BRB humidity.

[Pyrotechnic]

hey everyone. let me give some background info first. 4yrs ago i got my first snake, it was a cream colored corn snake and was really a great snake. i had him for about 6months when one morning i woke up and found him dead with his head jammed between the side of his enclosure and a hollow log. i was really upset and felt horrible about it. later that yr i ended up getting a ball python, i had him for 3yrs. earlyier this yr he started having a really hard time shedding and he wasnt getting any bigger. i bought him some shed ease solution and that seemed to help a lot, he still seemed really sluggish eating tho. it did seem like he was getting healthier, but sadly he died a week ago. after he died i really questioned myself on if it was worth getting another snake after loosing 2. today i decided i wanna try again, i have a custom built enclosure that i built and im not gunna leave it empty.

so, today i saw a rainbow boa and absolutly fell in love with it, amazing coloring. i came home did some research and saw that the hardest thing about keeping them is getting the humidity right, i just wanted to know the best ways at keeping the humidity up. and any other info would be great. i read a lot of thread on here have seen nothing but good things about them.


thanks a lot

[kellysballs]

Everything I have read says that they do not do well over 88 degrees. There humidity needs to be around 80% as babies and as they get older they will drink more water and can tolerate lower humidity.

I got Priscilla for Christmas in 2006 she was just a few months old. I housed her in a 20gal long aguarium with plexi covering 3/4 of the screen lid. Her basking area was heated with a UTH that was stuck to a tile the sat 1/2'' under the glass of the aquarium. She had a hide over the UTH and a hide on the cool side. She was kept on about an inch of reptibark with a water bowl in the middle. I completely saturated the substrate once a week and misted her every 2-3 days. She is now 4 feet long and about an 1 1/2 to 2 inches in diameter. She is a great eater and has only refused meals a handful of times when she was in shed. She will eat anything live or F/T. We just picked up an Elvis to go with her back in March.

Priscilla graduated to a homemade enclosure about a year ago and has escaped from it 4 times so now she is in a rack. We are constructing a new dual enclosure that will house both her and Elvis side by side. They really are gorgeous animals.

Good Luck!

[ChicaPiton519]

cypress mulch does wonders =]

i have had [i call her] Fluffy, for a couple months now, and well, my uncle gave her to me, shes 13 years old, atleast 6 foot long, and an absolute doll.

i keep her around 85-87* lowest it gets is at night and thats about idk 77 i think, but thats just cause that what my house is lol
and yeah, lowest HER humidity gets is 70% but thats only at night when im not spraying her cypress down =]

[blackcrystal22]

I don't know much about rainbow boas but I'm pretty good at keeping humidity high.

It depends on what kind of substrate you have too, if you have paper towels or newspapers it can be more difficult.. UNLESS they spill their water bowl.. >.>
If your having a real load of trouble keeping humidity up, get some moss, wet it every once in a while (keep it in a bowl like the other guy even) and put it on the warmer side so that it evaporates a bit. It's not a good idea to put a lamp right above the water bowl.

Also, almost all humidifiers I've tried do NOT work well or at all. They are a huge waste of money most of the time.

For 20gal glass tanks I just mist the cage every day with warm water. If it still doesn't improve try wetting any screens you have on the cage.

You also could place a damp paper towel above a heating pad that your using which'll pop the humidity up. :]

[Pyrotechnic]

thanks a lot for all the info.

whats everyones view on shipping snakes and ordering them online?? the one i saw at the pet store was a CRB and i was looking at them online and the BRB seem much more colorful.

[Jakob]

pyrotechnic, what type of wood is your custom enclosure made out of?

were your previous two snakes living in this same custom enclosure?

where are you located at? im really sorry for the loss of your corn and ball python...thats heart breaking.

[Pyrotechnic]

the enclosure is made of oak. only the ball lived in there. my corn snake had a small 5 or so gallon tank that i got with the snake. ill see if i can get a pic of my enclosure up tonight. its 36''x18''x18''.

[Pyrotechnic]

heres a few images that i took of my tank and shot of my BP.

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u...aketank001.jpg

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u...aketank002.jpg

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u...aketank003.jpg

[Pyrotechnic]

well im back from vacation and im planning on getting a boa some time in the next week. jw what else i should get for my tank, i have 2 temp strips in the tank on on the cool side the other on the hot side along with the thermometer in the back (that i dont tihnk works anymore. ha). aslo should i keep the heating pad or go with a lamp or both??


thanks again

[littleindiangirl]

If by strip you mean those liquid crystal thermometers used for fish tanks... NO. Those will not measure what you need to know.

You will need a working digital thermometer, with at least one probe to measure the hot spot. These animals do not do well at high temps, and will die if not maintained.

Remember, these animal need cool temps and high humidity, they are not easily forgiving of mistakes. Read the caresheets here and elsewhere and set up your enclosure accordingly.