Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm new to the brb world, and wanted to ask a couple of questions. My brb is two months old, and he never leaves his box. Well, if he does, we've never seen it. The guy working the table I bought him from, told me about the high humidity they require, and told me an easy fix was to get a tupperware container, fill it will moss and cut holes in it. He told me the snake would go in as he felt he needed. Well, he never leaves it, unless we remove him. Which usually leads to a ticked off snake when you're pulling out moss to find him. Is it normal at this age for them to constantly hide?

Also, my husband had an idea to raise the humidity in the entire tank. Our experience is with snakes is those not needing as high of humidity, so I'll ask people who know. He said, why not cover the bottom of the tank in moss? He's currently in a ten gallon aquarium, though it is not his permanent home. I was concerned about him constantly laying in wet moss, but it occurred to me when I said it, that's all he does anyway, staying in the tupperware container filled with damp moss.

Also, he's in shed right now, his first one since I bought him. Do brb shed pretty well? A few of our balls are horrible shedders sometimes, usually requiring a soak, while our jungle carpet and redtail shed fine.

They do like damp and they do like to be hidden. The damp moss box is perfect spot for him.

Glass tank... do you have the top covered with something more solid than screen?

Three factors affect humidity...

Evaporation - larger surface areas of water will equate to more humidity. Includes standing water and damp objects.

Dissipation - once airborne, water molecules tend to spread out as far from each other as space allows. if allowed to leave the enclosure they will.

Condensation - warm damp air coming in contact with a cooler surface will result in water droplets condensing on that surface.

IMO a screen top tank is not optimal for BRB's but can be bandaided to work better. Need to cover most of the top with plastic and also helps to insulate three sides to keep the heat in.

Poor shedding is a symptom of inadequate humidity.
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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 (02/01/2010):
42.61 BRB
27.40 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

@rainbowsrus...Yes, one half of the screen top is covered. This isn't his permanent tank, just something until he is out of the quarantine period and gets some size on him to move to something bigger.

@Buzzardball...while it may be perfect for him, I sure would like to see him come out of it. Maybe when he increases in size, he won't think he'll be eaten if he leaves. I told my husband that also, if the bottom is covered in moss, we'll never know where he is!

Thank you both for answering my questions.

You're spot on! What does a neonate do in the wild? Hide from predation! As he gets bigger, acclimates and realizes you're not going to eat him, you'll probably see him more!

That screen top is allowing too much humidity to escape from the cage. This time of year with us heating our homes the indoor humidity is extremely low. If you have a heater on the cage it is heating air in the cage which allows that air to pick up moisture and the warm moist air then rises out through the screen top. Cool, very dry room air then drops into the cage to replace that rising warm moist air. Most other snakes require lots of ventilation. These snakes do best with very little ventilation. You need to cover at least 95% and perhaps as much as 99% of the screen top. In doing so you will retain moisture inside the cage but also retain heat so whatever method you are using to heat you will need to reduce the heat to avoid overheating the cage and the snake. This is very important as it is easy to overheat and kill these snakes. If you are using a light to heat the cage that light is also a problem. These snakes are very secretive and are nocturnal. A light will stress them and cause them to spend more time in hiding. An undertank heater controlled with a rheostat or thermostat so that it just makes a small warm area on the floor of the cage is ideal.

Covering half the top isn't nearly enough. You need to cover almost the entire top, and use under-tank heating. I understand this is temporary housing, but I'd imagine you'd like a living snake around when you have it's permanent home ready.

Brazilian Rainbow Boas are primarily nocturnal, but it's common to observe baby BRBs cruising around their cage when the living conditions are correct. For the time being, the moss hide is keeping the snake going. As for covering the entire floor with moss... I've seen people successfully build naturalistic enclosures, but it takes a fair amount of effort to set it up properly.

Brazilian Rainbow Boas make great pets, and can be simple to care for. I try to set up my cages with limited ventilation and a large water bowl that covers about 1/3 of the surface are. Those two steps alone can raise the ambient humidity above 70%. Combine that with a damp hide and a proper heat range of about 75-83 degrees, and you'll have one happy snake.

I'm glad you came to this forum for advice. The people here are great, and have a vast depth of knowledge. Best of luck to you. Watching a Brazilian Rainbow Boa grow up is very gratifying.

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Paul D

www.MoonlightBoas.com

I think it's fine as you have it! You've created a micro-habitat which he prefers! He probably comes out at night to drink, explore, etc. As far as seeing him, if you covered the bottom of the tank w/moss, you would never see him!

Another late reply... something else you might want to try is add a lot more hide space. I use ferns and fake grasses around the waterbowl, with a thin layer of moss over the substrate; a mopani wood arch over the bowl, more artificial grasses hanging from the center bar of the 55 gal tank, a "turtle log" hide, and with their main "damp hide" retreat. Often I find at least one just hanging out on top of the log, or under a fern by the hottub. I know age will have a lot to do with it, but I also think it is the amount of cover that makes them feel secure to get out and explore. Prior to "overfilling" my tanks my adults would spend most of their time in ONLY the damn hide.

Full tank view:

Left side closeup:

Right side closeup:

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Desiderata Baby!

1.0 '08 BRB "Orion"
0.1 '07? BRB "Cassiopea"
0.1 '09 Cal King. "Pandora"
0.1 '09 Apricot Hondo "Speckles"
1.0 '08 Tang. Hondo "Bates"
0.0.1 '09 Eastern Garter winter refugee "Jumper"
2.1 '08 Domestic Ferrets "Hobbs, Meenu & Stash"
0.2 '95 & '99 Homo Sapiens, feline recessive

Take two:
Full tank view:

Dec 2, 2010 55 tank by daytimes1, on Flickr

Left side closeup: (Cassie is actually coiled around the back of the waterbowl, side view was cloudier than front though...)

Dec 2, 2010 55 tank L by daytimes1, on Flickr

Right side closeup:

Dec 2, 2010 55 tank R by daytimes1, on Flickr

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Desiderata Baby!

1.0 '08 BRB "Orion"
0.1 '07? BRB "Cassiopea"
0.1 '09 Cal King. "Pandora"
0.1 '09 Apricot Hondo "Speckles"
1.0 '08 Tang. Hondo "Bates"
0.0.1 '09 Eastern Garter winter refugee "Jumper"
2.1 '08 Domestic Ferrets "Hobbs, Meenu & Stash"
0.2 '95 & '99 Homo Sapiens, feline recessive

Thanks everyone for the excellent advise. His shed came through nicely. I've missed having a snake that changes with each shed. I took some pics of him, but they were while he was eating, and the fuzzy mouse had a gross reaction to being constricted, lol. So I'll have to get some more.

And many of you were right, I finally stayed up late enough to see him come out. He climbed up in the branches and hung there for a bit. When he's out of the quarantine stage he'll move into the room with our other snakes, where the is less traffic, and I'm sure I'll see more activity out of him.