My new bci/first boa!!

[Solidsnek]

Alright so I’m pretty familiar with reptiles, and have had a few snakes, mostly bp’s, but have cared for some various other snakes over the years.
This boy came to me as a rehome (all of our pets are rehomes for various reasons, some injured others just not what people expected ect.
This little guy is a pleasant little surprise. I have only had him here for a few hours, but he’s very friendly. I haven’t had a chance to weigh him, but he’s been fed 1 or mice a week, which to me seems like way too little food for the size, but again I ah won’t weighed him. He’s longer but more slender than what I’m used to lol.

I made a post on here not long ago, but I’ll be feeding him pheasants, as I have an insane allergy to rats that has recently worsened. If he won’t eat those we will try rabbits and lastly guinea pigs. All of these I can get frozen locally but will be stocking up online once we get a few successful feedings.

For now he’s gunna go into a front opening 40b zilla tank, but as he gets a little bigger I’m going to be building something a bit more bulletproof since he will outgrow that. I don’t suspect he could ya e the leverage to break out of that, Atleast not at this size.
I got one but it was broken so I’ll have to pick the new zilla 40b next week when the replacement arrives, he’s in a 40b open top with a screen lid and clips/weighted down.

Now he currently has 2 halogen bulbs and a che for night time. I don’t want to change anything about heating for him until he’s been here a couple weeks and I can confirm he’s eating and healthy. Vet visit for the little guy next week as well.
Will be keeping the che, adding a large heatmat and thermostat, and a thermostat on the che as well for ambient cold side temps.

Any tips for a name you guys? Don’t have the best pics yet but I got him ice cold and was an hour before I could get him setup and with heat, so right now he’s just chillin.

[Solidsnek]

[Gio]

Nice looking animal you have there and a salute to you for rehoming.

I would strongly suggest NOT to feed guinea pigs to a boa constrictor. The fat content is too high. I'm assuming the pheasants you speak of are in the "chick" stage?

Quail is excellent when used as an alternate prey item, and very small rabbits are doable with adults. Unfortunately, rats are near perfect. A male boa would do very well on as an adult on large rats and the quail equivalent.

A very good resource for you to check into is listed here:

https://www.amazon.com/The-More-Comp...8143092&sr=8-1

Keep an eye on the soaking as well. It is usually an indication of some sort of husbandry issue or mites if they are in their water bowl constantly.

Soaking now and again is often a snake being a snake, but extended soaking is not a behavior you want to see a snake do constantly.

Good luck!

[Solidsnek]

Guinea pigs were a last resort for bp’s, but is rehome if I had to, thawing rats/live rats will send me to the er quick, don’t want snakes to suffer because of that. I did get my largest ball to eat a quail last night first try, but he’s a porker and eats everything lol.
Snake hasn’t been soaking that was a picture from the guy I got it from. He’s in a quarantine room to check for mites but kept the substrate he was using I not stress the snake out. Worst part of this is going I be willingly keeping lights only for heat for a bit until he settles in, but have the heatmat and thermostat ready. Might wait a week to feed him but he’s ready to eat, first meal here will be the quail.

[jmcrook]

https://reptilinks.com/collections/c...ks-ground-prey
Might be able to find some appropriate size, non-rat alternatives here


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Solidsnek]

https://reptilinks.com/collections/c...ks-ground-prey
Might be able to find some appropriate size, non-rat alternatives here


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Is quail not a solid alternative? Come in sizes weight equivalent to bigger rats, similar protein fat content. Not as perfect as rats but should still be solid. Found a local store for them near me and they will order me any sizes I want, I pay 1.75 ea so I’m not complaining on price.
Rabbits wouldn’t be ideal until it’s much bigger, and guinea pigs too fatty. Asf are illegal here but they are also a last attempt because of the severity of my rat allergies. I used to breed rats and had a solid colony going, over the years it’s gotten slowly worse and worse to where I sold my colony, sold my pet rats, and now can’t even touch a frozen one without my hand swelling up. Absolutely sucks, but I’m hoping the quail will be adequate.

[Bogertophis]

...Worst part of this is going I be willingly keeping lights only for heat for a bit until he settles in, but have the heatmat and thermostat ready. Might wait a week to feed him but he’s ready to eat, first meal here will be the quail.

I would change to the thermostatically controlled heat-mat right away, to make sure he doesn't regurgitate when you first feed him. Better to have him consistently warmer than to copy what his previous owner did. The trouble with overhead lights is that the heat mostly rises up up & away from where the snake actually is...it's very hard to provide "tummy" (bottom) heat that way, & since he's not a baby boa, I don't think some minimal handling while you fix things up will cause him much stress...especially since you say he came to you feeling "ice cold"...poor snake! (remember that even snakes at room temperature of 72* feel cold to us, because we're so much warmer at 98.6*)

Boas are not usually fussy eaters...I'd be very surprised if, after he has some nice proper tummy-heat, that he hesitates at all to inhale the quail. Very surprised indeed...

[Solidsnek]

I would change to the thermostatically controlled heat-mat right away, to make sure he doesn't regurgitate when you first feed him. Better to have him consistently warmer than to copy what his previous owner did. The trouble with overhead lights is that the heat mostly rises up up & away from where the snake actually is...it's very hard to provide "tummy" (bottom) heat that way, & since he's not a baby boa, I don't think some minimal handling while you fix things up will cause him much stress...especially since you say he came to you feeling "ice cold"...poor snake! (though even snakes at room temperature of 72* feel cold to us, because we're so much warmer at 98.6*...but still)

Boas are not usually fussy eaters...I'd be very surprised if, after he has some nice proper tummy-heat, that he hesitates at all to inhale the quail. Very surprised indeed...

Yeah i don’t expect him to give me any trouble and I guess once quarantine is over if my ball doesn’t eat I have a disposal now lol.
I actually already have heatmat and thermostat so I’ll set that up when I’m off work, just didn’t want to change too much j know they can get stressed a bit more easily than ball pythons. He’s my first boa so trying to do everything the best possible

[Bogertophis]

I've had a BCI & a number of BPs- I'd say that BPs get way stressed out long before a BCI will. Some boas stress more than others, BCI are pretty resilient.

Best not to think of him as a "garbage disposal" though...BCI can definitely be over-fed, & become unhealthy from fatty liver disease etc. Also, it's possible to
introduce pathogens (> illness!) by re-offering uneaten prey from other snakes...best not to do it. In snakes, just as in other animals & humans, it's possible for
some individuals to be carriers without actually becoming sick themselves, thanks to a better immune system or resistance from other factors, but that doesn't
mean they cannot make another snake sick.

[Solidsnek]

I've had a BCI & a number of BPs- I'd say that BPs get way stressed out long before a BCI will. Some boas stress more than others, BCI are pretty resilient.

Best not to think of him as a "garbage disposal" though...BCI can definitely be over-fed, & become unhealthy from fatty liver disease etc. Also, it's possible to
introduce pathogens (> illness!) by re-offering uneaten prey from other snakes...best not to do it. In snakes, just as in other animals & humans, it's possible for
some individuals to be carriers without actually becoming sick themselves, thanks to a better immune system or resistance from other factors, but that doesn't
mean they cannot make another snake sick.

Very true, and while I only have the 2 others, you make a good point about the other risks. Will not do.
Got the mat in there messed his cage up a bit and got him out for a few min. He’s incredibly friendly. Has some stuck shed so I’m going to increase humidity. I’ll weigh him tomorrow to get a better idea of where he’s at.
I’m also going to get that book posted above to get something physical on the bookshelf for when I wana browse and learn.