New Red Tail Keeper Questions.

I just got a Red Tail tonight and i have a few questions that all the sites i visited weren't answering.


1. What's the appropriate humidity level?

2. Proper temperature? They said 85 degrees during the day and 80 at night but i just wanted to double check.

3. How long should i wait until i feed him for the first time?


That's about it. Any feedback is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

1. 50-60%
2. you don't need a night drop in temps. 82-85 cool, 92-95 warm.. nothing below 75
3. one week.. don't handle him for that week either.

Heres our caresheet:)

Redtail Boa caresheet

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Originally Posted by Shelby

1. 50-60%
2. you don't need a night drop in temps. 82-85 cool, 92-95 warm.. nothing below 75
3. one week.. don't handle him for that week either.

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Beat me to it :D

What kind of Red Tail? Any pics? They are fun to have...very curious snakes.

Just like any snake leave it for a good week or so totally undisturbed then offer it an appropriate prey. Did they tell you what this snake has been eating and in what manner? Follow the care sheet here and there is no need for a night drop. They do enjoy hides just as any snake does.

We've been enjoying fostering this big red tail and find him as easy to care for as the ball pythons we have. He is a more active, curious snake when out for handling though so needs to be monitored constantly (as any snake should be anyways) but he does move faster and seems far faster than the balls are. The only other major difference I've seen (other than he's so much bigger) is he tends to swing his neck and head out very fast in a sweeping motion when something interests him so we've had cups of coffee go flying and he actually managed to grab and open the fridge door as we passed by carrying him LOL.

Kinda like a big scaley 2 year old kid really....into everything, no fear, busy busy snake! This one has a super personality and is wonderful to have in the house.

Best of luck with yours!


~~Jo~~

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Originally Posted by frankykeno

balls are. The only other major difference I've seen (other than he's so much bigger) is he tends to swing his neck and head out very fast in a sweeping motion when something interests him so we've had cups of coffee go flying and he actually managed to grab and open the fridge door as we passed by carrying him LOL.

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lol, yes my hogg island boa does this too. She seems to do it when she thinks she's going to fall. I have to watch out because she'll bonk her head into things.

Had to laugh when I read your post Shelby! That's exactly what we have to watch for when carrying Rauri! I always worry he'll bonk his head into stuff and he's so darn fast too that before you can react he's hooked something or knocked something flying on the way by.

When he managed to open the fridge door we just had to laugh...it was like "okay Raurie we know it's Sunday and it's time for football but NO you can't grab a beer out of the fridge on the way by!"


~~Jo~~

Yeah, you know she almost pulled my fan down on top of me once. It's kind of freaky when it's my neck she hooks herself around.. lol she's so darn fast. You think she's on your neck, and before you know it she's on the floor heading under the bed!

So it must be like that with all of them. I had Lola on my shoulders in the basement and she reached up and grabbed ahold of the plumbing in the ceiling down there. If I hadn't come to an abrupt stop, could've strangled myself!! Then I had a hell of a time getting her down without breaking anything (PVC plumbing) ...and is she sneaky!! Was laying back on the couch watching a movie with her laying on me. Kind of kept notice she was still there because I could feel her against my arm. Well, I looked down just in time to notice it was now her tail, not mid section, against my arm, and her head and full front third had gotten over and behind the couch and I never felt her moving!!!

Lol, those are some funny stories.

From the moment i took him out of the cage at the store i noticed how active and curious he was. But i didn't think i would have to watch out for things he would suddenly grab on to when he gets bigger. I'm really excited.

Yeah, the nice man at PetCo said he was feeding him frozen pinkies once a week so that's what i'm gonna do til he moves up to the next food item.

Now let me see if i can get a picture up here...

Everyone say hello to Hector.
http://hometown.aol.com/johnsstalker...ture%20216.jpg

Hector, say hello to everyone. :)
http://hometown.aol.com/johnsstalker...ture%20217.jpg

Sorry for it being so blurry.. my webcam stinks.

Pinkies? Rat pinks I hope! He can easily eat a fuzzy or hopper mouse.

Hiya Hector!

Yes they are quite the snakes LOL. Rauri is a very girthy almost 6 feet these days but can do that "I'm not moving...I'm not moving...I'M UNDER THE COUCH....BWWWWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" thing really really well! You think the dust bunnies under there would scare him off!


~~Jo~~

Dust bunnies scare a boa? You're confused, Jo. The dust bunnies should be the scared ones.

But Shelby those dust bunnies scare me!!!! Oh wait....Rauri is actually longer than I am tall....well that explains that!

Next time he goes for a jaunt under the coach I'm sending him in with a feather duster. Since he's determined to get under there he may as well make himself useful :P


~~Jo~~

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Originally Posted by frankykeno

"I'm not moving...I'm not moving...I'M UNDER THE COUCH....BWWWWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" thing ~~Jo~~

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That sums up that activity VERY well!! Its just like that. nuthin, nuthin, GONE! :shh: :couch:

Oh one thing I did forget to mention. At least with this big boy, he has a very long I guess you would call it strike zone (????). In other words use long tongs LOL. He seems to strike out further in percentage to his length than most of our balls do and we learned the hard way (teeth scrapes) to go for a longer tong than we thought we needed for him. One trip to the dollar store for the extra long kitchen tongs and all is well again.

The other difference we see is once he's contricted his prey he seems to take quite awhile to start actually eating it. He'll look around a lot before settling in to eat, way more than the BP's do. I don't know if this is normal for this species of snake or just Rauri's way of doing things though.


~~Jo~~

My hogg does the same thing when she eats. She constricts it for awhile, lets go and makes sure no one's watching.. then sniffs around in every direction but where the rat is. FINALLY she'll eat it.

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He seems to strike out further in percentage to his length than most of our balls do

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Bcis can strike half their length...quickly. In the wild they always eat big meals and need that extra "tag" to force the prey down.

Oh well that explains that then. Like I said we had to learn the hard way that Rauri's strike is far longer than we assumed it would be (what's a tooth scrape or two or five between friends LOL).

Oh another funny story about this big goofy snake. Last night hubby was watching the Red Wings hockey on TV. Guess who spent a fair bit of time apparently watching hockey with hubby! I think all those quick moving hockey players just fascinate this snake. Hope he was cheering for the Wings in his lil snakey brain though, anything else would sadden the hubby considerably!


~~Jo~~