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  1. #1
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    Female 1 y.o. Bp burrowing - should I add extra substrate?

    I got my female BP 2 months ago. She is 1 year and doing great! She’s shedding every 3-4 weeks in one piece, eats her frozen rats like a champ and is in good health.

    When we first got her she was burrowing in her substrate and I believe it is because her hides were too big so I replaced them and she started regularly using both her cool hide and warm hide.

    I’ve noticed that coming up to her feeding day she will spend a night or two before burrowing in random areas of her enclosure before going back to her hide to sleep.

    im wondering if I should make her substrate thicker (forest floor) so she can borrow more since she seems to just enjoy it (maybe she’s hunting?). Or should I discourage this behaviour?

  2. #2
    BPnet Royalty KMG's Avatar
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    You could add more.....just not over the uth if you have one. I have always kept my substrates thick.

    My Ball will dig around from time to time and she is sitting on about 3 inches of substrate.

    My Cen Am Boa borrows and stays under the substrate for days. She has many good hides but that is what she likes to do. I don't do anything to discourage it. It something to see them ambush the air dropped rat from a hidden position like that. The camo they have is impressive. Sometimes I really have to work to find her. She is on about 3 inches as well.

    My Hoggy is another that burrows but that is their thing.
    KMG
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  3. The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to KMG For This Useful Post:

    AutumnVanilla (11-02-2021),Luvyna (11-01-2021)

  4. #3
    BPnet Veteran Luvyna's Avatar
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    I think burrowing sounds like a normal activity, if your BP enjoys it then it can't hurt to provide more opportunities to burrow, as long as she can still easily access her warm spot and the temperatures are controlled correctly (if there is a UTH, you need to measure the surface temp of the floor of the enclosure to set the temperatures, not the top of the substrate).

    This is interesting, I've always kept my substrate thin but now I wonder if I could provide extra enrichment by making the substrate thicker.

    A question for both Ash and KMG and anyone else who has a thick layer of substrate - when it comes to spot cleaning is it harder to clean with thicker substrate or and does it require more substrate to be thrown out? How often do you replace all of the substrate?

  5. #4
    BPnet Royalty KMG's Avatar
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    Re: Female 1 y.o. Bp burrowing - should I add extra substrate?

    Quote Originally Posted by Luvyna View Post
    I think burrowing sounds like a normal activity, if your BP enjoys it then it can't hurt to provide more opportunities to burrow, as long as she can still easily access her warm spot and the temperatures are controlled correctly (if there is a UTH, you need to measure the surface temp of the floor of the enclosure to set the temperatures, not the top of the substrate).

    This is interesting, I've always kept my substrate thin but now I wonder if I could provide extra enrichment by making the substrate thicker.

    A question for both Ash and KMG and anyone else who has a thick layer of substrate - when it comes to spot cleaning is it harder to clean with thicker substrate or and does it require more substrate to be thrown out? How often do you replace all of the substrate?
    When spot cleaning I will remove everything touching the waste and a little more. Nothing crazy. If it is a large bit tossed I will replace it or more than likely just redistribute the rest. I really can not say how often I change all the substrate other than....when I need to. I have no time period really.
    KMG
    0.1 BP 1.1 Blood Python 1.0 Brazilian Rainbow Boa 1.0 Aru Green Tree Python
    0.1 Emerald Tree Boa 0.1 Dumeril Boa 0.1 Carpet Python 0.1 Central American Boa
    0.1 Brooks Kingsnake 0.1 Speckled Kingsnake 1.0 Western Hognose
    0.1 Blonde Madagascar Hognose 1.0 Columbian Boa

    1.1 Olde English Bulldogge 1.0 Pit Bull

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