Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I got a pair of adult ATB's two weeks ago. They have both eaten twice since then with no coaxing. They spend almost all of their time in their water bowl. Is this normal for tree boas, or is something wrong.

I am keeping them in a large wooden cage at 90hot, 77cold. I finished building it the day they arrived so I didn't have a chance to seal the interior so the humidity is only at 65. I wanted to wait until I knew that they were doing fine before pulling them out for 24 hours to get the job done.

Do I have anything to worry about or should I go ahead?
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Ball Pythons 1.1 (Morty & Mary)
Amazon Tree Boas 1.1 (Orville & Aeme)
Corn Snakes 2.2 (Bob, Sandy, Candy, and Tye)
Leopard Geckos 1.2 (Leo, Spaz, and Spot)
Central Painted Turtle 1.0 (Swim)
Red-Eared Slider 0.0.1 (Harold)

www.geocities.com/wink0083

When ATBs soak it is almost always due to a mite infestation. Take the snakes out of the water bowl then look closely at the water for drowned mites, they'll look like little black specks of pepper. If you look closely, you'll see little tiny leggs on them. Use "Provent-A-Mite" to treat the cage, branches, and bedding.
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Mike Heinrich
mike@amazontreeboa.org
www.boakingdom.com

I checked and I can't see anything, I even got out the old magnifying glass. The skin looks completely clean on both of them. I have also been watching the eyes thinking maybe they were about to shed, but in the couple of weeks I have had them, their eyes have never had any clouding.

Does the mite removal have any possible negative affects? If not, I may order some and use it anyway just in case. They live in a large cage and aren't small themselves so although I don't think so, I could have missed some.
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Ball Pythons 1.1 (Morty & Mary)
Amazon Tree Boas 1.1 (Orville & Aeme)
Corn Snakes 2.2 (Bob, Sandy, Candy, and Tye)
Leopard Geckos 1.2 (Leo, Spaz, and Spot)
Central Painted Turtle 1.0 (Swim)
Red-Eared Slider 0.0.1 (Harold)

www.geocities.com/wink0083

The Pro-Products Prevent-a-mite is safe if used properly! The fumes are toxic to the snakes so you must let the liquid dry before re introducing the animals. Just make sure you follow the directions to a T. Also, it really personal prefrence, but I keep my high temps at no higher than 87.

Best luck,

Joeb

Thanks, I'll give it a shot. Also, if the high temp is 87, what is the low temp. I've seen quite a bit of variability in suggested heat settings in different webpages, though the average seems to be 90high, 70 low. I want to make sure that I am shooting for the right settings so I purchase the correct heat sources for the long term. Right now the heat is coming from two heat bulbs above the cage though I am thinking that heat wire will be the best idea, especially during the winter in which I don't keep the temp of my house very high.

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Ball Pythons 1.1 (Morty & Mary)
Amazon Tree Boas 1.1 (Orville & Aeme)
Corn Snakes 2.2 (Bob, Sandy, Candy, and Tye)
Leopard Geckos 1.2 (Leo, Spaz, and Spot)
Central Painted Turtle 1.0 (Swim)
Red-Eared Slider 0.0.1 (Harold)

www.geocities.com/wink0083

Replace those straight perches with driftwood attached to the cage sides/back/corners and your ATBs will be up off the cage floor and perching almost all the time. This has nothing to do with the soaking issue, just about their preference in perch types.

cheers

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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mike Heinrich
mike@amazontreeboa.org
www.boakingdom.com

Thanks for the suggestion, I'll keep an eye for some and give it a go.
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Ball Pythons 1.1 (Morty & Mary)
Amazon Tree Boas 1.1 (Orville & Aeme)
Corn Snakes 2.2 (Bob, Sandy, Candy, and Tye)
Leopard Geckos 1.2 (Leo, Spaz, and Spot)
Central Painted Turtle 1.0 (Swim)
Red-Eared Slider 0.0.1 (Harold)

www.geocities.com/wink0083

Instead of Provent-A-Mite use the Equate brand of "bedding spray" for lice sold at WalMart. It has the identical chemical composition and sells for like $4.00/can - way cheaper. I have used it in cages for a long time w/no adverse affects.

Bill