Tarahumara enclosure question

[Caitlin]

As some of you know, I have a pair of young Tarahumara Mountain Boas. They're just a year old, so have plenty of growing to do. I am currently doing some long-range planning and enclosure ordering for my snake room, so have a couple of questions.

Currently they're in 24x18x16 PVC enclosures and have plenty of room. Their parents are on the small side, even for Tarahumara, so I am thinking that as adults the male, and maybe even the female, will likely be comfortable in 36" enclosures.

My question is whether they tend to be climbers, and how much height is appropriate for them. My guys, so far, like to perch on top of their big cork rounds when they want to bask under the deep heat projector, but they don't seem inclined to climb in the same way as my semi-arboreal Jungle Carpet Python.

I know a few of you have experience with Tarahumara as adults, so I am wondering if 36" long and 18" tall is fine or if I should go with 24" tall. I had originally decided on 24" tall for them, but if they'll be happy in 18" tall that would make my life a little easier in terms of the final arrangement of enclosures in this room.

That said, I really do want to provide them with optimum enclosures, so if experts here think that longer and/or taller is best, I will do that. Thanks for any input!

[bcr229]

An 18" tall enclosure should be fine for them. That will give them ample opportunities to climb and perch.

[Nick_MD]

I only have a few weeks to go on, but so far my girl has shown no inclination to explore any of her new enclosure beyond the basking shelf. She's in a new 48x24x24, but the second I put her back in she climbs right to the shelf. After seeing her disinclined to climb down, I put two hides up there for her. Now, she immediately goes to the one on the cool side and has thus far not even attempted to use the hides at the bottom. She's certainly not making use of the full enclosure, but again, she's only been in there a few weeks and she is far from an adult.

There are a few other factors I'm trying to tease out as well in that:

• The enclosure is in a much more busy part of the house. Currently no cover for the glass doors, but I'm considering some type of curtaining or other cover.
• She hated the wood chips I put in initially. She had been on newspaper up until then. I removed the wood chip substrate and went back to newspaper to see if that makes any difference.
• Simple newness of the enclosure. I gave her a few days to acclimate before feeding, handling, etc., but perhaps I should have provided a week+.
• Age - She's still just 14 months so I can't really expect her to act like a "big", confident adult.

The new enclosure was intended to be a forever home so I'll give her at least a year to grow comfortable in there. However, if she doesn't make use of the space, then I will eventually consider a size downgrade.

I'm considering an exercise/test of making her come down to find her next mouse.