Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Can anyone tell me how to tell the dif. between a solomon island ground boa, and the solomon island tree boa? the local pet store has a snake they are calling a solomon island boa, but when i searched it on the net, there are 2 versions. The petstore said it hasnt eaten a while, and want me to take it home to see what i can do with it, but i need info to make sure it has the proper set up (cage type, humidity, temps, food, etc..) any help would be appreciated.

Jesse

significant difference between the two in many aspects. I'm guessing the snake is wild caught? Even if it is not, many of the candoia, especially when young, will only accept lizards or frogs as food. Tree frogs and house geckos are appropriate choices. Sometimes you can get the little guys to eat guppies by placing the guppies and the snake in a deli cup with a splash of water and placing the lid on the cup. Do not expect the snake to eat right in front of you like BCI. Place the lizard or frog in the cage and leave the boa alone. Check on him/her after a few hours. Solomon Island boas do not like high heat. Ambient temperatures around 80 are perfect. They will usually stay away from hot spots. If you have a reptile room with temps. between 76 and 82, that is perfect. Even it drops to around 70 at night. Be sure to have a water bowl and some climbing areas if the snake is small. Even adult Solomon Island tree boas are not as arboreal as many other tree boas. The little guys appreciate something to climb on though. If you need further information, be sure to track down Jerry Conway's website. There is a link on Kingnsnake. He is the Candoia man. Good luck if you decide to take him home. There are also techniques for switching them rodents, such as scenting the mice with frogs or lizards. I'm guessing your pet shop is keeping him too warm and has not tried appropriate prey items.

Phil Goss

Thanks for the info. From what you say, im guessing the spot light in the 10 gallon tank is keeping him too warm, and she was trying to feed live mice...Where can i get the prey items mentioned? I live in FL, so the little lizards that run around wild are plentiful, but i would be a little leary about introducing prey items from the outside unless recommended by others. The snake is about 1.5-2 feet in length. I am going to pick it up today, and set it up as recommended, looks like the heating issue shouldnt be an issue, here in FL, we let the house get to aprox 85 in the day, with the air conditioning taking it back down to around 74 at night, humidity should also not be a prob. hope this works. Thanks again..
Jesse

what you are getting is a wild caught adult. Get him home and let him settle in for a week. Offer him a fuzzy or hopper. Maybe you will get lucky. As far as catching prey from outside, since you have a wild caught animal, he has been eating wild prey. I know this is by no means ideal and Florida is not his natural habitat, but if you bought a house gecko or tree frog from a pet store, it is going to be wild caught anyway. If feeding him wild caught prey keeps him alive, then that is what you have to do. You can try catching a tree frog and "scenting" the mouse. Place both of them in a deli cup for a while, or take the mouse and rub it on the frog. The mouse will pick up the scent and then throw the mouse with the snake. Do not sit and watch. Place the mouse in and leave the snake alone for a couple hours. Do not try an adult mouse. Be sure to try a fuzzy or hopper, even though the snake could take bigger. A little mouse will also be easier to scent. Your room temps. sound great. DO NOT put additional heat on him. I would keep his cage very simple at first. No bigger than a ten gallon and only the essentials (water bowl, newspaper or paper towel as substrate, and maybe a climbing branch or hide box. Make it easy for him to find the food. After he gets settled in, you can decorate the cage if desired. Good luck.

Phil Goss

Well im off the the pet store, gonna pick him/her up. Thanks again for the great info, i found the page you mentioned before, Jerry Conway's Candoia page http://www.kingsnake.com/candoia/ . Will keep everyone informed as to the situation with the snake, keep fingers crossed for me.

Jesse

Well I just got him/her home, set up a 20 gal. tank I had, newpaper substrate, and water bowl, not too complicated. I don't have a hide box yet, so I covered half the tank with a towel. He made a bee-line strait for the water bowl, and proceded to start a soak. I guess thats a good sign, we solved one of his problems...next week the feeding will hopefully begin. Thanks again for helping.

Jesse