Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok, dont' tell anyone, but I snuck over from the boa forum just to look at pics.. : ) Anywya, I noticed on one of your posted pictures that you had what looked like a boa wrapped around a branch in an enclosure... I'm currently trying to figure out how to mount a branch in my boa habitat cuz I don't think the little shelf is doing it for her as far as climbing is concerned. Pet stores only sell tiny vines for lizards, so I know I'll probably have to come up with something on my own...what do you use/suggest? How do you prepare and mount them?

` I use Madrone or Manzanita, which I can collect in the woods here in far-northern California. I use those very hard woods because they are not toxic to Boids, I can't use the Redwood which is so abundant around here, it is deadly! I try to find aged wood, as it shrinks slightly when drying, and the bark comes off of aged wood easily. If installed green, it can pull away from mounting points. Wood collected from the forest, I just scrub with vinegar, then peroxide. In my wooden habitats, I just run a stainless steel screw through the wall into the wood. In plastic habitats, I also install a strut to the floor at each end of the branch. I leave the base of the lateral branches, sticking out, but sanded smooth. The Anacondas and Boas need something to balance on. I use larger pieces, bolted together with lag bolts for my outside snake jungle gyms.

` I also make indoor exercise racks for winter exercise/conditioning. For these I often use Pine or Fir dowels. Pine and Fir are full of pitch and other poisonous volatiles, so I never use them inside a cage.

` The Boa likes to play with the big kids. Sometimes he gets used for a step, and gets a little squished. Doesn't seem to bother him.

` ` You must be sure any non-recessed hardware is smooth. The snakes exert much force to balance. If they were snagged on a bolt, etc., as they moved over it, it could cause a nasty wound.
` The more exercise they get, the more you can safely feed them, thus larger animals without deadly fat. The bonus is that the more you handle/exercise them, the more easy-going they get.


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To Buddhist hot dog vendor. "Make me one with everything."

I live in SE Arkansas, mostly cypress and pecan around here. Do you know anything about the sturdiness/toxicity of these woods for snakes? Thanks for the pictures, by the way, they're great! Yesterday my girl was very active and ready to climb, but my arm was the best she could get! : )

` I don't know about Cypress or Pecan. I've learned ( by working in Herp retail, and seeing people kill their pets with crap they just had to put in with them, even against advice! ) not to use any vegetation, no matter how benign it seems, with Herps until I know that it is safe, and hasn't been contaminated by something foreign to it.
` Don't you Razorbacks have any Oak growing around there? Except for Tan Oak, that is one good hard wood for snakes ( just the wood, not the foliage or acorns ).
` Here is a link to California Zoological's toxic vegetation list. If it is not on the list, that doesn't mean it is safe, or not. Just use it for reference on what it lists. www.calzoo.com/html/toxicvegetation.html
` We get a lot of driftwood up here on the Pacific Northwest coast. I amazes me how people put it in with their Herps, and even in their aquariums.
` Boids have slow metabolisms ( when they're not digesting ) which tend not to eliminate things like red dye in dog food fed to rodents, or out-gassing from non-food grade plastics used in water containers/cages, or volatiles/contaminants created/soaked up, then released from wood/plants, or cedar/pine shavings feeder rodents were kept in. It may take a few years, then you're wondering what you did wrong, post mortem.
` Damn, it's always something!
Now, my Anaconda is growing a dewlap! Must be a throwback to some Anole gene. EGAD

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To Buddhist hot dog vendor. "Make me one with everything."

Hehehe...My [bleep]irl did that last time she fed. Had a nice little waddle [bleep]o[bleep] on for the rest of the day. Well I was che[bleep] out the ca[bleep][bleep]/hous[bleep] forum and saw a [bleep]uy's website with a "how-to" on pvc perches....I think I'm [bleep]o[bleep] to [bleep]o with that...you know, with torch[bleep] it sl[bleep]htly to twist it and make it more wood-like. I like the idea of be[bleep] able to snap them in and out for easy ca[bleep]e-clean[bleep].

As for driftwood - I live on a lake, but I stay away from the cypress knees that catch the driftwood. They tend to house cotton mouths and various other moccasins. And despite what Steve Irwin or Jeff Corwin says - they are VERY a[bleep][bleep]ressive. They'll come after you if they even see you...so I leave the driftwood be, needless to say. Thanks for your help and the pictures! They are wonderful! I was tell[bleep] my mother about the rack you have in your office ... she wasn't as keen on the idea of a similar set-up for her office as I was... : )

My green does that with his neck all the time, does that mean anything, he was born this year and will do that when he looks around. No signs of agression or threatening posture, just when he is curiously looking around.

` I was just kidding about the dewlap. In Anoles, it is a display of territorial behavior.
` This particular Yellow male has a really baggy throat. I sometimes pinch it into a dewlap because it's funny. It stays that way until he makes a move that stretches it back out. During the winter, I feed him less, and he really gets baggy.
` Gotcha! Here's another.

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To Buddhist hot dog vendor. "Make me one with everything."

My green really has one though. I do not pinch it or anything, when ever he is stretched out in the air, he looks like he swallows and then his neck puffs out just like in your picture.