Help!

Ok so my wife and I just recently bought 2 red-tail boas. I already have ball pythons but these are my first boas. I have their tempatures set to 82 on the cool side, and 92 on the warm side. Their using plain substrate newspaper, and there are hides on both sides. Yet for some reason, both of the boas are soaking in their water bowls. I know ball pythons do this from time to time, but these guys arn't taking a small dip, they've been in there for two or three hours already, am I missing something? Any help is appreciated!

How are you reading the temps? With a analogue or digital thermometer? Take your hand and run it down the snake and look for red smears on your hand afterwards. What is the humidity at? What do you use for heat? Everything and anything you can tell us about your enclosure and the habitat they are in is key to pointing out what is up with them. Are they in the same enclosure? etc? etc?

The most common cause of soaking like that is mites.. As Jim said, run your hand down the snake and see if you find red or black dots or smears on your hands. You can also check for mites by looking closely around the eyes, mouth and vent. They look like little black or red moving dots.. very small.

Overly low humidity or too warm temperatures are the other reasons I can think of.. sounds like your temperatures are good though.

If smears...buy some Provent a mite (pam) from a reputable reptile supply dealer and treat the enclosures as directed because you have mites. If the humidity is below 50% you need to adjust the setup to contain humidity better and up the humidity to 50-60%.

They were in the same enclosure because we got them last night (spur of the momment) and only had one cage currently set up, and one set of heat supplies. They're now currently in seperate cages but both are resting in their water bowls. Im using a digital thermometer, and a ceramic heating bulb. The Humidity is running a little low currently at about 45% although that reading could have something to due with the fact that I had the cage lid off for about 10 or 15 mintues while I tried to figure out if anything was wrong in there.


Any other information let me know

I would say it's likely mites.. and if not then they probably just like to soak.. perhaps they were dehydrated from their previous environment and are just soaking to rehydrate.

What size enclosure & what size ceramic heater are you using?

My wife just said when she first got home and checked the humidity it was at 53% at the time, also having balls I checked for mites when I found them in the same bowl eairlier (before we switched them to their own cages) and neither came back with mites when I checked their eyes, nose, and no red dots.

I've also read sometimes they'll soak when they're nearing shed (just read that in a RTB care sheet) so could that be it?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Holbeird

They were in the same enclosure because we got them last night (spur of the momment) and only had one cage currently set up, and one set of heat supplies. They're now currently in seperate cages but both are resting in their water bowls. Im using a digital thermometer, and a ceramic heating bulb. The Humidity is running a little low currently at about 45% although that reading could have something to due with the fact that I had the cage lid off for about 10 or 15 mintues while I tried to figure out if anything was wrong in there.


Any other information let me know

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They are stressed for two reasons 1) the move to new environment 2) being in the same enclosure together. They also probably have mites or the humidity needs to be upped more...which could easily be due to the ceramic heat, I've never heard anything good about them. Is it regulated by anything?

If they are in shed, then yes, that could cause them wanting to soak as well. Sometimes boas just like to soak.. unlike balls which tend not to soak unless something is wrong.

20 gallon breeders, and a 60watt (made for 10-20 gallon tanks) Also we did just get them last night so It could be the dehydrated thing. That part slipped my mind. I had a friend buy a BP that did that for the first 2 days he got him.

Well I wouldn't worry about them.. just make double sure there's no mites (especially since they are boas.. mites are a great way to transfer diseases to your pythons for instance.. and boas can be asymptomatic carriers of IBD which is lethal to pythons)

Obviously.. strict quarantine is imperative.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Holbeird

My wife just said when she first got home and checked the humidity it was at 53% at the time, also having balls I checked for mites when I found them in the same bowl eairlier (before we switched them to their own cages) and neither came back with mites when I checked their eyes, nose, and no red dots.

I've also read sometimes they'll soak when they're nearing shed (just read that in a RTB care sheet) so could that be it?

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NONE of my boas soak. I have 18 of them. I keep the humidity at 60% and mist them twice daily. I don't know man, I'd let them settle in more before you jump to any conclusions. Give them a week without touching them (only to water and clean if needed) and then start knocking out possibilities. Treating a new snake for mites as precautionary is the BEST thing you can do. I think Shelby is right, if it's not mites it's probably due to the fact they were dehydrated before and are trying to rectify it. Your ceramic heat should be regulated too, by a tstat or dimmer.

They're no longer in the same cage together, they were only int he same together last night, because when we bought them, they were in the same cage together and we didn't have an extra heat lamp or UTH at home. Also, the humidity was in the 50-60 range till I took the lid off for a bit to mess with them. As i said, I checked for mites, and neither seemed to have them, i've had a bp i bought with mites for a friend, and I know how to get rid of them, so I checked for that first. Also the heaters are regulated by a thermostat

Well sounds like you're taking good care of them. Just keep an eye on them and let them settle in for awhile before messing with them.. like Jim said.