Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey there, im new to the world of rainbow boas and am contemplating buying one in the future. I was just wondering if yall could post some pics of adults, preferably being held for size comparison. Also if you could answer my question of how well tempered rainbow boas are. Of course there will be some that dont take too kindly to handeling at all, but are they handelable? Thanks for your help.

Mike

Of course, any one can tag you at any time, but I've had bunches and never had a nasty one. Had one or two you did have to watch and see how they were though. No pics with a person for comparison but here are a few adult pics anyways:

First up is Savannah, she was my rescue, I bought her as an adult with dry skin and crusty eyes. I could see the color behind all that and look at her now.

Here is Savannah again, Both pics taken on same day, The one above at around 10:30 AM, this one about 12 hours later, she has her nightie on. Look at the difference in her sides.

This is the originator of my bullseye line, Male M5 "Lefty"

My other current breeder male, I love his aberrant patterns, raising up some of his babies to see if it's genetic.

My oldest female breeder, she's from 1993

Two of Petunias babies from 2001, first is Bullseye so named from her first dorsal neck pattern.

And Clover, also named for her first neck pattern. I use that a lot for picking names, that way I have a visual clue who's who just by looking at the neck patterns

My other three breeder females from 1994, Cherry

Boo

And F7 "It", so named by my daughter who got her first (and so far only) snake bite from this one

and a trio I just recently acquired from Howard Leong:



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Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC)
0.2 kids (CBB, selectively bred from good stock)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:
13.26 BRB
11.16 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

WOW...those are b-e-a-utiful. Thanks so much for sharing. I currently own a ball python and corn snake and am looking to move up to a somewhat bigger snake. I have narrowed my choices to a rainbow boa or a blood pyhton. That being said, you may have just convinced me to go with the rainbow boa. Just one more question, how handleable is this species if worked with at a young age? I have a little brother who likes to handle my ball and corn was more worried for him than me. He's 13 by the way. Thanks again so much!

mIKE

Thank you.

They are usually fine, they all come out nippy. Most, if not all, settle down within a month or two. As with any snake, you need to pay attention.

>>WOW...those are b-e-a-utiful. Thanks so much for sharing. I currently own a ball python and corn snake and am looking to move up to a somewhat bigger snake. I have narrowed my choices to a rainbow boa or a blood pyhton. That being said, you may have just convinced me to go with the rainbow boa. Just one more question, how handleable is this species if worked with at a young age? I have a little brother who likes to handle my ball and corn was more worried for him than me. He's 13 by the way. Thanks again so much!
>>
>>mIKE
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Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC)
0.2 kids (CBB, selectively bred from good stock)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:
13.26 BRB
11.16 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

Mike,
...I have dozens of adult and subadult Rainbow Boas here. All of them are tame. I reach into any of my cages and do not worry about being bitten. I do rarely get bitten by one of them during feeding or when trying to stuff several of them into a holding box when I am cleaning cages. This is a PIC of me holding an adult Isla Marajo Rainbow Boa. She is about the same size as a large adult female Brazilian Rainbow Boa.

This is a female Peruvian Rainbow Boa, Epicrates cenchria gaigei. A very few female Brazilian Rainbow Boas Epicrates cenchria cenchria will grow larger than this snake.

wow...again aweosme snakes. Thanks so much for sharing. I think i am going to go with a rainbow boa after seeing these pics. To hear that they are handelable is also great to hear. Thanks again for the help and pics. Im loving that stache too Jeff lol.

Mike

Well Mike.. there is one more thing that you should consider before getting one..

In your first post, you said you were thinking about getting one.. Honestly, that just won't work. You see.. they are like lays potato chips.. you simply can't stop at one!

Get a pair and get started w/ the addiction right!

It is too late tonight to mess w/ pics but I will get some of my adults sometime this weekend for you if not before.
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photos.xtremecombatsports.com

Mike,
...These snakes have some specific requirements. They need moderately warm temperatures and very high humidity. I send a copy of this caresheet when I sell a baby Brazilian Rainbow Boa. There are a bunch of people selling really nice Brazilian Rainbows on the kingsnake.com other boa classifieds. I would not hesitate to buy from any of them.
Jeff

CARE OF NEWBORN BRAZILIAN RAINBOW BOAS
Epicrates cenchria cenchria
By Jeff Clark

Brazilian Rainbow Boas (BRBs) make great pets. They are very hardy and typically grow to around 6 feet in length. Many BRBs have been kept in captivity for over 20 years. Their size is much more manageable and practical than many of the other Boas and Pythons. They do require high humidity. This is especially important when they are small. If kept too dry they will dehydrate. Minor dehydration will cause feeding and shedding problems. Major dehydration will kill them. Baby BRBs should be maintained with close to 100% humidity in their cages. This can be accomplished by using damp substrate and limiting the ventilation. They do require some ventilation but in cages with large screen sides or screen tops the humidity will rapidly escape from the cage. Ideal substrate material for little BRBs is paper-towels or newspaper. The advantage of paper-towels and newsprint is that it can be easily changed. Damp substrate will quickly grow mold. It should be changed often. BRBs drink more water and pass more liquid urine than most other snakes. Substrate that is kept in the cage too long will become contaminated with urates which are very acidic and this will harm the snake’s skin. Many people use mulch and chipped bark substrates. Some of these substrates are excellent but you should be careful not to use one that is too acidic or one from a garden center that may have parasites in it. I especially like the cocoanut husk chunks and chips substrates for BRBs. It is vitally important to not use cedar substrate. The oils in cedar and similar woods are toxic to snakes. Pine shavings and aspen shavings are also not suitable for BRBs. Did I mention that you should change the substrate often? BRBs require cages with a cool end in the low 70s and the warm end in the high 70s to very low 80s. If you keep them in cages that are too small to maintain a temperature gradient in the cage they should be kept with the entire cage in the mid 70s. Temperatures higher than this can quickly cause dehydration and death. Most reptile heating products are too hot for Rainbow Boas. These snakes are nocturnal and secretive. Using overhead lights to heat their cages will create too much stress for a BRB. Cage temperatures must be controlled with a proportional thermostat or a carefully set and monitored rheostat. Don’t guess what the temperature is down in the cage where the snake spends most of it’s time. Invest in good temperature measuring equipment and use it often to make sure you do not overheat your BRB. BRB temperature requirements are 10 to 15 degrees cooler than what is required for many other boids including Ball Pythons, Boa Constrictors and Burmese and Reticulated Pythons. People who try to keep BRBs hot like they keep their other boids often kill them. Extra care should be taken when transporting BRBs. If left in a closed car in the sun the temperature will rapidly rise and kill them. BRBs should be provided with caging with hiding spots so that they can avoid light and activity. Small plastic containers like margarine is packaged in with a small entry hole cut into the side of the container work well. Place substrate material such as damp moss or damp papertowels in the hiding container. BRBs need a waterbowl in their cage that is large enough for them to submerge. They will often soak in the water for several days before shedding. However, when they do not have a good hiding spot they may have to use the waterbowl for a hiding spot and spend too much time in the water. Adult BRBs can be set up in elaborate naturalistic caging. They look especially nice in large cages with exotic plants. However they will spend much of the daylight hours hiding in or under the plants. It is best with a new little BRB to keep the caging simple to make sure the snake is doing okay before adding too many variables that may cause problems. After the snake is acclimated and doing well you can make small changes in the caging and try different substrates and plants making one change at a time. Little BRBs should be fed small live mice at first. Many will also take live pinky rats for their first meals. They will feed much more readily on a live meal than a dead meal. They also like mice that are large enough to run around much more than they like pinky or small fuzzy mice. I have actually fed full-grown adult mice to BRBs for their first meal. They can handle very large prey but are more likely to regurgitate if fed extremely large meals When they have become accustomed to eating live prey they will easily switch to eating fresh killed and then frozen and thawed prey. Thawed prey will work best if it is heated to around 105 degrees for the first feeding attempts with it. BRBs are always more likely to eat undisturbed in the dark than when being closely watched in bright daylight. Do not force-feed a BRB. Force feeding is very stressful and stress is often the reason that one will not eat. These snakes are eating machines. If your BRB does not eat it is because of stress or improper husbandry. Eliminate the stress and correct the husbandry and they will eat readily. The most common husbandry problems are keeping the snake too hot or too dry or subjecting it to too much light or activity. Little BRBs have a very simple outlook on other living things. Anything it sees moving is either a predator or prey. When first born they will often strike and bite. The bite of a little BRB is not painful and usually does not bleed. If you handle the snake for several minutes everyday it will quickly become tame. If it bites or strikes it is because it is afraid of you or it thinks it can eat you. Just let it bite and hold on and chew if it wants. By doing this it will learn that you are too big to eat and that you are not harming it and that striking and biting will not make you go away. If you do retreat when it strikes you will reinforce the striking and biting behavior. Little BRBs can be handled for as much as an hour per day. Too much handling can cause stress and stress may cause them to not feed. It is okay to have them out of their cages in humidity much lower than 100% for short handling periods.

If you have any problems with your BRB email me at jclarksnakes@comcast.net
Visit the Rainbow Boa forum on kingsnake.com to get answers to any questions you may have about Rainbow Boas. The archives of posts there are full of information. My Rainbow Boa website has information on breeding Rainbow Boas and also has information about and photographs of the other subspecies of Rainbow Boas. The website is located at http://www.corallus.com/cenchria/index.html

My website

Thanks for all the help everyone. I plan on doing my research before jumping into things. Ill read the caresheets 10 times over and make sure i have everything i need setup and stable before i get the new addition. Thanks again for all the help!

Mike

Mike,

I have had 6 years of herping experience with Corns, Ball Pythons, Red Tail boas and Rainbows.

Of all that I have kept, Rainbows are the most beatufil. They are also more of a "nervous" snake than any of the others I have dealt with.

I've never been bitten by a rainbow, and don't comsider them as aggressive or nippy by any means. I find that practicing smart techniques results in a curious snake that likes to be held, instead of a nervous snake who bites often.

1.) Husbandry. If you are not taking care of your snake properly, it will not be comfortable.

2.) I only buy young, captive bred animals. I don't trust very many people's husbandry, handling and feeding practices to buy a snake more than 6 months old. If you get them young enough, they are more likely to be tame. I highly believe that a snakes nervousness is a partly learned response.

3.) Don't feed it in its enclosure. Thus, it never associates the opening of the cage with food.

4.) Approach from the rear of the head... I always pick up my animals from the mid body and approach them from the opposite direction of their head. My hand becomes less of a target.

5.)Handle frequently. It doesn't take a long time... just handle them it least twice a week. It can be for even a minute or two, you just want the snake to be used to the vibration of the cage opening and the sensations of being pciked up by a warm object (your hand)

There are many other little things, but these are definitely the major ones that have kept me bite free. Now I have been snapped at twice, but those were both because my errors and I did manage to pull back before they could tag me.

My rainbows are the "Crown Jewels" of my collection. They're not as active as any of the other species I keep, but they make up for that in their beauty and patterns... especially at night. I find them not "too big" or "too small".

I hope you find what you're looking for. I would have to say that all of the best dealers of Rainbows are members on this forum.

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-Iman

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