my first snake ever and...

[Korclabael]

...she's a red tail boa!

I wish I could show you a gorgeous picture but I am currently coming to you from my phone and I guess photobucket doesn't work so when I get internet ill have to shoot you guys some pictures. For now though let me explain that I was intentionally going to buy a baby BP but instead I fell in love with "poprocks" my four month old het albiono red tail boa. After receiving her yesterday its really hard for me to not play and hold her just yet.

But since I did way more research on BPs and not boas I need a bit of guidance with this one.. what exactlly do I do? The breeders didn't feed her before I got her so I had to and she ate just fine after all the stress I probably put her through but because she's my first snake I suddenly feel rather stupid than I did when I bought her and felt confident. Now its different I feel nervous to hold her and when I do she hangs on tight (I know this is normal) but I'm mostly nervous on getting her down and off of me cause I'm a little scared she might turn and bite me if I try to force her to uncurl from myhand.

Other than my nervous jitters I'm an innexperianced first time snake owner and need some helpful info about my new family member so that I don't make to many mistakes in the future. Ill be sure to show her to you all asapc


Have a wonderful day
Kaala

[Korclabael]

Is it okay to just pet her ever now and then?

[WarriorPrincess90]

Well first of all... to BP.net!

Congrats on your new baby BCI (or Boa Constrictor Imperator)! The fact that she ate for you right off the bat is a good sign, and also typical of a boa. They have a very strong feeding response which makes them almost easier to care for in terms of feeding than BPs because they will almost never refuse a meal. (In fact...mine never has. )

There is no reason to be nervous about her biting you because, for one, it hurts about as much as getting tapped on the arm with someone's finger. Once you get that first bite out of the way, you won't be worried about it happening again. But, in all likelihood, unless she's in a defensive S-posture and following your hand, she's probably not all too concerned with biting you. In fact, she probably just wants to hang out and see what's going on. Boas are very social and for the most part, very docile and sweet when being handled. When I first got mine I grabbed her head to check her over for any signs of RI and she couldn't have cared less. However, you are doing the right thing by not handling her right now. Give her at least a week without bothering her except to change her water, to settle in.

Here is a little bit of helpful information for you: Boa Constrictor Care Sheet

Now a few questions for you:
1) What enclosure are you keeping her in?
2) How are you heating it?
3) What are the temperatures? Hot side and cold side?
4) How are you monitoring temperatures? (Digital thermometer or analog "stick on" thermometer?)
5) How many hides does she have?
6) If you don't mind my asking, where did you get her from?
7) Are you familiar with the adult size of these animals?

The more you handle them when young, the better, as that will help keep them docile when they get bigger. But that's not to say that you should hold her for hours every day. Just try to hold her a few times a week. It would be good to avoid holding her for 24-48 hours after feeding though, just to avoid possible regurges.


Oh! And pics or it didn't happen.

[Korclabael]

Thank you so much its appreciated.

As for your questions for me:
1. I have her in my old ten gallon fish tank for now till I can get a bigger one.
2. Heating it with an infrared heat lamp (its kinda big so I had to move it over to the edge so it would gradient with hot and cold.
3. The tempratures as for warm should be around 75 degrees to 80 I'm her cool side is usually warm and probably around 50 degrees if I could guess.
4. I have a digital thermometer as far as I know.
5. She had two until I realized the bigger one took up a lot of the cage so now she has one which after a lot of washing she has our old rat hide. I'm still contemplating putting another in.
6. I got her from the rocky mountain rep. Expo from sabras pythons and boas stand.
7. As far as I know they grow up to 6 or 7 feet but correct me if I am wrong.

[Daybreaker]

Thank you so much its appreciated.

As for your questions for me:
1. I have her in my old ten gallon fish tank for now till I can get a bigger one.
2. Heating it with an infrared heat lamp (its kinda big so I had to move it over to the edge so it would gradient with hot and cold.
3. The tempratures as for warm should be around 75 degrees to 80 I'm her cool side is usually warm and probably around 50 degrees if I could guess.
4. I have a digital thermometer as far as I know.
5. She had two until I realized the bigger one took up a lot of the cage so now she has one which after a lot of washing she has our old rat hide. I'm still contemplating putting another in.
6. I got her from the rocky mountain rep. Expo from sabras pythons and boas stand.
7. As far as I know they grow up to 6 or 7 feet but correct me if I am wrong.

1. 10 gallon sounds fine for a baby but you may need to upgrade her here quickly depending on her growth.
2. I would look into under tank heaters: it's my prefered method of heating since I'm partial to belly heat for digestion. If you get one though it will NEED a thermostat so it doesn't overheat. Lamps tend to such humidity needed for them to shed good (though I've yet to have any of my six boas have a bad shed, even my biggest guy).
3. She needs a hot side and a cold side and you need to know the temperatures, not guess (for their health). I keep my boas a tad cooler than my other species but my Colombians get a hot side/basking spot of ~90, cold side ~80, and I keep ambient temperatures at ~80 with night drop ambient temps at ~77 (just because it gets a little cooler at night). 75/80 hot side and 50 cold side temps are WAY too cold for her and could lead to regurge issues and RIs.
4. Digital is the way to go, I have Accurite thermometers.
5. I'd get two identical hides to put in there, and give her lots of fake plants/crumpled up newspaper to hide in to make her feel more secure. Even blacking out the back three sides of the tank with black construction paper works great too (I think it looks nice as well). Just suggestions.
7. Female Colombians get around 7-8ft (depending on the individual) with males being smaller. Expect to need a 4-6 foot vivarium for her when she's big - glass tanks won't cut it when they're adults IMO.

[Korclabael]

Thank you ill keep all of that in mind.

[Evenstar]

Very good advice so far! I'll only add a couple of things:

1. Boas are not ball pythons! Much of their care is similar, but they act very different. Boas are inquisitive and far less sensitive and do not stress as easily. It was perfectly fine for you to feed her right away. Do leave her alone for at least 48hrs after she eats though.

2. Boas digest their food more slowly so they do not need over-large prey and feeding once every 7-10 days is appropriate for babies. Once every 2 weeks is good for an adult.

3. As Daybreaker said, your temps are way off. I keep my boas a tad cooler than my BPs at 88 on the hot side and about 78 (maybe 76 at night) on the cool side, but cool temps should never fall below 74!! Your boa will eventually start to regurge if kept at these temps and that is a serious issue.

Forgive me, I do not intend to offend, but this last point is something you need to do more than just "keep in mind." This is a serious fault in husbandry that you need to fix right away to avoid serious health issues in your snake. If your temps are as low as you say, a heat lamp alone is not enough to heat her entire enclosure. Please use a UTH on a thermostat.

I have a digital thermometer as far as I know.

and probably around 50 degrees if I could guess.

If you have a digital thermometer, you should not be guessing at the temps. Are you using an Accurite or similar thermometer? How are you measuring your temps? Do not guess - monitering temps is one of the most important and most basic husbandry rules you can follow.

Again, I mean no offense - I am only trying to help you.

[xFenrir]

First off, congratulations! BCI's are wonderful introductions into the larger constrictors, and getting one as a baby will help you ease into that even better. This website is a great place to get advice and to answer any questions you might have on your new addition. Daybreaker and Evenstar started you off with some great advice! My first advice would be to read this care sheet here:
http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...tor-imperator)
I read that you're using a digital thermometer. What brand are you using? I notice you seem to be a little confused about the type. Digitals versus analogs are very easy to tell apart: is it a thermometer with a dial like a clock? If so, it's an analog, and I urge you to get rid of it in favor of a digital one, whether it's a stationary one like an Acurite, or a handheld temperature gun (Google any of these if you're confused! ) Like Daybreaker and Evenstar said, you need to KNOW the temperatures (ambient and hot spot) and humidity; you should never have to guess, because it WILL spell trouble for you down the line.

A tank will be okay for now, but I'll stress the idea of looking into a more suitable permanent home for when she grows. Boaphiles are great, and there's always the option of building your own! If that interests you, you can message me, since we built an enclosure for our girl, and it's very simple. Boas are stronger than Ball Pythons, and in my opinion MUCH more inclined to use any opportunity to escape. When we kept Satin in a tub, she was able to push up a lid weighed down by half a cinderblock. We ended up having to use bungee cords to secure the lid. Something to keep in mind. For now, I would definitely secure the cage top (I'm assuming it's a mesh one that go on top of aquariums, correct me if I'm wrong! ) with clips. If it is a mesh top, cover 90% of the top with aluminum foil: it will help keep in heat and humidity. Again, the overall temperature should be 77-80 degrees, with a hot spot of 88-90. The humidity should be kept normally at 50%, with shedding it should be bumped up to around 70%. UTH's (under tank heaters) are highly recommended, and will help greatly with heating. UTH's get VERY hot though (upwards of 130 degrees!), wayyy too hot for any snake, so they should be regulated by a thermostat. It would be best to get a reptile thermostat, but you can also make due temporarily with a dimmer switch. Black out the back/sides with aquarium backing, cardboard, construction paper, etc., and be sure to include hides on both the hot and cool side. Requirements are very close to Ball Pythons, so most of your research should still be viable.

Don't worry about her biting you! She won't be able to to much if any damage right now. BCI's are very inquisitive, in-your-face snakes; they want to know what you're doing, where they are, what that lamp tastes like and how far under the sofa they can get before you catch them. Be careful to support their weight, because when a boa thinks it's going to fall its first impulse is to tighten their grip, which when she gets some girth on her will be uncomfortable to you, trust me. They also seem to think they're falling when you're trying to remove them off you, in this case just calmly but firmly unwind her and place her in her tank. She'll put up a struggle, but that's just how boas are! Easy to take out, hard to put back.

Since you have a girl, you're looking at an easy 6ft of snake when she's grown. Don't be surprised if you end up with a 7ft snake either. 8ft or more is uncommon, but not unheard of. My girl is almost 7ft and 20+ pounds, and we're guessing she's about 5 years old. (She was a rescue so we aren't completely sure of her age). We got her June of 2011, when she was about 4ft and about 5-7 pounds. In 8 months she grew over a foot and packed on 10 pounds, so be prepared! When they hit a growth spurt, they really grow!

How old is your girl? I would suggest feeding mice up until she grows too big for them, but every so often get her a rat. Why? Because a) eventually she WILL be eating rats, and it's a good idea to get her used to them. b) rats have a much higher fat content than mice, and boas don't digest fat like Ball Pythons do. Feeding rats too often will result in a fat snake (yes, they can get fat!) and since your little girl is probably eating once a week, rats will have more of a chance of making her obese. Now this is an arguable thing, and some keepers think differently, but the fact that I've seen many people (including myself) have a very successful time feeding mice, then later switching to rats makes me offer that advice to you. Eventually you'll end up backing down the feeding to every two weeks, but that won't be for a while, so for now I wouldn't worry about it.

Last but not least, remember to enjoy your new addition! Boas are great, fun pets. They enjoy being out and being able to explore things. I've often surfed the net for over an hour while my boa lounged on my shoulders, or watched TV with her on the couch. Just be mindful of how your girl's feeling, and if it's chilly then limit the time you have her out so she won't get cold. Heck, in the summer I take Satin outside so she can cruise around the yard. But every snake is different, and you should make sure that wherever she is, she's not scared or stressed out. A stressed snake is more likely to bite, so be calm and monitor your girl's emotions. Rapid, short tongue-flicking, S-shape posture, rapid breathing, huffing/hissing and stiffness/stillness are all possible signs of stress. Learn how to read your boa and everything will be a lot easier for you!!

So once again, congratulations on your new addition, and welcome to the wonderful world of owning boas!

[TheWinWizard]

...she's a red tail boa!

I wish I could show you a gorgeous picture but I am currently coming to you from my phone and I guess photobucket doesn't work so when I get internet ill have to shoot you guys some pictures. For now though let me explain that I was intentionally going to buy a baby BP but instead I fell in love with "poprocks" my four month old het albiono red tail boa. After receiving her yesterday its really hard for me to not play and hold her just yet.

But since I did way more research on BPs and not boas I need a bit of guidance with this one.. what exactlly do I do? The breeders didn't feed her before I got her so I had to and she ate just fine after all the stress I probably put her through but because she's my first snake I suddenly feel rather stupid than I did when I bought her and felt confident. Now its different I feel nervous to hold her and when I do she hangs on tight (I know this is normal) but I'm mostly nervous on getting her down and off of me cause I'm a little scared she might turn and bite me if I try to force her to uncurl from myhand.

Other than my nervous jitters I'm an innexperianced first time snake owner and need some helpful info about my new family member so that I don't make to many mistakes in the future. Ill be sure to show her to you all asapc


Have a wonderful day
Kaala

Excellent choice. I love my boas.

[DooLittle]

Looks like everybody got you covered here. Congrats on your boa, they are so much fun! Also, there is a forum app called tapatalk. Super easy to use for here, and you can post pictures from it!

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