Christmas Boa Heat Concerns

[Gio]

Lot's of stuff to prepare, but there is time. A 4 foot Colombian boa is not that big. Mine is about 4' 7" and I always imagined that would seem large. He still curls up in a tiny spot, but you will need some space for proper thermal regulation.

You CAN find some very affordable deals on caging, and I'm talking about good caging. I was in the hunt at one point, and found used Boaphiles for $100 each with Flexwatt already installed, the next day in the classifieds I found a breeder willing to sell me a boa and a cage for about $160. I opted to by brand new from Pro-Line but there are many deals to be had.

Lots of folks get out of the hobby or downsize and look to get some quick $ for a cage or two.

Don't skip on thermostats or heating options.

I don't know how old you are, but getting married and having a baby are pretty big life changers, and if you are short on cash, suffice to say,,,, the snakes will be the last thing on your mind.

That said I like your enthusiasm and efforts to do this right. I think you'll get this worked out, and coming here for advice is a good move.

The person that "gifted" you the snakes didn't do you or the snakes any favors, but I'm sure they had no idea what goes into the actual keeping of some reptiles or that you were not ready. Let's hope there are no medical issues, and they take food and shed properly!


There is a person on here who's moniker is "EXPENSIVE HOBBY", and it's true.

[Flint]

Lot's of stuff to prepare, but there is time. A 4 foot Colombian boa is not that big. Mine is about 4' 7" and I always imagined that would seem large. He still curls up in a tiny spot, but you will need some space for proper thermal regulation.

I'm definitely not worried about size, I was planning on a 7-9ft snake when I personally purchased. I am just concerned about caging is all.

You CAN find some very affordable deals on caging, and I'm talking about good caging. I was in the hunt at one point, and found used Boaphiles for $100 each with Flexwatt already installed, the next day in the classifieds I found a breeder willing to sell me a boa and a cage for about $160. I opted to by brand new from Pro-Line but there are many deals to be had.

I seem to be in a "dead area" as far as reptile-related deals. A woman on CL the other day was trying to desperately get rid of her two dragons in a 10 gal for $300. We just don't have any breeders around here, Petsmart/Petco are our only options and the average person that buys a snake there, isn't going to come home and buy a $300 cage for it, they are going to stick with their fish tank. /:

Don't skip on thermostats or heating options.

I told him as soon as he told me the heat tape wasn't in the box that we needed to order some right away or there would be HUGE issues and he honored my telling him.

I don't know how old you are, but getting married and having a baby are pretty big life changers, and if you are short on cash, suffice to say,,,, the snakes will be the last thing on your mind.

I am freshly nineteen (as of mid-October) not so worried about the wedding (due to money right now, we are only getting our license and paying someone $30 to let us sign their paper, lol) but I think that Aliceander and the snakes will be equally worried about. My animals are a huge part in my life and while I've never been a mom, I don't think they will fall much under being cared and concerned for than my daughter. They are my babies, after all!

That said I like your enthusiasm and efforts to do this right. I think you'll get this worked out, and coming here for advice is a good move.

When in doubt, I always look for a forum. It took three to find this one and I was actually referred to this one via another new member on the first forum I joined who was getting attacked frequently as well. This forum has been nothing but wonderful and I haven't seen many attacks even on the more ignorant owners I have seen on here. I hope to be a member for a long time and after I've been here for a good six months to a year, I may even become a member and contribute a little bit.

The person that "gifted" you the snakes didn't do you or the snakes any favors, but I'm sure they had no idea what goes into the actual keeping of some reptiles or that you were not ready. Let's hope there are no medical issues, and they take food and shed properly!

I am very anxious to actually have the snakes in hand and inspect them personally. I, too, hope they are healthy, eat well and shed well.

There is a person on here who's moniker is "EXPENSIVE HOBBY", and it's true.

I kept and bred monitors and larger lizards as well as dragons and geckos. I am FULLY aware how expensive this hobby can be!!!!

[bcr229]

You CAN find some very affordable deals on caging, and I'm talking about good caging. I was in the hunt at one point, and found used Boaphiles for $100 each with Flexwatt already installed, the next day in the classifieds I found a breeder willing to sell me a boa and a cage for about $160. I opted to by brand new from Pro-Line but there are many deals to be had.

Lots of folks get out of the hobby or downsize and look to get some quick $ for a cage or two.

I'm going to second this. In the last year through CL and local reptile forums on FB I got screaming deals on 4 48"x38" Boamasters with RHP's installed, a 36"x24" aboreal Boaphile with RPP and heat tape, and two 96"x30" Monster enclosures. I paid less than 30% of retail for each, and what sealed the deal is I paid cash, paid the asking price, and picked them up. The only downside was I had to drive my truck into northern VA/metro DC 3 times.

[Gio]

When in doubt, I always look for a forum. It took three to find this one and I was actually referred to this one via another new member on the first forum I joined who was getting attacked frequently as well. This forum has been nothing but wonderful and I haven't seen many attacks even on the more ignorant owners I have seen on here. I hope to be a member for a long time and after I've been here for a good six months to a year, I may even become a member and contribute a little bit.

I don't think "attacks" are very constructive, and often lead to somebody that genuinely wants help going away, however I've also seen people sniff around for advice hoping to get just one person to tell them what they want to hear and do just the opposite of what the experienced folks say.

Nobody really likes to respond with quality advice only to have it ignored and usually at the animal's expense.

I don't get that at all from you and you seem to be eager to listen to good advice and do everything in your power to succeed.

Once you are all set, in all reality a couple of snakes are really easy pets. It's the front end work that is the hardest part.

Fresh water, cleaning, and a meal once a week, every 10, 14 or 20 days is a snap.

[Flint]

I don't think "attacks" are very constructive, and often lead to somebody that genuinely wants help going away, however I've also seen people sniff around for advice hoping to get just one person to tell them what they want to hear and do just the opposite of what the experienced folks say.

Nobody really likes to respond with quality advice only to have it ignored and usually at the animal's expense.

I don't get that at all from you and you seem to be eager to listen to good advice and do everything in your power to succeed.

Once you are all set, in all reality a couple of snakes are really easy pets. It's the front end work that is the hardest part.

Fresh water, cleaning, and a meal once a week, every 10, 14 or 20 days is a snap.

The forum we came from were calling us liars and a not even reading the entire post before attacking so they made our posts look ignorant and irresponsible rather than reading the next sentence or word, even. It was very frustrating and, especially because, while I may be newer to snakes, I've bred MONITORS of all things. Dragons aren't an easy feat to breed the correct way, either. I won't take much credit for the geckos, they do their own thing, lol. But I am not new to the hobby and when I am treated with the utmost disregard and like I have no idea what I'm doing just because we are having a short pay month, I get offended. Not to mention, their advice was below par and I sincerely worry for newbies looking for information to help their animal that end up on that site among others. They will either get wrong information, scared off or both when neither will help their animal get the care it needs and they will likely go back to Petco to ask an employee. It's very sad. I think dragons are easy pets and those are mid to high-maintenance for others, so I am definitely not worried about changing their paper towels (or substrate when I switch after QT) and we have a cat, a dog and fish, so changing water isn't anything out of the ordinary. The tanks get 25% or more changed once a week and the cat and dog have their water changed every other day or whenever they put food in it. Snakes won't put food in their water but they leave presents.

Now, as far as feeding, I'm going to feed rats from the start. From the research I've done, it is clearly the better, healthier option especially on a moderate-sized baby. They are supposed to be on hopper mice so rat fuzzies should be about of size, if not just a tad too large. I was told on a couple of forums that my plans for feeding one prey item every 7 days was too often and I would be power-feeding, but in all the care information I read, it said 5-10 days for young snakes. I thought 7 was a good medium and will be easy to keep on a regular schedule until the snakes are large/old enough to move to biweekly feedings. Is that too often, though? My understanding was that powerfeeding is multiple feedings a week of appropriate sized prey, even doubled up prey multiple times a week. I don't want to have these snakes for 5 years, I want them to be happy and healthy for the 15-25 that they deserve. If I am mistaken, PLEASE correct me. I want to do what is best for these animals to the utmost of my ability.

Another feeding-related topic, I read multiple people posting saying that feeding in the cage is healthier. Is this just due to the fact that you aren't handling the snake after it's eaten? I felt these posts were worded wrong seeing as, regardless which container the rat goes in, it's the same rat, it has the same nutritional value. I had never heard of feeding in the enclosure due to the fact that feeding outside is always recommended. I should be feeding in their respective bins, though, correct? I'm going to hook-train them not only for my peace of mind but for my daughter's safety when she becomes old enough to want to interact with these magnificent animals.

[Gio]

Another feeding-related topic, I read multiple people posting saying that feeding in the cage is healthier. Is this just due to the fact that you aren't handling the snake after it's eaten? I felt these posts were worded wrong seeing as, regardless which container the rat goes in, it's the same rat, it has the same nutritional value. I had never heard of feeding in the enclosure due to the fact that feeding outside is always recommended. I should be feeding in their respective bins, though, correct? I'm going to hook-train them not only for my peace of mind but for my daughter's safety when she becomes old enough to want to interact with these magnificent animals.

Feeding in a separate container is one of the biggest myths going. The thought process behind it is totally flawed. People say the snake will "think" every time the cage is opened its going to eat and you risk being bitten. Well, you still have to open the cage to REMOVE the snake to feed elsewhere, which requires pre and post feed handling. So, using the mythical theory in reverse, one could easily argue you will be bitten every time you remove the snake from it's enclosure.

You ARE far more likely to be bitten putting a snake back into it's enclosure after feeding in a separate tank if it's feeding response it still turned on and the smell of food is in the air. My boa, at times is still in "feed" mode a day after he eats.

I've always wondered why nobody thinks if you are just taking the animal out to handle why it wouldn't make the same association about food using the same theory, seeing that it's out of the enclosure and that is when it gets food regularly. So,, open cage means food, but out of the cage means wait and see???? Makes no sense because it isn't associating the open cage door with food or being out of the cage with food. There is more to it.

The snake isn't reacting to being in or out, it's reacting to smells and movements. The closer it is to feeding day, the more movements and smells will stimulate the snake.

The answer to safely feeding in or out of the enclosure is NOT to smell or move like a prey item.

I'm baffled that people ignore the fact that keepers of multiple giant retics, burms, olive and scrub pythons would spend hours moving these huge animals around to feed in a separate area. They feed the snake where it lives. You'd have 2, 3 or 4 people doing the job.

That doesn't even begin to cover what would happen with venomous snakes.


The only reasons I could see feeding in another area would be if you have 2 snakes in the same cage or to minimize ingestion of substrate, which can be avoided by laying news print down in the cage.

All that said people do find a system that works for them and should do as they choose, but the myth that in cage feeding causes aggression, is just that, a myth.

[Flint]

Thank you for the clarification! Is my planned feeding schedule okay or is that too often?

[Gio]

Thank you for the clarification! Is my planned feeding schedule okay or is that too often?

Hola,

Would you want to post it as a new topic?

I think you'll get more advice if you make a new thread. Kali will probably give you the best feeding advice. She is conservative and very in tune with health issues and feeding.

I think it's worth a new thread : )

[Flint]

Okay, thanks! This thread is pretty topped out at five pages, haha. I just try not to bombard forums with a million threads.

[Evenstar]

A few years? No, I don't. Columbian Boas get about 4ft in the first year... I can build one enclosure over the next few months then when they need to be moved from the tubs, one can get the enclosure and one can get the tank until I can build another enclosure. I think that'll be my best bet seeing as I've looked at the professionally made ones and I just don't have $500 to drop on two enclosures in the next year. I know boas are born live, it's hard not to be used to saying hatched in the reptile world, haha.

You've gotten great advice on your other topics here so I won't get into all that. But I did want to address this....


YES you DO have a few years. No BCI should be 4 feet in their first year. If they are, they are being grossly overfed. My 2012's are only about 2 feet long. I have 2011's that aren't even at 4 ft. Boas should be grown slowly. I did see the feeding thread you started and commented on it - but I felt it was important enough to mention here too.