Enclosure for Boa

[Sauzo]

I was wondering if you guys could tell me if my boa's enclosure looks good? I was having problems with the humidity but after I put a towel on half of the screen top it seems to be helping to keep its around 60-70. The cool side is like 70 and the middle is like 75ish and the warm side is like 80. but depending on if the substrate it moved (so part of the glass is exposed) its like 90 next to the water bowl. (upper left hand corner). It is a 20 gallon long tank. I wanted to put a branch in there for him but I haven't found any good ones at the pet stores. Thanks in advance

First off, 70F on the cool side is too cool. The coldest it should be is 75F and preferably 77-79F. Hot side should be 86-88F tops. I keep all my boas with a full cage temp of 77-79F and a hot spot with flexwatt of 86-88F. You can do 90F but dont expect to see your boa on the heat source much if ever. If you are using heat tape, you dont want anything deeper than 1/2 at most and you want to take the reading from the glass, not the top of the substrate. As for hides. I would stick to simple black plastic hides. They are easy to clean and cheap. I use these in various sizes. http://www.reptilebasics.com/hide-boxes

60 to 70% humidity is ok. Even if it drops below 60% won’t harm the snake. When shedding the humidity should be no less than 70%. You said the warm side is 80 and then you said well it’s like 90. Well, if he has a warm side of 90 would be fine. The warm side should be no less than 86-88. And be prepared to upgrade your enclosure to a bigger one once the snake gets bigger

60% humidity wont harm the snake for a while but long term, yes it will. Boas come from a place with 70-100% humidity. You are doing the snake a disservice by subjecting it to lower than recommended humidity. As for shedding, you dont need to spike squat. I never spike during shedding and never had a bad shed. I keep my humidity on average of 70%. It does drop to 65% sometimes and i spike it to 85-90%. The boas LOVE when i use my pump mister in their cages. They all come out and are active for hours.

Again, temps should be 86-88F tops, not no less. Contrary to what some people think, snakes dont need to be kept cooking hot 24/7. Most snakes actually like it a little cooler and cooler is less dangerous to them than too hot. Overheating is a very common problem and a lot of people think IBD when in fact, they kept their snake too hot.

If you are feeding him small rats, you can feed him every week or 10 days at this young age. If you are feeding him medium rats then every two weeks.

If he is on small rats, no way in heck should he be fed every week. The only time a boa should be fed every week is when they are under a year old and even there, some people disagree and say every 10 days. A boa on small rats should be fed every 2 weeks. Mediums every 3 weeks and larges every 4 weeks. Once on jumbos or rabbits, then you go to every 4-6 weeks. Rabbits are a lean dense meat so they pack more punch so you go longer inbetween feedings.