Newbie to site

Hi!

I am new here.

I just got my 1st boa last friday.It a red tail. I was told its a red tail BCI.

I got it from a pet shop that was being shut down,they had about 30-45 min. to get all the live stock out before the locks were changed.So they gave me the snake.I had NOT planned on getting anything,just happened to be there when it all went down (owner of store didnt pay rent for 6 months and landlord showed up for his money.They didnt have it so he shut the place down)

Anyway,I havent taken care of a snake in 16 years, so I have a LOT of questions.

I do know the snake hadnt been fed in over 2 weeks,they said s/he was 6 months old but he is only about 17 1/2 " long.

Here are some pictures.......what do you think?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...riX2/snake.gif

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...iX2/snake1.gif

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/SherriX2/RT.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/SherriX2/RT2.jpg

Looks younger than 6 months thats for sure, but s/he is very pretty!


ps. Welcome!

"Anyway,I havent taken care of a snake in 16 years, so I have a LOT of questions."

Any specific questions?

Hi there!! Glad you made the jump!!
What a pretty little snake! It could be 6 months old if they haven't been feeding it very much or at least every week :(
So, like Edie asked: We're all ears so ask away with whatever you're wondering about.
This might get you going: What are you feeding him/her? How is the environment set-up? Does this snake understand how lucky he/she is to have been adopted by you? :P
Just kidding- but Welcome to this forum!!! :D

She looks fine.... It could be 6 months old, it would mean it isn't feeded very often, or it didn't wanted too..Beleive it or not, i have a 2 year old male witch weighs around 230 grams. So i am not surprised by the fact this is a boa of 6 months old..

Give her all the rest for about a week or maybe 2 weeks and start trying to get her on feeding. And again, very nice coloration on this boa :gj:

Welcome aboard!! :handshake

Very pretty little snake there! (That won't stay little! LOL)

Is that sand in the cage? If so, you might want to swap it out for aspen, repti-bark, or even plain ol' newspaper or paper towels. ;)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JLC

Welcome aboard!! :handshake

Very pretty little snake there! (That won't stay little! LOL)

Is that sand in the cage? If so, you might want to swap it out for aspen, repti-bark, or even plain ol' newspaper or paper towels. ;)

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Great catch Judy ;)
Sherri, sand is not good because it can cause an impaction which can be deadly :(
I have my boas on kraft paper with an area of aspen should they want to burrow. I also use radiant heat panels in each of their cages and they work really well. None of mine like to use a hide, but I have climbing branches for all of them and they hang out on them.
I have a 10 month old who is 498g, a year old who is 231g, and a 3 month old who is 93g. These are all snakes who have a good feeding response and who eat every 7 days. The yearling and the 10 month old take weanling rats and my little girl is on fuzzy rats.
If you look back on the posts in this section of the forum, you can see all my girls; I love boas :banana:

StarMom was the one who told me about this site. On the other site,someone jumped all over me about buying a snake before he even got to me know and find out how I got the snake. When I took it from the shop, I asked when was the last time it had been fed….they told at least weeks,maybe more! They had 2 frozen fuzzy mouse they gave me, I thawed them and gave them to him and he grabbed them right away ( I only gave him 1 at a time)

I just fed him 1 fuzzy mouse Friday night.I have 17 fuzzy mice left and 20 pinky rats.Next Friday I had planned on thawing out a fuzzy mouse & pinky rat together so that the rat will smell like the mouse since that’s all he has ever eaten. someone told me on the other site he looks dehydrated and NOT to feed him for a few weeks,but I did anyway.(but I did inject the mouse with water) My snake was staying in his water bowl soaking.I found a few mites on him and last night was the 1st time he didn’t get in his water dish for a long soak,he actually drank for a good 5 min. when I saw the 2 mites on him I took them off and since then he hasn’t soaked (but I know he has to have more then just though 2.)plus it might have been the extra water in his food??

Right now he is in a temp. cage. it’s a 10 gal ,screen top. The hot side is anywhere from 82 to 90.At this time I do not have a humidity reader (it broke) so what I did was drape a wet towel over the screen top (opposite end of the metal dome light that I use to heat the tank) I also have a heating pad under HALF the tank,same side as the light) he is no longer on sand,he is on newspaper. He has a hide away and a water dish big enough for him to get it,but not deep enough to cover his body.I have a 20 L to switch him to,but first I have to rearrange to get it in here. S/he is 17 1/2" long. And still doesn't have a name.....any suggestions? Does s/he look dehydrated to you?

Did I leave out anything?

I know next to nothing about boas (other than I LOVE looking at their beautiful pics!) so I won't comment on your questions. You'll find plenty of other people here who will help you out!

Welcome to the site and good job rescuing that poor boas! Who knows what would have happened to it in that situation! Yikes!

Don't worry about the idiot who chewed you out for taking the snake before researching how to care for it. Usually, that would be the recommended order of doing things, but this is OBVIOUSLY an exception to that rule. You are doing a wonderful job of searching out the information you need and already making changes based on what you are learning (the sand/newspaper switch).

Good job McKinsey for referring her here!

No kudos for me~ Sherri has the big heart to access all resources and so she gets the kudos! :P

I can't tell in the picture if she looks dehydrated (I'll refer to your snake as a a she since that is the default sex!)

For the mites, it is important for you to purchase Provent-A-Mite (PAM). It comes in a spray can and is absolutely the best thing for mites. Follow the directions exactly; don't spray the water bowl or snake :O

It is awesome that you got her off of the sand and onto paper.

The biggest glaring thing you might have overlooked, or not know about, is needing to get a thermostat to monitor the temps of your heat source. This is very important!!! Helix or Herpstat are the preferred brands; I use both and they are both great! Herpstat can be ordered from http://www.spyderrobotics.com and Helix can be ordered from http://www.reptilebasics.com/Helix-C...t-p-16139.html

Reptile Basics is a great site and the owner, Rich, is an amazing fellow. His products are top notch and so is his knowledge.

Using a towel for humidity can be a little risky since you don't really know how humid you are making the environment and towels are a terrific breeding ground for bacteria. Just be careful until you get the hygrometer :gj:

These little snakes grow up to be big little snakes and so you need to think ahead. Right now, my boas each have their own 2x3 cage (http://www.reptilebasics.com/2x3-Cag...h-p-16286.html) heated by a radiant heat panel (http://www.reptilebasics.com/Reptile...l-p-16371.html). But in another year (or less) I'll be getting them each their own 6x2x2 T-20 cage from Animal Plastics (http://www.animalplastics.com/). I'll get cages that big because mine really are females!! If they were males, I'd get....oh heck, who the heck am I kidding- I'd still get the big cage cause I like them to have as much activity space as possible :P I just include this information because your little one will thrive now that she is in your care and will put weight on quickly!!

Speaking of weight- there is a food issue. Your little one needs larger prey. I would maybe give her a rat pup for a few weeks (feeding every 7 days) and then bump up to weanling rats. The little bitty things you've got a really way too small :oops:

Oh boy, I've written a tome here- sorry. Please allow me to clarify anything that might be confusing for you. Also, I want to say that I have a lot of respect for people who open their hearts for animal rescues and try so hard to learn a lot in a short time. You rock!! :gj: