Help with New RTB

[Hockeymom]

Hi Guys-
I have been breeding Corns, and Balls for about 2 years now. I have always admired the RTB, they have such gorgeous faces, and most that I have seen are very nice snakes.
Well I went to a reptile show with some extra money ( mistake #1), I saw a very nice looking normal Columbian boa. I held her and she was very calm and didn't mind her hear being rubbed, and almost seemed to enjoy having her chin rubbed. So after 2 -3 hours of looking around and being struck at buy a couple other RTB, I decided to take this girl home. I purchased her from Jo Blow, not a reptable breeder. (mistake # 2)
She still seems to be a very nice snake I can hold her for an hour at a time and she just crurls up around my wrist and hangs out. She does have a habbit of wrapping her body around herself. Almost like she has tied herself into a knot. She can undo it but is this normal? She has eaten three times for me, with one regurge. She held down her last meal fine. She is having problems shedding. She went thru her blue stage and then went normal after a week of not shedding, I added some humidity to the tank and checked the heat. She started to shed on her nose and the skin is peeling back like it's ready to do a full body shed but stopped at her eyes. So she has this loose peice of shed on her nose/head that dried up in front of her eyes. I soaked her, and that didn't help so I put her in a moist/wet pillow case over night to help her shed and when I checked her this morning it didn't work. She was warm and moist but the shed won't come off. Now the shed has curled back over her eyes and started to dry up? Any ideas?
This girl is stressing me out, I have never had any problems with any of my corns or ball pythons. I am also stressing out about IBD? It's like Aids of the snake world. She is just a pet (meaning that I am not planning on breeding her not that pet snakes arn't special too.), but I have my life saving wrapped up in Het pied, and albino ball pythons. Is there any way to make sure she doesn't have IBD?
Thanks
Hockeymom

[SatanicIntention]

The only way I am aware of is by doing an autopsy, and I don't think you want a dead snakie... The tests are usually pretty expensive, since (don't quote me on this) they have to take a sample of the snake's liver. I would just keep her in a separate room away from the BPs and practice good hygiene when holding her, and then holding the BPs. Boas are usually carriers of IBD with no ill effects on them whatsoever, but we all know what it does to BPs.

[JamminJonah]

I think they can run a test on the liver while the snake is alive but it is very expensive at least from what I have heard.

[iceman25]

Do you keep all ur snakes in the same room? I would keep some hand sanitizing lotion near ur BP cages so that you would not in any way transfer any diseases to your snakes. As far as the Red Tail goes, have you tried rubbermaids :wink: :wink: Easiest things to maintain snakes IMO. They work miracles without one having to mist or worry about containing humidity! The best advise I can give you is not mix the RT with ur BP's and always wash inbetween handlings! Good luck!

[Ginevive]

For the retained skin; I would soak him in warm water in a lidded Rubbermaid for awhile, maybe with a heatpad underneath if the room is chilly.
Oddly enough, these guys seem to shed just fine, even in low humidity. The night I got mine, he shed overnight (in several pieces, but it was still a complete shed) and I had no idea he was even in shed!
I keep Apache in a seperate area of the house from my BPs. I am paranoid about IBD.

[Hockeymom]

Thanks for all the info- She was having a dry shed. Our weather in CA turned very dry and I just didn't catch it in time. After soaking her, I peeled the loose shed off and kept repeating until she was completly shed. She will be kept in the house away from all the Bps, in the reptile shed. I have started making sure the boys all understand how important it is to use the hand sanitizer after handling all of our reptiles but especially the RTB.
Thanks Again.
Hockeymom

[Wizill]

i make sure i keep a bottle of hand sanitizer near my herp cages. i'm a worry freak when it comes to cross-contamination.

[DBacker65]

I have been told by several reptile experts that buying a captive bred boa is as close to a guarantee for not getting a snake with IBD. Unless of course the parents were wild caught. I am far from an expert but I have been told this by several people with herp degrees who work at zoos.

I have a question on shedding and humidity for RTB's. What is the best humidity level for the non shedding periods as well as when you see them begin do dull over getting ready for a shed?