Restless/trying to escape?

[Brixxart]

So I've had my Boa for 7 months now, and nothing about his environment has changed since I got him (except I added some stones and an additional grapevine to his enclosure one month ago) and that didn't trigger this behavior. His temperature has been consistent, 78 on the cool side and 85 on the warm with a hot spot of 89-90, humidity hovers 60-65 when not in shed and 70-75 when in shed, he's shed twice with me both perfect sheds, he gets fed once every ten days, and he lives in a 48x24x18 pvc cage with sliding glass doors and a water bowl large enough for him to soak if he needs, a hide on both warm and cool sides. And he's on coconut fiber for a substrate.

his husbandry has never changed in the 7 months he's lived with me.

now one thing that has changed two weeks ago was I brought home a ball python, he's in an enclosure opposite to my boa so I'm sure they could probably see and smell each other 15 feet apart.

could this cause my Boa to constantly be stuffing his nose in the crack between the sliding doors at night?

as an additional note he's 2'11" just over a year old and weighs 284 grams.

[cletus]

I think snakes are natural escape artists to begin with. On top of that boas tend to stay hungry if you aren't overfeeding. Exploring the enclosure and curiosity is normal in my experience. When they get so fat they just lay there and cant be bothered to do anything but wait till their next meal is when you might be in trouble. Sadly many boas end up that way..

[Brixxart]

Right, I understand, he just hasn't usually done this in the past so I was wondering if he was reacting to the ball python if it's likely just him being hungry then that's fine as he's due to eat again in a couple of days anyways.

[cletus]

Maybe. It's hard to say. When I got my latest boa she pretty much hid for 3 months. She was relaxed and friendly when handled but she didn't leave her hide unless she smelled food. Now she is all over the place. She is wicked hungry all the time. He may be reacting to the BPs feeding. I know my girl can smell a rat as soon as I bring them into my room. If it's not her day to eat she will cruise and look for food for hours. Sometimes she is still on point the next day.

[Gio]

Right, I understand, he just hasn't usually done this in the past so I was wondering if he was reacting to the ball python if it's likely just him being hungry then that's fine as he's due to eat again in a couple of days anyways.

It is unlikely the royal is causing anything as far as reaction to its presence. The species are separate and hormonal cues male/male male/female should not spur any changes between the two species. Even if that was a possibility, the animals are young, breeding behavior, for the boa is a little ways off.

How close are these animals to one another? If the royal has only been there 2 weeks, and they are close, there maybe a quarantine issue as in the royal brought back mites or some disease. Hopefully not, but if the behavior changed shortly after the other snake was put into the room it is possible, especially if you have handled them back to back or used equipment without disinfecting it.

Are you checking temps with a heat gun?


It also could be your boa is just busy. My coastal carpet and boa will both push and roam when they are fed well, and do it more so in the warmer months.

The setup you have sounds complete and well maintained so unless you are getting some false temp readings, that should not be the cause.

Have you looked into adding perches for your snake to climb? It may be helpful.

A young boa will be hungry and you may be on the cusp of upping the prey size, I'm not sure as I don't know what the snake or prey look like. Also do you feed the royal on the same day as the BC? Food in the air may set him off if he's not eating.

How is the royal acting? Anything off?

[Brixxart]

It is unlikely the royal is causing anything as far as reaction to its presence. The species are separate and hormonal cues male/male male/female should not spur any changes between the two species. Even if that was a possibility, the animals are young, breeding behavior, for the boa is a little ways off.

How close are these animals to one another? If the royal has only been there 2 weeks, and they are close, there maybe a quarantine issue as in the royal brought back mites or some disease. Hopefully not, but if the behavior changed shortly after the other snake was put into the room it is possible, especially if you have handled them back to back or used equipment without disinfecting it.

Are you checking temps with a heat gun?


It also could be your boa is just busy. My coastal carpet and boa will both push and roam when they are fed well, and do it more so in the warmer months.

The setup you have sounds complete and well maintained so unless you are getting some false temp readings, that should not be the cause.

Have you looked into adding perches for your snake to climb? It may be helpful.

A young boa will be hungry and you may be on the cusp of upping the prey size, I'm not sure as I don't know what the snake or prey look like. Also do you feed the royal on the same day as the BC? Food in the air may set him off if he's not eating.

How is the royal acting? Anything off?

the royal seem's perfectly healthy, I've been monitoring them closely, ive been unable to house them in different rooms for quarantine but I've been extremely careful not to cross contaminate anything, so far they ate on the same day the one time i've fed the royal in my care so far (He's due to eat today whereas the boa will be eating in another 3 days so we'll see how that goes tonight) but I've taken special care not to cross contaminate anything at all all their supplies are duplicated for each snake, fed in different areas, seperate tongs, supplies cleaned with different brushes, even as far as to use different misting bottles lol.

I'm not 100% learned on ball python behavior but he seems to be acting normal enough, still pretty skittish around everything and just seems to be a much jumpier snake but other than that when I've examined him he seems entirely healthy as well, no signs of mites or other visible illnesses.


I don't have a temp gun yet but I have 3 different digital temperature probes, two are permanent one I move around to make sure everything is reading the same.

Here's an image of the boa's enclosure he's stll fairly small so he can climb on all the branches with ease and does so fairly often.

[Gio]

the royal seem's perfectly healthy, I've been monitoring them closely, ive been unable to house them in different rooms for quarantine but I've been extremely careful not to cross contaminate anything, so far they ate on the same day the one time i've fed the royal in my care so far (He's due to eat today whereas the boa will be eating in another 3 days so we'll see how that goes tonight) but I've taken special care not to cross contaminate anything at all all their supplies are duplicated for each snake, fed in different areas, seperate tongs, supplies cleaned with different brushes, even as far as to use different misting bottles lol.

I'm not 100% learned on ball python behavior but he seems to be acting normal enough, still pretty skittish around everything and just seems to be a much jumpier snake but other than that when I've examined him he seems entirely healthy as well, no signs of mites or other visible illnesses.


I don't have a temp gun yet but I have 3 different digital temperature probes, two are permanent one I move around to make sure everything is reading the same.

Here's an image of the boa's enclosure he's stll fairly small so he can climb on all the branches with ease and does so fairly often.

Nice setup and quality equipment there, and I did see after I posted that you had them 15 feet apart. That seems reasonable if another room isn't available and that can certainly be the case for many owners.

I'm wondering if you need to bump up the prey size possibly.

Boas are somewhat active as far as big snakes go so the moving isn't a bad thing necessarily.

If he starts hurting himself try a larger food item and spread out the feeds.

You could also slip a couple of perches in the cage.