handling after eating

Hey guys. This is my first post on this forum. I did a little searching. So I hope I don't get flamed.

But I just picked up my new baby boa. He ate like a champ today. First time ive fed him. My question is. I put him in a sterile 5 gallon bucket to feed him. How long after I feed him is it safe to handle him long enough to put him back in his terrarium?

I waited 5 or 10 minutes today and put him back in. He went straight to his hide spot. Just curious here. Thanks for the help guys. And hopefully ill be posting more as I learn more about my new friend.

i think about 10 minutes is good, just as long as you don't see him still doing the swallowing contractions. now i would let him be for 48 hours.

and just a note, you posted in the ball python forum, i realize it's a general snake question, but there is a great general boa and even a red tail boa forum (i don't know what kind of boa you have), and i am sure you will have a lot better responses there.

any way welcome to the forum.

Thanks for the reply. And he's a baby ball python. Didn't know if I stayed that or not.

Thanks for the welcome to the forum. I'm still making my way around learning as I go.

Are there any good links to his lighting/heat?

I just realized I said it was a boa. Its a ball python. I was drinking and posting and go figure I mess something up.

So this thread just got moved because of my stupidity. Haha

well the rule applies to all snakes, so everythings good.

And Lo..


It was whisked back to general Bp from it's little holiday in Boa land.:D

Here is a link to the caresheet with good info about what to aim at.

And here is a link to the glass tank setup sticky.

Those should answer a few questions and help you decide what to ask us next - and :welcome: to the site.

And it is with great embarassment I have to admit we are addicted to pictures so feel free to share once he's had a couple of days to digest his dinner.:D


dr del

Ok well later this evening will be a full 48 hours for him to digest his dinner.

He's spent the last 2 days in his cool side den digesting. So hopefully he won't mind me taking him out later.

Ill take some pictures and post em up for you guys.

I'm excited! I haven't held him yet. I've been letting him adjust to his new home.

Ok so I got him out tonight. First 5 minutes or so he just sat in my palm. After that he was all over the place! It was a nice first session for me.

Of course the digital camera was broken dr del so no pics :(

I'm workin on it though!

My only question right now is why does he spend ALL his time in his hide on the cool side?

Haven't temped the hot side. But the cool side stays at about 82 during the day. 80 ish at night. Humidity steady at about 65 all day. The hot side has a uth and a 40 watt bulb up above.

I followed the link and foiled and taped the screen top. That helped a lot with temps and humidity too.

Why won't he go to the hot side?

There's a high liklihood that the hot side is TOO hot. It sounds like you don't know what the temps are, nor are you controlling the temps in any way. Those UTH's can get really hot without some sort of control on them. Your best bet is a reliable thermostat such as a Johnson Control or a Ranco. A rheostat (dimmer switch) from the hardware store will work in a pinch as well.


So....find out what exactly the temps are on the hot side...in particular under his hide, since that is where he'll want to spend his time.

So a type of dimmer for his uth will work?

And then a thermostat for the overhead?

The store had a thermostat controller. I might pick that up then. I know the substrate on the hot side isn't too hot. Ive been on it since I don't have a controller yet.

Its just warm. Ill just pick that up and have it switch the uth and overhead off and on?

Or just the overhead? Uth?

Thanks for the help. I wanna get his home as comfy as possible. Thanks again.