I'm considering expanding my collection to include a baby brazilian rainbow boa.
However, I have a few questions and concerns I'd like to clear up first:
1. Enclosure. A latching Sterile tub should be sufficient, correct, as they hold I'm humidity much more? How much ventilation do you add as far as air holes go?
2. Substrate. All of my BP's are on paper towels and I absolutely love it. Decent humidity and quick clean up. I've heard BRB's can do well on paper towels?
3. Humidity. I've seen a few different ranges for BRB's, for babies, adults, etc. From what I've read, babies should be kept about 80% humidity, or? I plan to provide a humidity hide as well as a water dish large enough for soaking as well.
4. Temperature. And here lies my biggest concern. I live in central CA where the summer months are blistering hot, and despite AC, houses are always a bit warmer (though it starts to cool off late Sept./Oct.). I hear BRBS are very temp sensitive, needing specific gradients and such. Getting an UTH with a thermostat is no problem at all, but it's the ambient Temps I'm a little worried about. Our house can reach 80 degrees on a really hot day, even with AC, and stay there for a few hours until night time cools it off... is this realistic for keeping a BRB? Winter is coming up, and of course we have AC, fans for air circulation, etc. I just don't want the little one to be too hot..

Thanks for any and all help!

[VanSickel_Balls]

I could really use some help...

[Bcycling]

I would like to see the answers to those questions as well. That is one species I have been contemplating also.

I had many people tell me they are nasty also, although all of them I have handled have been fine. What is the temperament I should expect? I know babies are nippy, but do most calm down?

[bcr229]

Humidity: Babies 90% or higher, juveniles 80% or higher, adults 75% or higher. The easiest way to give high humidity to a baby is with an inch of cypress mulch or other mold-resistant substrate that can stay damp. The babies love to burrow in it. You can spot clean as needed and replace it monthly (I put the used stuff on my veggie garden). I wouldn't recommend paper towels as they will constantly suck humidity out of the air and get wet, which turns into a mess.

You must use tubs or proper reptile enclosures designed to retain humidity. You will have to play with the number of holes required for ventilation based on air flow in the room. A piece of tape on the outside of the tub can block a hole if you put in too many.

Temps: 75*F-85*F. I have my adults in 52-qt under-bed tubs with belly heat at 88*F. When they lie on the heat to digest their bodies temp at 82-84*F depending on how much of themselves they put over the UTH. Cool side is house ambient, 76*F.

Spending a few hours at 80*F if your house gets hot won't hurt them. You can also mitigate temperature swings in the tub by adding "thermal mass", such as a large water bowl (make sure it's undumpable) or even a big rock.

Babies can be very nippy but grow out of it with patient and gentle handling. My female produced a litter a few years ago and every baby had taken a swipe at me within the first 48 hours. Adults are usually chill.

Because they are kept at lower temperatures they digest their food more slowly than pythons. I usually feed babies every 7-10 days, juveniles every 10-14 days, and adults every 3-4 weeks. Feeders should leave a barely visible lump in babies and juveniles. My adults get rabbit fuzzies that weigh 3-4 oz (90-120 grams), or the equivalent of a medium rat.

[VanSickel_Balls]

Temps: 75*F-85*F. I have my adults in 52-qt under-bed tubs with belly heat at 88*F. When they lie on the heat to digest their bodies temp at 82-84*F depending on how much of themselves they put over the UTH. Cool side is house ambient, 76*F.

Spending a few hours at 80*F if your house gets hot won't hurt them. You can also mitigate temperature swings in the tub by adding "thermal mass", such as a large water bowl (make sure it's undumpable) or even a big rock.

Because they are kept at lower temperatures they digest their food more slowly than pythons. I usually feed babies every 7-10 days, juveniles every 10-14 days, and adults every 3-4 weeks. Feeders should leave a barely visible lump in babies and juveniles. My adults get rabbit fuzzies that weigh 3-4 oz (90-120 grams), or the equivalent of a medium rat.

Thank for the reply, it was very helpful!
I liked the idea of adding thermal mass. Is the idea that having more items like that in there makes it harder to for the overall air to hear up? Or?

As far as the UTH, like those from ZooMed, do you attach them directly to the bottom of the plastic bin, or could I put a thin layer of aluminum tape on the plastic before sticking on the UTH? I've just read so many horror stories of UTH melting right through plastic bins lately and it makes me nervous.

I'm also a little confused on overall bin size. If babies are kept in such small bins, how do I fit everything they need I'm there (water bowl to soak, humidity hide, a rock, etc)? And how is there enough space from the hot and cool side for there to be a decent heat gradient?

[bcr229]

My babies were kept in a hatchling rack with back heat. The tubs were set up with cypress and a small water bowl, no hides were needed since they just burrowed under the cypress.

The UTH goes under the tub with the thermostat probe sandwiched between the UTH and the tub. Since the UTH should never go above 90*F to create a hot spot in the mid-80's, it can't melt the tub. I know some people use the foil so that they can easily move the UTH from tub to tub as needed.

"Thermal mass" = something big and dense that will take a long time to heat up and/or cool down as the ambient air temperature changes, that your snake can lie on or against to cool off as your house gets warm.

[VanSickel_Balls]

My babies were kept in a hatchling rack with back heat. The tubs were set up with cypress and a small water bowl, no hides were needed since they just burrowed under the cypress.

The UTH goes under the tub with the thermostat probe sandwiched between the UTH and the tub. Since the UTH should never go above 90*F to create a hot spot in the mid-80's, it can't melt the tub. I know some people use the foil so that they can easily move the UTH from tub to tub as needed.

"Thermal mass" = something big and dense that will take a long time to heat up and/or cool down as the ambient air temperature changes, that your snake can lie on or against to cool off as your house gets warm.

This is all so helpful! Thank you!
If need be could I ever take a cool water bottle from our fridge, wrap it in a wash cloth and set it on the cool side, or is that a bit excessive?

Also a hatchling BRB should start out in what feed size and how often? I've read a few different opinions on this.

[bcr229]

If need be could I ever take a cool water bottle from our fridge, wrap it in a wash cloth and set it on the cool side, or is that a bit excessive?

This is probably overkill. I would just mist with tap water during the hot part of the day.

Also a hatchling BRB should start out in what feed size and how often? I've read a few different opinions on this.

BRB's don't hatch, they are live-bearers.

Depending on the size of the neonate, either a mouse fuzzy or hopper is fine to start.

[VanSickel_Balls]

*face palm* I knew that. I knew they were live bearers, I'm just so used to saying hatch instead of born. Now I feel dumb haha.

Well thank you again for answering all of my questions! Your answers were extremely helpful and I'll post here aga in if I need any more help!

[LynnGunn]

I know you've already gotten an answer but it never hurts to get more than one opinion. As far as humidity it has to stay rather high, 90%-100% as babies and slightly lower as they grow older. I wouldn't recommend paper towels substrate, it works well for lower humidity animals but you need something a little more for BRB's. I would recommend anything that is compressed, you have to add water to it so it will naturally do wonders for humidity.