Building a tank for my NEW red tail boa

SO! Im sooo stressed out!

I guy brought 3 red tails in to the animal hospital that I work at. All three were so emaciated and dehydrated. 2 had to be humanely euthanized because there condition was so poor. The other one I ended up taking from him because I could not see it go back to those condition.

So now I have a malnourished and dehydrated boa. He/she is active and took a medium sized rat for me but I honestly dont have him in a big enough enclosure right now. I was wondering if anyone has ever build a tank and if they had directions on how to do it. Im a pretty handy guy and I feel like that would be my "cheapest" option for housing him.

Also, what size tank should he be in? Should I just guy one?

Like I said, his tank is small but not "cruel" small, i just know that it could be bigger.

Thank you all in advance for the kind words and help!

Well that's a great thing you're doing there

It is generally accepted that MOST adult Boas will do fine in a 4x2 enclosure. The height is up to each individual. Most people probably go with 18", but if you have a climber a 2 ft is better.

I went with a 4x2x2 and it turns out my adult never leaves the ground. I sleep odd hours and change my sleep schedule around. I am constantly checking on my snakes, so I know for sure that she is not a climber.
I rescued her, so she probably never had the opportunity to climb, and thus is conditioned so.

There are a few guys here that have built some nice enclosures, I'm sure some will chime in.

BTW- I had my Boa in a small tank for 7 months, waaay longer than I had expected. However, I took her out regularly and still do for exercise and play days which does help with their overall health.


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I recently built a 24" x 18" x 48" enclosure for my BCI. I used 1/2" sanded white wood from Lowes for 35 a sheet.

I am really happy with my build but to be perfectly honest I spent just as much as I would have, had I bought a pvc T8 style enclosure.

Start off by building a box minus 1 face of the box for the opening. Id recommend helmsman spar eurethane to finish it off.

The helmsman finish holds water so well that when I was offgasing in the backyard, it filled up with 6 inches of rain when I couldn't make it home. It held all 6 inches inside with no leaks or warping!



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I was looking at the T8 type enclosure as well! My only question with those are how do you use a basking light? A friend that has one said he only uses UTHs? I was just confused by the whole concept because I have only every had glass type aquariums.

Radiant heat panels work great in t8 type. I highly recommend any plastics enclosure...they last forever and are light

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Im not familiar with radiant heat panels. I will have to look into them! Thanks! Also, do they need a basking spot?

I don't own a t8 but I remember seeing pictures of there being a routed spot for heat tape on the bottom.

How big is the boa? Honestly right now I would spend all of your time and attention on the snake rather than attempting to build an enclosure. The fact that the boa ate for you is fantastic. I would be doing daily soakings in warm water (85-90) ish degrees. I can help you build a pretty simple boa enclosure with a RHP. Boas do not need a basking spot like lizards, they do however need a hot spot of about 90 deg.

Do you have a menards by you?

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Well.....the newest development is MITES!!! Freaking MITES!!!