Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello,

I purchased a nice 3 foot male on Saturday and have moved him into the below setup while resisting the urge to interact with him for the past two days.

He seems very stressed and does not move around the cage at all.

If someone could recommend a tweak to the setup to make him more happy I (and the snake) would appreciate it.

My current setup is as follows:

1. 40 gallon reptile glass tank with aspen bedding as substrate
2. Undertank heat tape which achieves an ambiet temp of 84 degrees
3. Heat lamp to create a hot spot which is in the low 90's
4. 1 decorative log, 1 hide area, and a water bowl which he cannot fully soak in
5. It is dry in the cage with humidity 35-40%

The tank is in my room and there is a fan oscillating constantly. Would this stress him?

I ask because he has not moved much since arriving at my house. I understand that there is some stress, but is this normal BCC behaviour?

Please advise if I should change my setup around to make this guy more happy.

Thanks Matt

The glass tank should be fine for now but it is only temporary. I recommend getting an enclosure made specifically for snakes, at least 2' deep by 4' wide. Glass isn't a good insulator for heat.

I do allow a water basin big enough for soaking also. Just keep it clean. They sometimes like to crap in it. You might notice shedding problems with the lower humidity. Misting will help.

Boas don't typically cruise around unless they are hungery or maybe uncomfortable. They are ambush preditors, sit and wait... When I get a new snake they tend to just hide during daytime, especially when they are young and at the bottom of the food chain, but when darkness falls they'll start moving.

I think you are more stressed than the snake! Believe me, I've been there before too! Boas don't wonder around too much, unless they are hungry. That's actually how I know when to feed my Argentine Boa...when he starts his "ssshhhh...I'm huntin wabbits" routine, I know I need to feed him! I've been feeding him on that schedule for the past two years, and as far as I can tell, he is very healthy! The rest of the time, he just sits with his head sticking out of the hide box, occationally coming out at night to change hide boxes. (the first couple of pics are of him).
I just got a columbian boa, and the only thing I saw of her the first couple of weeks was what you see in the third pic! lol

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-David

1.0 ball python (Pandora - don't ask)
1.0 argentine boa (Prometheus)
0.1 hogg island boa (Andromeda)
0.0.1 brazilian rainbow boa (Inara)
1.0 kenyan sand boa (Diablo)
1.0 normal corn snake(Cypress)
0.1 amery. corn snake (Morgan LaFay)
0.0.1 banded cali. kingsnake (Cain)
1.0 tangerine honduran milksnake (Narcissus)
0.0.1 snow corn snake (Valkyrie)
1.0 amazon tree boa (Pegasus)
0.0.1 colombian boa (Athena)
0.0.1 sandfish skink (Slick)
0.0.1 fire skink (Phoenix)
1.0 dog (Luke)

the wife's pets:
1.1 ferrets (Ares, Enyo)
0.0.1 betta fish (Captain Morgan)
1.2 cats (Galahad, Ripley and Sassy)

ok, so the pics didn't show up in the order I wanted...the first one is of Athena, she stayed like that for about two weeks (I did get her out during that time to treat that wound on her nose)
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-David

1.0 ball python (Pandora - don't ask)
1.0 argentine boa (Prometheus)
0.1 hogg island boa (Andromeda)
0.0.1 brazilian rainbow boa (Inara)
1.0 kenyan sand boa (Diablo)
1.0 normal corn snake(Cypress)
0.1 amery. corn snake (Morgan LaFay)
0.0.1 banded cali. kingsnake (Cain)
1.0 tangerine honduran milksnake (Narcissus)
0.0.1 snow corn snake (Valkyrie)
1.0 amazon tree boa (Pegasus)
0.0.1 colombian boa (Athena)
0.0.1 sandfish skink (Slick)
0.0.1 fire skink (Phoenix)
1.0 dog (Luke)

the wife's pets:
1.1 ferrets (Ares, Enyo)
0.0.1 betta fish (Captain Morgan)
1.2 cats (Galahad, Ripley and Sassy)

Thanks for the tips and pics!

Get two thermometers or a temp gun and a humidity meter. If you get thermometers get digital ones and put them down where the boa is. Get your humidity up into the 60% range twice a day. Don't spray so much the water runs down the sides of the tank. Cover the entire top of the tank if you can or most of it. Get another hide box too. You didn't mention what the warm side is just the basking spot, but put the second hide where he can be in the high 80s on the warm side. You need a nightime temp drop of a couple degrees. He can live in a tank for now but be making plans to get a 4' X 2' or bigger real snake cage eventually. You said you're using heat tape, so likely it is under the whole cage. Boas need a temperature gradient so put the heater and any lamps all on one end. If you can't get the temps high enough you can heat the room more, or in a real pinch you can put extra dedicated seperate heattape on the warm side and control having a warm and a cool side that way with two different controllers (rheostat or thermostat). The colder your room is the harder it will be to get your temps right. My room is 82F Boas spend most of their time hiding out, but he will come out more when he feels safer. He will learn that food will be coming on a regular basis and that you are not a preditor in no time. Give him a whole week to dettle in then feed him. Wait about 3 days after that and you can begin your handling of him.
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Caden Chapman
slithering.serpents@gmail.com
http://slitheringserpents.com