It was with extreme pleasure that Mike and I announce that the long awaited adult female boa, Tequila, arrived safe and sound in Toledo today!
Tequila as some of you may remember is a 8 foot or so BCI that Jamie Glass took in back in September of 05. She had previously been with the same owner for 11 years and was a very beloved pet. Mike and I were very honored when Jamie agreed that we'd make a nice forever home for this lovely big girl (she weighs approx. 35 lbs). As best as anyone can figure doing the math, Tequila is about 15 years old, making her birth likely in 1993.
Here she is coming out of her shipping bag after her flight from Newark to Toledo today - very nice and calm....
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...pingbag04-.jpg
Checking out her new digs.....
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...se04-23-08.jpg
Bella seems to be not quite sure what this new pet is....
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...therout04-.jpg
We decided to try to build Tequila a custom enclosure and stole the idea of rehabbing a large walk-in closet in our livingroom from a dear friend of mine that does the same to create huge adult iguana enclosures. Here's what we started with.....
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...nalCloset2.jpg
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...nalCloset1.jpg
Basically a junk closet in our livingroom. It has wonderful dimensions for a big boa though being 6 feet long by 3.5 feet deep by 9 feet high.
The original door.....
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...ClosetDoor.jpg
After some fast work with the saw.....
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...DoorCutOut.jpg
Plexiglass installed on the top two cut outs to allow for light to enter and to help trap rising warmth.....
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...ilaDoortop.jpg
Rubber covered heavy mesh installed on bottom two cut outs to allow for good ventilation.....
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...Doorbottom.jpg
There is also a large shelf up high (replaces the two you see in the original picture, that Tequila can rest on and which will have an auxillary heat lamp in a protective case for the cooler months. We should have her complete climbing appartus installed soon which is basically a system of thick PVC pipes and Y joints covered in astroturf. At that point she can then take advantage of multiple heights and the full vertical 9 feet of her enclosure. :)
The floor which is hardwood is protected by a double thickness of rubber pool liner and then a good thick layer of cypress mulch for her bedding. The door has a lock installed that only Mike and I carry the key for.
The way the cupboard is built she can come look at us and view the livingroom activities but if she wants some privacy she can just go hang out on the left side of the closet (more than half of it) where she's shielded from view and direct light. Hopefully she'll enjoy that.
So far she seems content, lazily checking out her enclosure, peeking at us through the lower mesh occasionally and of course, she dropped a big urate because heck you can't have a perfectly clean enclosure! LOL
Jamie, thank you again for entrusting Tequila to us. We are so thrilled to share our lives again with a big female boa. Sure hope she enjoys Red Wings hockey! :D
