My First Boa

So I had a ball python when I was ~8 years old and my dad ended up rehoming it due to lack of caring for it.

I decided to get this Boa yesterday. Not sure if it’s a male or female yet, and she was poorly taken care of at the store, so we’re hoping to nurse her back to good health and get a little bit of girth back on her!

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Congratulations on your new little boa and good luck with turning her health around


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Originally Posted by richardhind1972

Congratulations on your new little boa and good luck with turning her health around


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Thanks! I’m really excited about it, but nervous at the same time. We brought her home last night and she spent the evening hiding but has been out and about today, largely curious and climbing up walls and seeing what’s going on. Yesterday was scheduled feeding day at the store, so hopefully she will take well to a mouse tonight!


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If she’s roaming already,I don’t think you will have a problem eating,boas are pretty good a lunch times


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Originally Posted by richardhind1972

If she’s roaming already,I don’t think you will have a problem eating,boas are pretty good a lunch times


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Well apparently she had "trouble" eating at the store, for quite some time, which is why she's extremely slender for her age.

They did say she was refusing pinkies but accepted fuzzies. I've got one thawing in warm water now, ready to go in about an hour.

I'm just new to this, so hopefully she enjoys it!

Oh, and the store was seriously neglecting her environmental requirements. They kept the entire enclosure around 78-80 degrees, and RH was under 40 on one end and under 30 on the other end.

I've got her (or him) at 90 on the warm end, and 80 on the cool end, with a RH hovering around 60% at about 4 inches off the substrate. I just realized I absolutely need to get a thermostat for the UTH I'm using. Should the probe go under the substrate inside the enclosure?

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Originally Posted by Tpot

Oh, and the store was seriously neglecting her environmental requirements. They kept the entire enclosure around 78-80 degrees, and RH was under 40 on one end and under 30 on the other end.

I've got her (or him) at 90 on the warm end, and 80 on the cool end, with a RH hovering around 60% at about 4 inches off the substrate. I just realized I absolutely need to get a thermostat for the UTH I'm using. Should the probe go under the substrate inside the enclosure?

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The probe should be suspended several inches from the ground but not touching the wall. Then use an infrared temp gun to calibrate the actual basking temp. It stops the snake moving or laying on it or peeing on it.

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Congrats on the new boa. Im adding one to my collection this week. It'll be my first boa too so we can learn together. If you're using a uth I'd place the t-stat probe between the uth and the bottom outside of the enclosure. Your warm hide should go directly over that spot on the inside. I usually have to set my thermostat at 92-94 to get an interior surface temperature hot spot of 86-88.

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Originally Posted by EL-Ziggy

Congrats on the new boa. Im adding one to my collection this week. It'll be my first boa too so we can learn together. If you're using a uth I'd place the t-stat probe between the uth and the bottom outside of the enclosure. Your warm hide should go directly over that spot on the inside. I usually have to set my thermostat at 92-94 to get an interior surface temperature hot spot of 86-88.

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He/she shouldn't really be using a UTH for a tropical species as they require the air to be warm as well as the objects in the enclosure. UTH uses infra red energy to heat objects but the air remains cool. That's good for a temperate species but for a Boa you ideally need a ceramic heat emmiter or radiant heat panel. Then again it also depends on where you live. This is what I meant when I was talking about probe positioning for a CHE or radiant heat panel earlier.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...10145d51c8.jpg

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Originally Posted by Valyrian

He/she shouldn't really be using a UTH for a tropical species as they require the air to be warm as well as the objects in the enclosure. UTH uses infra red energy to heat objects but the air remains cool. That's good for a temperate species but for a Boa you ideally need a ceramic heat emmiter or radiant heat panel. Then again it also depends on where you live. This is what I meant when I was talking about probe positioning for a CHE or radiant heat panel earlier.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...10145d51c8.jpg

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I am using a bulb for heating, and the air temperature remains about 88-90 on the warm side of the tank, measured about 4 inches off the substrate, and about an inch in from the glass.

Same setup on the cool side of the tank reads about 80 degrees. I’ve read to use a UTH to help radiate heat upwards on the basking spot, if this isn’t recommended, I will just worry about the air temperature inside the tank.

Any thoughts on how I should proceed?

Oh and as a reference, I’m currently using a 20 gallon long tank since she’s fairly small still.


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