New Parent; Help!

I can see that Sauzo.. F/T is just the best option (for me) and if from a good source, is pretty close to fresh IMO. I am going to start breeding my own feeders soon and plan to do some f/k, but will likely keep doing f/t for the majority of meals (I will CO2 in batches, feed the fresh killed that night, then freeze / save the excess for later use).

I felt terrible the first time I tried CD.. and I failed trying it on a small rat (probably slightly older than weaned.. had mega colon and had to be put down). After that incident, I decided CO2 was the only way for me.. It is not cheap though.

If the OP has someone to show her (in person) how to do CD, then it might be a good option though.

Awesome looking boa.

Congratulations.

I noticed in one post you talked about using tape to make a hide. Unfortunately tape can get stuck to snakes and cause injuries, so I usually recommend avoiding any tape inside of an enclosure for a snake.


Telling a BCC from a BCI can be a bit difficult, since patterns can be highly variable, and locality crosses happen in captivity. Usually the BCI saddles look like hour glasses and BCI saddles have little widows peaks. This is not a 100% reliable way to tell, but based on the shape of your snakes saddles, I would guess BCC. Don't worry too much about what your snake is, since for the average keeper it doesn't matter that much. It would only really be important if you wanted to breed the snake.


There is a lot of confusion regarding what is and is not a red tailed boa. Unfortunately red tailed boa is a much abused common name. It probably doesn't have any real meaning at this point, since the pet trade has marketed numerous subspecies and locality types under that same name.

Also, if your hands are getting dried out form to much sanitizing of your hands, you can cut back a bit. If your snake is healthy and husbandry is good, it is unlikely you will infect your snake with anything. A simple but thorough hand washing before and after handling is probably enough. I currently have 4 snakes so it is possible I could pass something from one snake to another. I usually wash my hands between snakes and in three decades of keeping snakes, have never had a problem. You only have one snake, and most diseases that effect people do not effect snakes and vice versa. Salmonella is one of the exceptions. There are others, but snakes are not a large source of Zoonosis in humans, so just being clean is usually enough.

Best of luck.

David

Looking at the tail in the pictures you took, that is a BCI. BCC would have bright red tails. And like I said before, a pet shop will rarely get a BCI mixed with a BCC as a BCC is a lot more than a BCI cost wise. As for saddles, not true nightrainfalls. Saddle pattern isn't a way to tell. You have to count scales. I don't remember the exact number but you count caudal or subcadual scales and dorsal scales. You can goggle it and find the number you need. While its true Surinames have the peaks, its not true of Peruvian BCC. And in others like Guyanans and Brazilians, it might not be as prominent. Surinames are the ones with the high peaks and even those, some are bred to have higher peaks than others. The easiest way to tell is like I said, the tail. Any BCC will have a very noticeable bright red tail while Colombians aka Common Boa will have more of a copper tail.

And yes most localities are mixed blood as in nature their ranges do cross some. The pet trade is even worse as a lot of them are crossbred. If you are looking for a purebred locality boa, best bet is someone like Legacy Reptiles, Gus Rentfro(he is done though and got out but his stock is still around) or Vin Russo at Cutting Edge Herp. I'm sure there are others but those are the ones that come to mind.

Nice looking boa regardless from the couple pics. Reminds me of Rosey except Rosey is a lot bigger and fatter :)

As for cleaning, just buy Chlorhexadine. That's what I use to clean cages, water bowls, wash my hands inbetween handling, tables, utensils. They even use Chlorhexadine as an oral rinse. Of course you need to follow the dilution directions. And I agree, just wash your hands afterwards. Same thing, in about 30 years of catching wild stuff from amphibians to reptiles plus all the bought stuff, I haven't had a problem.

I think if you are truly interested in boa constrictors, you should purchase a copy of THE COMPLETE BOA CONSTRICTOR

By Vincent Russo.

I'd also recommend reading anything by Gus Rentfro on the internet.

Those two people are probably the world authorities on boa constrictors.

You get your retic yet Gio? Times a ticking!! I'm sol, no way I can scrounge up the scratch to get me a SD purple retic or SD GC retic before the 9th of next month, im sad :(

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Originally Posted by Sauzo

You get your retic yet Gio? Times a ticking!! I'm sol, no way I can scrounge up the scratch to get me a SD purple retic or SD GC retic before the 9th of next month, im sad :(

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Hey,

Not yet, but I have a good contact here in MN. He has mainlands, dwarfs and SD's.

I'm actually headed to see him tomorrow if all works out.

I'm quite torn as I have a Suriname option if the female is gravid and I love my coastal too and would get another if I could.

A real easy snake for me to own would be an Eastern King. Nothing to it as far as caging and husbandry, but I'm a big boa/python enthusiast so I'm not sure if I would do a colubrid or not at this point.

Not to change the topic here, but what do you have going?

I have nothing going atm. Just picked up a baby EBV Red Group/ Tom Burke Lipstick Sunglow possible super sunglow BCI girl. That's the snake in my avatar thing. So that's my new snake now. I need to get me a couple plastic cages for both her and my pied girl but I'm waiting to see what Ed does next month. Plus I'm still debating on AP T10 or T13 with a shelf or a Boaphile 422d or whatever Ed offers. I would like either an ATP or if somehow I find a pedigree SD purple or GC next but I want it to be a sure thing with high SD blood. I don't want a 15' snake and while my neighbors are pretty cool about my boas, I don't think they would be thrilled with a 15' snake that could possibly eat their children :rage: Grab one of those high peak suris off Skip. Those are hot looking suris if I was into locality boas but im mostly a morph guy.

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Originally Posted by HVani

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? :)

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Hi there! I removed his substrate because about every 2 weeks I change it out. (clean freak) I have been using the cocoa bark. He loves it! I do have pictures which I will upload tomorrow! Thank you for replying, and giving your advice!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Gio

I think if you are truly interested in boa constrictors, you should purchase a copy of THE COMPLETE BOA CONSTRICTOR

By Vincent Russo.

I'd also recommend reading anything by Gus Rentfro on the internet.

Those two people are probably the world authorities on boa constrictors.

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Hey! I've looked this up on amazon, I plan on purchasing it! Thank you!!

If you are worried about substrate cleanliness I would switch to paper towels. I am a clean freak as well. Its super easy and economical to just pull out the paper and replace. Plus it has the added benefit of being able to more clearly see all poops and urates to check for disease. Also can see if there are any mites present. To me, having any kind of porous mulch is just a great breeding ground for mold, bacteria and pathogenic organisms.

When we have foster reptiles we always use paper towels exclusively.