Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi everyone! I've practically lived in the Leopard Gecko and Kingsnake forum for a while now and I've finally come here. Not getting a BRB for a while, but it'll probably be the first large snake I get once I have the chance, they're absolutely beautiful. What I have right now is all I have time and space for, plus I have 3 years of high school left and then college. But, I figure I might as well start getting my rainbow boa education early, plus this forum just seems like a lot of fun. Just thought I'd say hello to all of my fellow herp keepers!
-Jacob

-----
1.0 Hypo Tang Leopard Gecko
1.0 Giant Jungle Albino Leopard Gecko
0.1 Normal Leopard Gecko
0.1 SHTCT Baldy Leopard Gecko
0.1 SHTCT Leopard Gecko
0.1 High Yellow Lavender Leopard Gecko
0.1 Albino Tangerine Leopard Gecko
0.1 Unusually Patterned Tangerine Leopard Gecko
0.1 Crested Gecko
0.1 Splendida Kingsnake
1.0 Ball Python
1.0 Sinaloan Milksnake
1.0 Kenyan Sand Boa
0.1 Rough Scale Sand Boa (I'll have her in a week)

Like you've already noticed, we have a fun bunch here. OT stuff is welcome as most of us have more than just BRB's.

BRB's are considered moderate to advanced but IMO are quite easy. The real concern is getting the right type of enclosure and having it set up correctly. With the right enclosure, not that hard to care for....feed, clean and fresh water!!
-----
Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

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

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

I agree w/ Dave.. I think the reason they have a reputation for being difficult is that many people try to care for them like they would one of the more main stream boids.. and as a result, they fail and end up w/ a bad experience. As a result - they blame it on the snake being difficult to keep instead of admitting they were wrong in their husbandry.

The fact is, as long as you set their cage up correctly, get the temps right and the humidity high - they are not bad to care for - in fact require less work then the other animals on your list.

Anyway.. Welcome to the forum Jacob!! You won't find another forum like this anywhere.. and you certainly won't find a cooler snake to work with..

>>Like you've already noticed, we have a fun bunch here. OT stuff is welcome as most of us have more than just BRB's.
>>
>>BRB's are considered moderate to advanced but IMO are quite easy. The real concern is getting the right type of enclosure and having it set up correctly. With the right enclosure, not that hard to care for....feed, clean and fresh water!!
>>-----
>>Thanks,
>>
>>
>>Dave Colling
>>
>>www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com
>>
>>
>>
>>0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
>>0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)
>>
>>LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:
>>21.29 BRB
>>19.19 BCI
>>And those are only the breeders
>>
>>lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats
-----
photos.xtremecombatsports.com

Let me extend another welcome!

I've had my BRB for 2 years now, and I must say its been a very rewarding experience. I love the snake!

I on the other hand am quite new to the Leopard Gecko considergin I just got mine like almost 2 weeks ago. I can already tell they are going to make very special animals. The coolest thing Ive seen yet, is when they are hunting rocahes and crickets the way they wag and shake thier little tails.

I also noticed you have a male Kenyan! I have a male and female myself that I plan to breed very soon. I want them to get a lil bit bigger since they are only about 2 years old themselves. I know my male is ready to breed as he is fasting. Has this happened to you already, he seems to be just about full grown, I know the reach sexual maturity in 15 months =)

I would like to see some pics of your Leos, you seem to have a very nice collection!!!!

Anthony

Here are some pics of my Leo's.

They are only two months old now! Both were born in April from Craig Stewart @ The Urban Gecko!

Enjoy!!!!!

Leopards are one of my favorite geckos species I've maintained in the past few years (African Fat Taileds, Bibron's, White Lined, and Crested are the others). They're great little guys, I've been breeding them for 3 years now. I've also bred White Lineds and African Fat Taileds, but Leopards have been the most interesting, and easiest. After a lot of dealings and breeding, I've ended up with the great little group I have now, several of which I'm going to be selling off for bigger and better things this summer, after all of the females have laid their eggs. Below, in order, are two of the babies I hatched out in April, (they've matured quite a bit since), and their mother, a SHTCT. The two babies were a product of crossing the tang female (who is het for albino) with a jungle tang albino. Sorry for the long reply, I just love these little guys, lol. Enjoy! -Jacob

-----
1.0 Hypo Tang Leopard Gecko
1.0 Giant Jungle Albino Leopard Gecko
0.1 Normal Leopard Gecko
0.1 SHTCT Baldy Leopard Gecko
0.1 SHTCT Leopard Gecko
0.1 High Yellow Lavender Leopard Gecko
0.1 Albino Tangerine Leopard Gecko
0.1 Unusually Patterned Tangerine Leopard Gecko
0.1 Crested Gecko
0.1 Splendida Kingsnake
1.0 Ball Python
1.0 Sinaloan Milksnake
1.0 Kenyan Sand Boa
0.1 Rough Scale Sand Boa (I'll have her in a week)

Welcome Jacob! I'm a newbie to the Rainbow forum too and I also own several leos. I love your Sand Boa! How's his temperment?
-----
-----
Amber

My Kenyan actually has one of the best temperments out of all my snakes. All of them are very calm when handled, but I'd have to say that he is my favorite. I was doing reptile presentations at an elementary school in February, and he was a little cold (so was I). So I took him out of his container and put him in my sweatshirt pocket (kept my hand in there with him) and walked around with him in their for about an hour, taking him out when it was his turn to be shown to the kids. He just sat there soaking up the heat the entire time, basically asleep. Anyways, he's a very special snake lol! Do you have any KSBs yourself? -Jacob
-----
1.0 Hypo Tang Leopard Gecko
1.0 Giant Jungle Albino Leopard Gecko
0.1 Normal Leopard Gecko
0.1 SHTCT Baldy Leopard Gecko
0.1 SHTCT Leopard Gecko
0.1 High Yellow Lavender Leopard Gecko
0.1 Albino Tangerine Leopard Gecko
0.1 Unusually Patterned Tangerine Leopard Gecko
0.1 Crested Gecko
0.1 Splendida Kingsnake
1.0 Ball Python
1.0 Sinaloan Milksnake
1.0 Kenyan Sand Boa
0.1 Rough Scale Sand Boa (I'll have her in a week)

No, I do not have one at the moment, but I love the look of them! I would like to add one to my collection some day. But don't tell my husband that!

>>My Kenyan actually has one of the best temperments out of all my snakes. All of them are very calm when handled, but I'd have to say that he is my favorite. I was doing reptile presentations at an elementary school in February, and he was a little cold (so was I). So I took him out of his container and put him in my sweatshirt pocket (kept my hand in there with him) and walked around with him in their for about an hour, taking him out when it was his turn to be shown to the kids. He just sat there soaking up the heat the entire time, basically asleep. Anyways, he's a very special snake lol! Do you have any KSBs yourself? -Jacob
>>-----
>>1.0 Hypo Tang Leopard Gecko
>>1.0 Giant Jungle Albino Leopard Gecko
>>0.1 Normal Leopard Gecko
>>0.1 SHTCT Baldy Leopard Gecko
>>0.1 SHTCT Leopard Gecko
>>0.1 High Yellow Lavender Leopard Gecko
>>0.1 Albino Tangerine Leopard Gecko
>>0.1 Unusually Patterned Tangerine Leopard Gecko
>>0.1 Crested Gecko
>>0.1 Splendida Kingsnake
>>1.0 Ball Python
>>1.0 Sinaloan Milksnake
>>1.0 Kenyan Sand Boa
>>0.1 Rough Scale Sand Boa (I'll have her in a week)
-----
-----
Liann
1.0 Colombian Boa
1.0 Suriname Boa
0.1 Brazilian Rainbow Boa
1.0 Pueblan Milk
1.1 Sinaloan Milk
0.1 Hypo Honduran Milk
1.1 Pastel BP
1.0 Spider BP
1.2 Het Pied BP
1.1 Het Albino BP
1.8 Ball Pythons
0.1 Crested Gecko
1.2 SHTC Leos
0.1 Albino Leo
0.1 Leo (Normal)
2.0 Bearded Dragons
1.0 Uro
2.1 Wiener Dogs
Too many corn snakes and rats & mice to list!

They're great little snakes, very fun to maintain. I hope this doesn't start some big debate like I've seen on other sites, but unlike what a lot of people say, undertank heating isn't the only way to properly heat a sand boa tank. I found out, with a deep enough substrate (2-3 inches of aspen works fine)that heating with a lamp, especially with a red bulb, will bring them out to the surface for a few hours a day. He's actually out more than my desert king and BP combined, and digests fine, despite some people saying that they don't digest right without undertank heat. He's eating and growing fine, no problems at all. Anyway, just thought I'd ramble about this for a while, too scared to post this idea on the sand boa forums, afraid I'll be branded a heretic and yelled at, lol! -Jacob
-----
1.0 Hypo Tang Leopard Gecko
1.0 Giant Jungle Albino Leopard Gecko
0.1 Normal Leopard Gecko
0.1 SHTCT Baldy Leopard Gecko
0.1 SHTCT Leopard Gecko
0.1 High Yellow Lavender Leopard Gecko
0.1 Albino Tangerine Leopard Gecko
0.1 Unusually Patterned Tangerine Leopard Gecko
0.1 Crested Gecko
0.1 Splendida Kingsnake
1.0 Ball Python
1.0 Sinaloan Milksnake
1.0 Kenyan Sand Boa
0.1 Rough Scale Sand Boa (I'll have her in a week)

It's not like there are bunches of buried heaters in the wild. The sand gets heated from the sun. If anything in the wild I'd expect the sand boas to be digging deeper to cool off and getting closer to the surface to get warmer. I'd thing a RHP would work great, probably need a higher wattage one.
-----
Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

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

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

That's exactly what I was thinking when I set up Cecil's tank. All I had read on other boards beside Kingsnake was that UTH was the only way to go for a healthy snake. Problem was, I had lots of spare lamps, no UTH, and no money to buy one (they're uber-expensive locally). I started with a red bulb for a few weeks, then switched to a standard basking bulb. He didn't come out at all with that in the lamp. Bright light seems to be less preferable than a red bulb, so I switched him back. Middle of the day and middle of the night, the "sand" boa drapes himself on a small terrarium log on his aspen and basks for hours. I was expecting a very secretive critter when I got him, and ended up getting one of my most active snakes ever, lol. -Jacob
-----
1.0 Hypo Tang Leopard Gecko
1.0 Giant Jungle Albino Leopard Gecko
0.1 Normal Leopard Gecko
0.1 SHTCT Baldy Leopard Gecko
0.1 SHTCT Leopard Gecko
0.1 High Yellow Lavender Leopard Gecko
0.1 Albino Tangerine Leopard Gecko
0.1 Unusually Patterned Tangerine Leopard Gecko
0.1 Crested Gecko
0.1 Splendida Kingsnake
1.0 Ball Python
1.0 Sinaloan Milksnake
1.0 Kenyan Sand Boa
0.1 Rough Scale Sand Boa (I'll have her in a week)

Sounds like you may be onto something. With a uth, the "secretive" sand boa will go deeper to "bask" With a heat lamp, it comes out to soak up heat.
-----
Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

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

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

Makes sense to me too. It seems like that would better emulate his natural habitat anyways. He definitely looks like a healthy happy guy!

>>They're great little snakes, very fun to maintain. I hope this doesn't start some big debate like I've seen on other sites, but unlike what a lot of people say, undertank heating isn't the only way to properly heat a sand boa tank. I found out, with a deep enough substrate (2-3 inches of aspen works fine)that heating with a lamp, especially with a red bulb, will bring them out to the surface for a few hours a day. He's actually out more than my desert king and BP combined, and digests fine, despite some people saying that they don't digest right without undertank heat. He's eating and growing fine, no problems at all. Anyway, just thought I'd ramble about this for a while, too scared to post this idea on the sand boa forums, afraid I'll be branded a heretic and yelled at, lol! -Jacob
>>-----
>>1.0 Hypo Tang Leopard Gecko
>>1.0 Giant Jungle Albino Leopard Gecko
>>0.1 Normal Leopard Gecko
>>0.1 SHTCT Baldy Leopard Gecko
>>0.1 SHTCT Leopard Gecko
>>0.1 High Yellow Lavender Leopard Gecko
>>0.1 Albino Tangerine Leopard Gecko
>>0.1 Unusually Patterned Tangerine Leopard Gecko
>>0.1 Crested Gecko
>>0.1 Splendida Kingsnake
>>1.0 Ball Python
>>1.0 Sinaloan Milksnake
>>1.0 Kenyan Sand Boa
>>0.1 Rough Scale Sand Boa (I'll have her in a week)
-----
-----
Liann
1.0 Colombian Boa
1.0 Suriname Boa
0.1 Brazilian Rainbow Boa
1.0 Pueblan Milk
1.1 Sinaloan Milk
0.1 Hypo Honduran Milk
1.1 Pastel BP
1.0 Spider BP
1.2 Het Pied BP
1.1 Het Albino BP
1.8 Ball Pythons
0.1 Crested Gecko
1.2 SHTC Leos
0.1 Albino Leo
0.1 Leo (Normal)
2.0 Bearded Dragons
1.0 Uro
2.1 Wiener Dogs
Too many corn snakes and rats & mice to list!

welcome!

nice sand boa, my girlfriend has a Rosy and she has been looking into the kenyans.
-----
Russ
1.0 Brazilian Rainbow Boa (Apollo)
1.0 Columbian Rainbow Boa (Odin)
1.0 Guyana Red-Tail Boa (Ares)
0.1 Pastel Salmon Boa (Minerva)
0.1 Rosy Boa (Athena)

Melbourne, Fl

Welcome welcome welcome!

Nice looking critters you've got there.

You'll find this forum a wonderful fount of knowledge... and silliness, on occasion.
-----
Danielle

Herps:
1.1 BRBs
1.0 Amel Motley Corn
----------------------
Other critters:
1.0 Great Dane
1.0 Siamese
1 Senegal Parrot
1 Blue Fronted Amazon

"and silliness, on occasion" =

Pretty much all the time excluding real answers to real questions!

-----
Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

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

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

-----
Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

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

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

LOL!
-----
-----
Liann
1.0 Colombian Boa
1.0 Suriname Boa
0.1 Brazilian Rainbow Boa
1.0 Pueblan Milk
1.1 Sinaloan Milk
0.1 Hypo Honduran Milk
1.1 Pastel BP's
1.0 Spider BP
1.2 Het Pied BP
1.1 Het Albino BP
1.8 Ball Pythons
0.1 Crested Gecko
1.2 SHTC Leos
0.1 Albino Leo
0.1 Leo (Normal)
2.0 Bearded Dragons
1.0 Uro
2.1 Wiener Dogs
Too many corn snakes and rats & mice to list!

-----
Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

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

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

First thought? HAHA!

Second? OUCH!
-----
Danielle

Herps:
1.1 BRBs
1.0 Amel Motley Corn
----------------------
Other critters:
1.0 Great Dane
1.0 Siamese
1 Senegal Parrot
1 Blue Fronted Amazon

,,
-----
Thanks,

Frank Roberts
Roberts' Realm Of Reptile Research

Jacob,
...Welcome to the forum. This place is fun but we are very serious about our animals. Click on the names of each of we forum sponsors to see our websites. I had Kenyan Sand Boas once. I thought they were pretty neat until I noticed that they grow SO SLOW. They drove me nuts. I like snakes that you can raise up from babies and see them grow. Have a look at my caresheet below.
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

Welcome, nice gecko!!! sand boa nice as well!! Kenyan??
-----
Thanks,

Frank Roberts
Roberts' Realm Of Reptile Research

Yep, he's a full grown male Kenyan Sand Boa.
-----
1.0 Hypo Tang Leopard Gecko
1.0 Giant Jungle Albino Leopard Gecko
0.1 Normal Leopard Gecko
0.1 SHTCT Baldy Leopard Gecko
0.1 SHTCT Leopard Gecko
0.1 High Yellow Lavender Leopard Gecko
0.1 Albino Tangerine Leopard Gecko
0.1 Unusually Patterned Tangerine Leopard Gecko
0.1 Crested Gecko
0.1 Splendida Kingsnake
1.0 Ball Python
1.0 Sinaloan Milksnake
1.0 Kenyan Sand Boa
0.1 Rough Scale Sand Boa (I'll have her in a week)