Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I read somehwere that a boa is supposed to have something it can submerge itself in and that it helps with shedding as well as humidity.

i lso read that idealy you should have a pool or container that covers 1/3 of the cage bottom. I though to add this to my cage design.

I need to know if there are any drawbacks to this idea. i had though to possibly put in a well secured waterfall if can can manage it as well. the pool might not be nessisary as it was brought to my attention but id like to add it anyway if there arent any stresful or otherwise bad consequnses for the snake.

Thanks for your help.

Cambro makes a polyethylene food container that is perfect size. Check out www.us-plastics.com and look for the white polyethylene food containers that come in 6, 9 and 12-inch depths. The 6" is fine, or 9" if you want more.

You can soak the boa outside the cage from time to time if needed. You don't really need a huge pool in the cage at all. Most keepers do not have a huge water area.
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Mark

What kind of boa?
Anyway I have 3 boas, my do fine with decent sized water bowls, the bowls ar'nt big enough for their whole bodys to fit in, but big enough to were they can soak almost half, they seem to do just fine ^^ Heres a picture of my male boa, hes my little baby.

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Kurama- 04 Ball python
Seven- 07 Female ball python
Ginseng- 07 spotted Python

Shinnie- 04 Rosy Boa
Hannibal- 07 Male Hypo Boa

Peanut- 05 Male red footed
Dragon- 07 Leopard gecko

(7 dogs, 2 cats, 2 birds, 19 bettas, 10 other fish)

Boas do not need to soak (unless being treated with amikacin which I never advocate use of anyway).

In fact, all of my boas intentionally have bowls small enough that they can't soak.

As long as your boa is 100% healthy, and proper heat and humidity are provided at the right cycles then things like hide boxes, large water bowls, etc only create more surfaces to clean leading to increased chance of disease.
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http://www.GilbertBoas.com/
http://www.BoaList.com/

I agree boas do not need to soak, just keep the temps and humidity correct and you won't have a problem.

Can you put a pool in the enclosure? You sure can but most people don't because it's difficult to maintain. It must be kept clean. You will probably have to change water everyday, substrate will get in it along with feces. The snake will get wet and wet the rest of the cage.

It becomes way more work than most people want to do, myself included. Ask yourself if your interested in cleaning and changing a large water pool daily for the next 20 years.

Large pools and waterfalls can be tricky but it can be done. I absolutely recommend you set them up in a way that they both can be cleaned easily.

Most importantly is to keep the pool and waterfall separate, believe it or not. You don't want feces and urates getting pulled into the pump and plumbing system for the waterfall.

Also, if you do go with a waterfall you should consider increasing the ventilation in the cage. If your cage is also large this will make it harder to heat, unless the primary source of heat is room heat.

Sounds like you have some tradeoffs to consider.
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Currently keeping a small collection of various Gonyosoma. Both G. janseni and G. oxycephala.