going to get my first boa!!!!

[erebus45]

ok, after doing ALOT of research i have decided to go with the columbian red tail... most likley its just going to be a normal. the person i buy all my snakes from (2 blocks from my house) is going to get me a juvy male. he is going to keep him till i can get my cage set up and get all temps and humidity to where it needs to be. If anbody wants to share care tips and/or tricks please feel free i will glady take any and all advice since this is going to be my first real experience keeping a boa. thank you

[Sauzo]

Nice. One tip, if you got the time, go with a PVC cage. It will save you lots of headaches trying to mess with temps and humidity. Also no matter what you go with, you NEED a thermostat to regulate any heat source you use. Also avoid dial temp gauges as they are usually very inaccurate. Go with a digital one. Also offer the same kind of hides for cool and warm side so the snake doesn't have to choose between security vs warmth. And avoid lightbulbs for heat, they kill humidity. If you have to use some form of top heat, go with a CHE and make sure the snake cant get near it.

And when you feed, make sure the prey is no thicker than the thickest part of the snake and if the snake is over a year old and under 2 years old, go for once every 2 weeks on the feeding. Boas are easy to overfeed as they always want food.

[erebus45]

Thank you for all the info..... This is my set up that I have for my ball python and will be the same set up for the boa I have a ap- t8 with a 80watt rhp hooked into a ve-200 I use a acurite thermometer with humidity and probe I use aspen bedding their will be 2 hides one on each end and climbing sticks with those green vines all over lol.... Hope this kinda gives you a clue of what I'm going to do I am a animal lover I don't mind putting money in my snakes habitat to ensure they live a long and happy life I am also in the process of breeding my own feeders so I know what I'm giving my snakes (quality) I currently have 1 male and 2 females I just got it all set up yesterday so I should be getting some baby's before I even know it..... Thank you once again for all the advice and if their is anything that might throw a red flag up please feel free to let me know

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[Sauzo]

Nice. Lot more decorative than mine lol. I keep mine easy to clean as I just throw everything out every 30 days and spot clean daily especially the retic who is a pee and poo machine.
These are the 3 for my boas and retic. The other gals will be getting there's in a few months.
These are T10s btw. Will probably order T25s end of next year depending the boas and retic actually need them.

[erebus45]

Nice. Lot more decorative than mine lol. I keep mine easy to clean as I just throw everything out every 30 days and spot clean daily especially the retic who is a pee and poo machine.
These are the 3 for my boas and retic. The other gals will be getting there's in a few months.
These are T10s btw. Will probably order T25s end of next year depending the boas and retic actually need them.

awesome..... i wish i could have more snakes but all in good time. right now im just tring to get this mice breeding under control hopefully before i get my new red tail

[Sauzo]

Thanks and eww I hate rats and mice lol. I'm lucky in that all my gals and guy eat F/T. I just buy them every couple weeks. I really just need to get me my little chest freezer and then stock up on about 6 months worth from Layne Labs. Good luck with the breeding.

[Neal]

Thanks and eww I hate rats and mice lol. I'm lucky in that all my gals and guy eat F/T. I just buy them every couple weeks. I really just need to get me my little chest freezer and then stock up on about 6 months worth from Layne Labs. Good luck with the breeding.

Not to get off subject, but that's what I did. I bought a 3.5 cubic foot chest freezer, I ordered a ton of stuff extra, then I'm selling it and splitting shipping with the rest. I have enough hopper mice to last me a few months.

[cchardwick]

If you want to talk about breeding mice you should start a new thread about it, that's a whole can of worms you are opening up.

I breed tons of mice, one thing you have to realize is that if you go to the pet store and throw a bunch of random mice together they will tear each other up. I found that out when I went to the pet store to buy some feeders, he opened up the bin and there were a whole bunch of bloody white mice, it was shocking. Whatever you do don't keep more than one male per tank when the males are mature (at about 3-5 weeks old). It's best to get really young mice before they mature and before the testicles are obvious, just after being weaned, and keep them in their own group without adults. Then once they mature pair them up. Sometimes it's difficult to get a pair started without fighting. Once they breed keep all the young in their own group and pair up breeders as they mature.

I started pairing up one male and two females, there's no fighting but not sure how the babies will work with two females. Especially if one has young in the same nest as older babies, may be a nursing issue. Best to put them one male to one female in a separate 5 gallon or 10 gallon tank. Then I put the weaned babies in a 20 gallon feeder tank, when I put the new mice in I pull all the decorations and watch them. There is usually fighting and I'll pull the mean ones and gas them and feed them off, usually they are the mature males that fight. Even if you don't put in new mice the males will start fighting as they mature. s

Rats don't fight as much but some do and can get real mean, feed those off first. Usually with rats there's minor fighting for an hour or so, then they calm down. I found if you throw a young male rat in with a female with babies the female will fight him almost to the death of him. It's best to have one huge male rat with several smaller female rats and pull the moms as they are about to give birth. A rat ready to have babies can get really mean and usually has to be separated into a 10 gallon tank.

In my last batch of mice I moved the mom and dad and babies into a 20 gallon breeder so she could nurse them a bit more, right now I'm getting to the point where the mom is ready to have babies before the young are weaned, probably best to watch real close to separate the young as soon as she has more babies. I also find that white mice produce a lot more babies a lot quicker than fancy mice. It's probably best to find a good source of white feeder mice and use them as breeding stock. Sometimes you can get females that are ready to have babies, then you don't even need a male to start.

I used to think I hated mice and rats, that's only because it brings up thoughts of dead foul smelling rodents. Rats and mice are actually pretty cute and friendly once you get into them, the hard part is feeding them off, I can see some people getting really attached to them. It's best to have all white mice and rats so you don't get attached to any one particular rat or mouse. Personally I'd rather gas my own rodents and feed them fresh and fuzzy vs. feeding off a nasty freezer burned rodent that I have to soak in hot water. Just my preference...

[Zincubus]

That's an extreme view on frozen rodents to be honest ... I've only ever seen one freezer-burned rat in all my years and it was in the reptile shop's freezer. ....even then the guy who found it had been digging around near under all the stock and just unearthed it . He just chucked it straight in the bin and didn't even mention it .
For what it's worth I'm in the camp of the two guys above and have only ever fed DF rodents . 100% take up every time including the five Royals / Balls unless someone is in shed mode .

I accept that the are two sides to every story though and I respect your reasoning ...

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[Gio]

Nice caging O/P and Sauzo. Looking good.