Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey, everyone i opened my brbs mouth today last time i did was about a week ago and the yellowness in her mouth is jst about gone it seems so what ever it was it seems i have it under control. the only thing is she seems to be a little lethargic as of late i will keep an eye on here as i have been and i will update but if anyone has any sugestions or tips please let me know and i a question about housing i am thinking about switching over to a sterilite type container from my 20gallon would you recommend this
Thanks DJ

DJ,
....I have read all of your posts on the forum and will reply to several of them here.
....Aquaria with open screen tops make TERRIBLE cages for Brazilian Rainbow Boas. If you can cover 95% (sometimes more) of the screen to prevent the escape of humidity from the cage they work okay. These snakes are secretive and nocturnal. A cage with all glass sides provides too much light and exposes the snake to too much outside the tank activity. Some people use thick substrate so that the snake can hide in the substrate. Some people use smalller canotainers insde the cage for the snake to hide inside. Sterilites are good if you have them in a secure slider rack so that the snake cannot escape but if using them with their supplied Strerilite top the snake will eventually squeeze out of them or even pop the top off. An ideal cage for a BRB will provide very limited ventilation so that the humidity will remain inside the cage. If you are heating the cage, as the warm humid air escapes from the cage it will be replaced by cool dry room air. Your heater will then warm this air and it will also escape from the cage taking more humidity with it.
....If your snake has become lethargic there may be something wrong with it. The most common mistake people make with these snakes is keeping them too hot or too dry. If kept too hot or dry they will dehydrate. Slight dehydartion can lead to lethargy, going off feed and shedding problems. More serious dehydration will cause regurgitation and even death. They need temperatures in the 70s and very high humidity. Heating the entire cage into the 80s will cause trouble. If you have a cage that has some length you can have one end in the 80s as long as there is plenty of other area in the cage that is in the 70s.
....I still do not know whether you were feeding live or dead rats or mice to your snake. People can help you more if you are precise in what you post.
....I have no idea whether there was anything wrong inside the mouth of your snake. Off white with a little bit of yellow tint is normal. Bright yellow is of course not normal.
....There are lots of people who post here who have loads of experience with these snakes and they are eager to help people who ask the right questions. The most apparent attribute of the successful keepers of these snakes is strong attention to detail. The small details make all the difference.
Jeff

Hi, thanks for all of your help I was thinkin more along the lines of the containers with the latching handles they have them at target. also her temp is at like 82 83 should I drop this into the 70s I have foil on 3/4 of the screen top and than I keep a damp towel on the rest of the screen that is uncovered this seems to work but I feel like since the plastic container is kind of foged or blured and not perfectly clear she would feel safer and help reduce stress just let me know if this is what should do
thanks for all of your help
DJ

DJ,
...I would definitely drop the temperature down into the 70s. Little BRBs can actually do well with no heat on the cage as long as the room temperature is in the very high 60s to low 70s all the time. I would go for the secure opaque plastic box rather than the glass tank. If the lid is an airtight fit you will need to make some airholes in the box or lid. If the lid is loose and not an airtight fit it will probably provide all the ventilation you need.
Jeff

ok that i will do than Thanks alot for all of your help she is going into shed right now so i am going to wait untill she sheds than switch her over thanks again
DJ