Help! Rescue red tail boa!

Hey everyone, here is the situation. A customer came in today to purchase frozen large rats. She asked me if we take animals? Anyone that knows me....

i asked what what she wanted to give up. A red tail boa!

She he explained that her mom is starting to experience dementia and can no longer care for it. He is a young boa. I said I would take him since I do have contacts and will be able to find him a home.

My questions are:

1.will a 40 breeder be ok for him?
2. Im going to use paper towels to start since I want him quarantined to make sure no mites. Is this ok?
3. What kind of hide or other stuff needs to be in the tank. Obviously he will have a water dish.
4. Any other tips you can give me.

She said her mom had a ret tail for years so he was very well taken care of. Had a huge tank from the last snake. Eats well when fed. (Again dementia and forgetting to feed).

This was not a big box store purchased snake. She knew how to,take care of it before her dementia started.

thanks everyone!

Here is a picture she just sent me. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...5ba066f85c.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...2ac3a5bc91.jpg

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1.will a 40 breeder be ok for him?

Should be fine, especially if just a temporary situation. I've also kept juvi boas in tub set ups like we do for BPs

2. Im going to use paper towels to start since I want him quarantined to make sure no mites. Is this ok?

Yes that is fine.

3. What kind of hide or other stuff needs to be in the tank. Obviously he will have a water dish.

Hide and water dish. If you want to provide something to climb on, go for it, but when in QT, best to keep minimal. 2 hides if you have the room.

4. Any other tips you can give me.

Boas are pretty hardy and easy to care for. They don't need to feed as often as BPs. They can be very foody and stay in food mode for up to an hour after feeding sometimes.
I'm sure you'll do great!

Hard to advise, what size is "young boa"? (and by whose memory? :rolleyes:)

Paper towels are fine as substrate, hide boxes can be cardboard temporarily if need be until you find what you want & need. (easy to make, also)

Don't keep as warm as for BPs...the BCI I had for many years often liked the cool side of her cage that was 72-76*. Like most snakes, they need warm &
cool side hide options.

Lucky boa to "find you"! :)

I will be keeping him at work until I find a proper home. I can't keep him with me at my house since there is absolutely no room. And if someone drops off an animal at work it stays at work. I will have him set up with proper temps and find him a home or turn him over to the local Herp society once out of quarantine.

I will ill get him weighed on the dog scale At work lol. He is eating large rats. Poor little beep has to lose his mommy. Such a sad situation when a snarent gets older and sick. Yes...I said snarent lol. Thanks ttaylorr

I am out but will write some parameters when I get home.

Basically:

Hot side: 86-88f

Ambient: About 80f or a little higher.

Cool side: 77-80f.

Some people say lower for cool side. However. BCI’s like 60-75%+ humidity. I bump to 75-80% when in shed. Do not get respiratory infections as easily as BPs but can get. I don’t like high humidity with low temps. Less margin for error.

If eating large rats could be a juvenile or a normal male BCI.

An an adult male at 6-9 pounds can do great on large rats.

Please get a weight and we can advise on what and how often to feed.

Very food driven. Be careful when feeding and realize they will think foood for a long time.

If you keep him for a while or find a good home. I’d recommend hook training.

Usually puppy dogs when out but want food all the time.

I’ll write more later.

Good luck.

Should I use a uva/uvb heat bulb? Or are they nocturnal as well. I know nothing about the bigger snakes.

I will ill be repurposing boxes at work for bigger hides for this guy. If I need to shelf pull stuff product for him I will do that as well.

Snakes do not need UVA/UVB and yes, boas are generally nocturnal.
:gj:

Ok here he is! He is a sweety and just hung out around my shoulders. I wiah i could keep him but he is too big for me. I couldnt keep up lol. I put paper towels down sprayed the paper towels with mitw spray and let dry.

He weighs just about 2kg and eati g f/t large rats.

Here are pictures of him in his current set up. If i am missing anything please let me know.

No he doesn't have any mites i could see and i checked him over. It is just a precaution. And he is quarantined with no other animals in that room.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...5151364235.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...be37eab6dc.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...2d90ff485d.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...1cf34bdd6b.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...52b1574133.jpg

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Sorry...he weighs 2120g.