New Parent; Help!

Oh good catch, I totally forgot about the T-stats lol. I'm so used to T-stats as being a given nowadays :) I too use Herpstats and Hydrofarms. Personally the Hydrofarms work good imo. I'm using one to run an RHP and it works fine. It isn't as precise as a Herpstat but a couple degrees aren't going to hurt your snake. Nature isn't a prefect 87F 24/7. And as for a UTH, I personally am not a huge fan of them and don't use them on any of my snakes. As long as you keep the ambient temps right, you will be fine. I have my ambients set to 87F on the hot side for all of my snakes and the cool side is around 82F and like I said, I don't run any UTH and they are all fine and eat like food is going extinct tomorrow. If you got the height, you can throw in a branch for them to sit on. Most BCI do like to sit on stuff. My little sunglow has a pvc perch I made her and she climbs up it and hangs out on it at night. Rosey, my big BCI likes to sit on the couch back or hang off the edges of the bed looking down at the floor. Guess it makes her feel like she is up in the air. During dinner time, she likes to grab the rat outside the cage door and then hang down almost to the floor holding the rat in her coil while eating it. Her cage is almost 3' off the ground. I'm waiting for the day she loses grip with her tail while doing that and falls on the floor lol. And yes offer hides but some boas wont use them. As I said before, Rosey only uses hides when she is going into shed because she gets cranky and gets antisocial. Vicky uses hides still because she is a baby. Rosey used hides as a baby too but at about 4ft long she quit using them and started pushing them aside so she could sleep next to them.

I can truly feel the love in this forum & thread! Thank you so much for you advice everyone! I'm like a sponge, i soak it all up!

• UPDATE: For about the last two hours I was cleaning out Rues tank, I took out the cocoa dirt & moss and replaced it with paper towels on bottom with Newpapers on top. I was a bit scared to put newspaper in there at first but after researching the forums say its alright. I also MADE him a hide. I took two smaller mailing boxes I had and taped them together, I will have to post pictures later. It's about half the length of the tank. I put it on the back wall, its narrow about the same as his log; just taller for him to coil up and not raise it. I have one small opening facing out to the front of the tank, and one opening on the left side by his water dish. I left the right side closed off so he could be 100% in the hide not next to any opening if he so pleases. I think it will be much better for him because his log was just to small i felt bad every time I would see him in, and its all raised up and what not ha.
• After all the input from everyone I do plan on feeding him a prekilled or f/t rat! The place where I bought little Rue was a local store called The Retile Emporium, the chick that owns it has been there for quit some time now! I will ask her for a prekilled rat, or I will make my boyfriend kill the rat before feeding it... Which leads to a whole mother question. What is the best way to go about that? I know he wouldn't mind doing that for rue though LOL

Orion

• He is very, very docile it blew my mind watching him feed. He's a turtle most of the time... except feeding time, he's quick as lighting!
• Thank you on the f/t advice I will add it to the knowledge bank and try to feed him f/t or prekilled friday!

SAUZO
Funny story actually! When I brought my sweet Rue home I put the box he was packaged up in on the bed and opened it. I left it open while I set up his tank, next thing I look over and just his little head is popping out to say "hello, what are ya doin :P" Melted my heart. Also when i lay him on my chest while watching TV he likes to have just his nose outside of the blanket. Your Rosey sounds just as sweet!

• I've been good about not handling Rue in his shed, except for just changing the linen the his tank just now. He's so cute sometimes it's so dang hard. His belly is bright pink though, so I know I better just leave him be.
• You stated that I should only feed him 2-3 weeks, right now he is loafed shape (I will also need to add better pictures of his actual loaf!) The lady I bought him from she said she feeds him on a 7-10 day range. Her exact words being "He has a very healthy appetite) I just want to make sure how I wean him is fair, health wise. If I even need to wean him at all. I'm very open to the idea of 2-3 weeks if that is what best for him (thank you for shedding light on that)
• As far as his cage goes, right now he is 55 gallon tank. I was pondering 180 gallon tank because of the options it is the most affordable thing. Though I am no cheapie when it comes to my fur/scale babies, cages/tanks/etc I have learned are VERY expensive. I looked at the pvc cages and ooooooo they are amazing! But so is the price, almost had a heart attack. I'm almost tempted in bugging my boyfriend to make me a custom one, I feel it might save me some money and give Rue what he needs/wants. Win win.

ArtGecko

• When I said he wouldn't use his water dish when I moved it to the warm side I meant, he wouldn't soak in it, he wouldn't drink any of it. Nothing. I change the water daily also. As soon as I moved it back (I'm not kidding) he hopped into it. I do love the idea of a large on the warm side, and the smaller on the cool.
• When he lays in that weird position (the only position so far that weirds me out) he is still alert, no zombie at all. Other than that, he STARES at me while in his tank. Also very creepy.
• As far as the cages, I posted above ^ in respond to suazo. If i make an at home cage/tank what are the basics. I would make sure it is the BEST for Rue not mu budget. I can't spend and arm on a custom built preorder tank, but I'm willing to make one! (And when I say me, I mean my boyfriend;))
• The rat I purchase right now are from the local reptile store. No petsmart, no petco, no co-op nothing or that sorts. I will see what she has available but I promise I will look into your advice of distributors as well.
• My poor Rue only had the one half log around the middle. It has the butt end, I mean just an inch on the heating pad, the rest of it is not under the lamp. He loved it, spend a lot of time in it... it was just so small dang it. But as I stated above I made a new hide that we shall see how he likes it.

Amazon Shopping List for this week Thursday or Friday (thank god I get paid this week LOL)

• Herpstat
• Hydrogram (non dial)
• Repti-Carpet (I never never used this but I like the look and the idea that I can wash and reuse. Opinions?)
• More cocoa dirt
• Moss
• Vines/Branches
• Extra Larger half log
• Extra log water dish
• F/T (local reptile store)

Any other suggestions?

Thank you so much for all your advice, I feel sweet little Rue will have a better quality of life because of it all.

I don't have too much to add but congrats on the boa. I adore mine. He is such a sweetie, unless he is shedding. Then he can be moody. My boy is in shed now but has been pleasant so far. Mostly I leave him alone while he's in blue. It seems to take forever until they finally shed, at least compared to my corn snakes.

The other posters have hit most of the point but I had one more to add. In my experience boas don't poop after every meal. They don't poop super often so no worries if he hasn't pooped between meals. Also when they are getting ready to shed they tend to hold it and go right after shed.

May I ask why you removed all his substrate?

Also I would not suggest reptile carpet. It can get nasty and hold bacteria. I use reptile bark mixed with forest floor for my boa and spot clean as needed.

Lastly, do you have some pictures? :)

I use newspaper... One of my snakes had mites and its easier to spot them with newspaper... which, btw, you might want to check for too... If he is soaking a lot especially.. Look in the bowl after he soaks. If there are mites, they will be small black / darkish brown flecks in the water.

You can get the hydrofarm, which is cheaper, and it should run the UTH fine. If you get a herpstat, it is great, but is more pricey. Check out the accurite indoor/outdoor thermometer / hygrometer.. They are cheap (like $12) and tend to do a good job, but you should be able to find a digital hygrometer as well.

If money is an issue, but you want a bigger cage, you can look for the "iris Christmas tree" bins... They are huge rubbermaid bins and are actually large enough for an adult boa. You drill extra holes for added ventilation, but otherwise, treat them like a tank. I use a large rubbermaid tub for my boa now (he is a little over 4') and it works great at holding humidity and gives him plenty of room. Plus, they are light and easy to clean /pick up. With any plastic bin though, you would not sit the lamp right on top, you would need to put it on a clamp or lamp stand over the tub so that it will not melt the plastic.

As for hides, good for you making your own. Many people use boxes with the bottom cut out and an opening cut in one side. I use the plastic hides from reptile basics a lot and like them. They aren't very expensive, but shipping is steep.

Don't get a 180 gallon glass tank. Those things weigh a ton and trying to heat something like and keep humidity will be a nightmare. Plus I would imagine it wont be cheap. Not sure which PVC cage companies you checked out but some can be very expensive. Personally the best bang for the buck I saw were from Animal Plastics, Boaphile or Constrictors NW(Pro-Line) when Ed starts doing cages again next month. A nice size 4' cage with a shelf should run you around $300-$400 depending which company you use but something that size should last you unless you got a girl and she ends up being a very big girl.

Oh also don't use reptile carpet. If your snake misses its target and grabs that carpet, it will lose teeth. Some poster mentioned that just a few days ago with his ball python. Personally I prefer aspen. I used Eco Earth years ago and I hated it. If it dries out, it gets dusty and the stuff gets everywhere. For my boa, when she got to be a big girl, she would pack that stuff down from her weight and it actually molded on me. I'm going to guess because it was so tightly packed down and wet that air couldn't get in there so it started growing mold balls. Anyways I quit using the stuff. Also I'm sure its just OCD on my part but I would rather not have my snakes sit on damp substrate 24/7 as I imagine scale rot starting.

As for a hide, my advice from what I learned from other guys with big boas is go to Walmart and buy http://www.walmart.com/ip/Sterilite-...Black/17011370. Then cut a U shaped door on the side. They are cheap and my 6' BCI girl loves it when she does actually use her hide and the guy who gave me the idea said his 7' BCI fits in it. Much better than those half logs and a lot easier to clean. Also as for climbing, check into making a PVC perch. You and your boyfriend can do it together and they are cheap and work great. I rough up the pieces with sandpaper to give more grip and my little sunglow loves her perch and climbs around all over at night. You just sketch out what design you want along with how long each piece will be etc, then go to Home Depot and buy the elbows, T joints and 10' pvc pipe and self cut to what you need. I don't use PVC cement as just connecting them together is plenty. You don't need to cement the pieces. Some people will also scorch the pieces with to give the PVC a wood look. Its really big with ATP and ETB owners as those snakes are purely arboreal.

Easiest way to kill rats is cervical dislocation. Some big rats its a real pita to do so those big ones, some people will swing them by the tail and hit their neck/head on the edge of a table or something to break their neck fast. Also another way is use dry ice in a small container with holes in it put inside a bigger container with the rat inside(so the rat cant touch the dry ice). The dry ice will release CO2 which will put the tat to sleep and kill it. You can also achieve the same thing with home made CO2 chambers using Tupperware and CO2 cartridges for paintball guns. Google it or Youtube it and you will find how to make them.

Omg I wish I could just merge all my posts into one lol. I just read your other thread about how you didn't know if your was a BCI or BCC. If it was sold to you as a Colombian Red Tail, then it is mostly like a BCI as a BCC would be labeled as something like a Suriname, Peruvian, Pucallpu or something along those, basically the local its from. Since yours is 4.5 years old, if it was a true red tail, you would see a very bright red tail. After seeing pictures you would easily see the difference. Also BCC tend to get larger than BCI and have more demanding husbandry. Also BCC have a much more stringent feeding routine since if you overfeed a BCC or give it too big of food it will probably regurgitate it and then you can possibly be in a world of hurt if it doesn't get corrected. BCI are much easier in that they love to eat and will pretty much eat anytime, anywhere, anything. With that said, I love my 2 BCI girls.

Forgot about the rat part... After having performed cervical dislocation on a rat... and not doing very well at it... I wouldn't use that method unless someone can show you in person. CO2 is the easiest IMO for a beginner (me being a beginner at that kind of thing also).

If you can get the store to prekill the rat for you, then that will work. If not, I'd advise getting a f/t one over trying to kill one yourself without CO2. If done correctly, CO2 will cause the rats to get sleepy before dying... So no pain or panick. If you watch a video and you see the rats darting around etc. it is because it was not done slowly enough and the rats are still awake and suffocating. To do it correctly, you have to slowly release CO2 until they are knocked out, then add a much larger dose and let them sit for several minutes to make sure they are dead.

Yeah Artgecko, it took me a few tries to get the cervical dislocation thing down. Even now with big rats, it is a pita. I'm about 50% on it working the first try which makes me feel horrible when I do fail. The smaller ones are easy as they have small necks and it breaks easy but those big ones....... CO2 is the easiest. You could also do F/T but for me, I look at F/T as a tv dinner and a fresh killed rat as home cookin! :P Yes I'm probably weird for thinking like that but how I picture it lol :)