.... buy from known lines. i have a pair that came from VPI stock, a pair of barry millers "purple phase", a pair from kevin barnet (his orange crush line) and a single female from gulf coast reptile (heres a pic of her, i love this one, she will be bred next year hopefully). i dont feel that they are delicate at all though, i think they are very hardy. i have had them for 6 years and love them. here are some of my husbandry practices: i usually feed every 2 weeks with most of my animals and sometimes go 3 weeks, never have had a regurg issue with any of the 7 i own. humidity is in the 40-60% range and have never had a shed issue either, if i notice an animal is about to shed i might spray the cage slightly. i have also kept the ambient temps in my snake room in the low 80's during the summer, with occasional days much warmer as i draw warm moist air in from the outside and always let the temps cool slightly at nite even during summer (again by drawing the night time air in with fans. i do not believe in regimented consistent temps and opt to keep things as "natural" as possible, ie: fluctuating temps, as would happen in the wild. i have never had a RI in any of my snakes for the past 30 yrs of owning snakes. now i realize i am working with certain species that apparently like my methods, but the bolivs have done great with the above methods. thanks, hope some of this helps, john yocum

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