New addition BRB

[WintersSerpentine]

When my fiance and I first started participating in this lovely hobby together, we focused on ball pythons. We have a stable collection there (and are still actively looking around for breeder size females and males to add from reputable breeders), but as we advanced with the ball pythons, we wanted to try something new. We were comfortable with the ball pythons, the way they moved, but I'm sure most people will agree that BP's aren't "show" snakes..

So we got two carpet pythons... then two BCI's. Now we have a Brazilian Rainbow Boa. We did extensive research before buying him. He's a hatchling still, born at the very end of 2k16. His enclosure is currently a 40gal, but he has a vision cage on the way. I am currently using 2/3 eco earth, 1/3 forest floor cypress mulch as his substrate. In his enclosure he has a large vine, a water bowl, and a snug wooden log with multiple places to rest/hide.
I would very much so like to go ahead and buy decor to clutter his space. He seems very comfortable and is extremely docile (even for a hatchling) and I would definitely prefer he stays this way. Currently his temps are ~75 on the cold side, ~82 in the middle, and 91 on the warm side. His water bowl is placed beneath his lamp that we run for 6hrs (the other 18hrs he is on a thermostat regulated UTH to avoid drying his enclosure out.) His humidity is staying right around 90% and spiked to 95% when I covered half of the tank top with reynolds wrap. I have read repetitively that the higher the humidity, the better. His substrate is not staying wet and I have only been misting it once a day to let it dry out and avoid mold.

Here are my 2 questions and I will add pictures later;
1. Is higher humidity good, or should I try and moderate it right at 90% for the hatchling?
2. I know that I need to purchase a cold hide and am actually on the way to do so now, it will be another wood hide. What other decor do your BRB's especially like?

And a bonus question;
3. I would like to add a small pool of water on one end of his viv, filtered with rocks (like a pool), does anyone currently have a set up similar and like it?

Thanks,

[bcr229]

A warm side temp of 91*F is too high, drop it down to 86*F. Any higher can cause neurological issues.

The minimum humidity for a baby is 90%, go ahead and let the substrate be wet. I used cypress mulch for my babies when I bred my female a few years back; the neonates spent all of their time burrowed in it, and cypress doesn't have mold issues.

I would also remove the wooden log hide, it will mold quickly. With a BRB plastic hides are your friend. If you put down an inch of substrate I wouldn't worry about adding true "hides" as your baby will burrow, just put in some fake plants to simulate ground cover.

[Zincubus]

When my fiance and I first started participating in this lovely hobby together, we focused on ball pythons. We have a stable collection there (and are still actively looking around for breeder size females and males to add from reputable breeders), but as we advanced with the ball pythons, we wanted to try something new. We were comfortable with the ball pythons, the way they moved, but I'm sure most people will agree that BP's aren't "show" snakes..

So we got two carpet pythons... then two BCI's. Now we have a Brazilian Rainbow Boa. We did extensive research before buying him. He's a hatchling still, born at the very end of 2k16. His enclosure is currently a 40gal, but he has a vision cage on the way. I am currently using 2/3 eco earth, 1/3 forest floor cypress mulch as his substrate. In his enclosure he has a large vine, a water bowl, and a snug wooden log with multiple places to rest/hide.
I would very much so like to go ahead and buy decor to clutter his space. He seems very comfortable and is extremely docile (even for a hatchling) and I would definitely prefer he stays this way. Currently his temps are ~75 on the cold side, ~82 in the middle, and 91 on the warm side. His water bowl is placed beneath his lamp that we run for 6hrs (the other 18hrs he is on a thermostat regulated UTH to avoid drying his enclosure out.) His humidity is staying right around 90% and spiked to 95% when I covered half of the tank top with reynolds wrap. I have read repetitively that the higher the humidity, the better. His substrate is not staying wet and I have only been misting it once a day to let it dry out and avoid mold.

Here are my 2 questions and I will add pictures later;
1. Is higher humidity good, or should I try and moderate it right at 90% for the hatchling?
2. I know that I need to purchase a cold hide and am actually on the way to do so now, it will be another wood hide. What other decor do your BRB's especially like?

And a bonus question;
3. I would like to add a small pool of water on one end of his viv, filtered with rocks (like a pool), does anyone currently have a set up similar and like it?

Thanks,

Just for what it's worth .... I had great success with BRBs a few years ago ...I had a layer of lush moss growing onto top of a mixed layer of orchid / reptile bark and Eco earth . Never had any issues at all with regards to humidity and both they and the setup looked amazing and of course they were in fantastic health .

Incidentally they didn't have hides as such but stayed under the moss during the day and spend most evening hours on top and in branches ...

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[chip07]

Yeah 91 is way too high. I keep my two around 80 at the hottest spot.

[cletus]

Congrats! spazhime has a little waterfall. Its in the BRB progression thread below this one. It's pretty sweet..

[WintersSerpentine]

A warm side temp of 91*F is too high, drop it down to 86*F. Any higher can cause neurological issues.

The minimum humidity for a baby is 90%, go ahead and let the substrate be wet. I used cypress mulch for my babies when I bred my female a few years back; the neonates spent all of their time burrowed in it, and cypress doesn't have mold issues.

I would also remove the wooden log hide, it will mold quickly. With a BRB plastic hides are your friend. If you put down an inch of substrate I wouldn't worry about adding true "hides" as your baby will burrow, just put in some fake plants to simulate ground cover.

Okay, we got home about an hour ago and his warm side is fluctuating between 85 and 86 with the thermostat now, ambient ~79, cool side still at 75 on the cold side, is this correct? Thank you for the advice. I wanted to make sure I took care of it before responding here.
I'm using the cypress and eco-earth mix to try and grow a few low plants/moss over the ground for cover, so there's about an inch and a half. I've noticed that he burrowed earlier when I turned his lamp on.. it's a red bulb. Should I just keep this for when he's being shown to friends and stick with the UTH around the clock? Or is it good that he is burrowing? Sorry for so many questions, and thank you in advance, I just want to make sure he's good to go from other's personal experiences.

We ended up buying a ceramic hide and a plastic hide (one's a little buddha statue, the other is a replica log but plastic), so I will go ahead and take the wood out. Thank you for all of your advice.

Just for what it's worth .... I had great success with BRBs a few years ago ...I had a layer of lush moss growing onto top of a mixed layer of orchid / reptile bark and Eco earth . Never had any issues at all with regards to humidity and both they and the setup looked amazing and of course they were in fantastic health .

Incidentally they didn't have hides as such but stayed under the moss during the day and spend most evening hours on top and in branches ...

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Advice is priceless! I really like the moss idea, Zinc. I've never heard of orchid/reptile bark before, could I use my same mixture of cypress and eco-earth, maybe? Sounds like a great way to have a self sustaining viv (almost), thank you!

Yeah 91 is way too high. I keep my two around 80 at the hottest spot.

Got home about an hour ago and immediately made changes to his UTH. His warm side is fluctuating between 85 and 86, but staying closer to 85.. would you recommend trying to drop it to maybe 82-83? His ambient was 79 but just fluctuated up to 80, and the cool side is holding a steady 74/75. thank you!

Congrats! spazhime has a little waterfall. Its in the BRB progression thread below this one. It's pretty sweet..

Thanks, Cletus! I didn't even see that and I had been looking through the "BRB" tags on here. Good eye! That's exactly what I was envisioning in my head for him.

[WintersSerpentine]

The wooden log hide has been removed and replaced with a plastic replica wood hide. We also picked up a ceramic buddha with 3 or 4 holes for little rainbow to utilize. Added some clutter with fake plants. His temps are now: Cool Side ~74.5*F, Ambient ~79.9*F, Warm side ~85.2*F.

**New Questions, TIA**
1. Are hibiscus a good plant to grow in a rainbow boa enclosure? Everywhere I have researched points to hibiscus being a snake friendly plant and could be used in a tropical viv. Would love to have moss and hibiscus growing in the eco-earth to promote self-sufficiency for him, as well as provide a hide.
2. Has anyone here used the zoo-med hand held mister? Is this a better option over the in-tank mister? And most importantly, would this mister enhance my snakes life/shedding, or promote R.I or sickness?

[WintersSerpentine]

94% humidity. Snapped a quick pic and now it's time to leave him be for a week to settle in (after this photo I replaced the log hide.)
I think he needs a lot more cover, so I will be looking into moss, but he's a happy camper for now.

[bcr229]

I wouldn't try to grow anything in a BRB enclosure. They burrow so they will undermine root systems pretty quickly.

[Zincubus]

I wouldn't try to grow anything in a BRB enclosure. They burrow so they will undermine root systems pretty quickly.

The moss actually faired rather well , maybe I just got lucky .
I used to get it from the local woods in clumps with the root system intact . Even so , occasionally I used to freshen things up with new clumps .