Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've owned or still own colubrids (cornsnake, Western Hognose, Northern Pine Snake, garter snake) and Boids (Ball python, Sunset Cross Colombian/Hogg Boa), and finally purchased a Brazilian Rainbow Boa (on my wishlist for about two years). For some reason, I'm a bit anxious about the BRB's husbandry, so I figure I would throw out there what I'm doing, and have the experts comment.

The BRB is approximately 2 months old. It currently is in a temporary 15 gallon tall tank (floor space of a ten gallon). Substrate is damp paper towels on the ends and damp Spaghmum moss in the center. It is heated with a UTH on the hot spot (86 degrees) and an infrared heat light to raise ambient temps. Cool side ranges from 73 - 79). Screen top is 2/3 covered with plastic trash bag. Two hides on either end and a water bowl in the middle, with plastic foliage and branches to climb. Humidity is usually in the 70's and 90's when I mist twice a day.

The only dry spot is a rock covered by a hide. When I aim the temp gun directly on the snake, it often reads between 79-82. It roams quite a bit at night, sometimes on the lip between the tank and cover. During the day, it is often in different spots. I've owned it for three days and the breeder said it was due for a feeding, so I fed it a pinky to test its feeding response. It readily took it.

I plan to upgrade to a Boaphile with radiant panel heating when it gets larger.

How am I doing?

Hello there,

It sounds to me as if you are doing quite well!! Welcome to the BRB addiction and I will steal some of our other forum friends sayings when I say good luck having JUST one brb!!! I myself shrugged off that very warning when I bought my first baby some 4 plus years ago and now I have a 3.4 breeding group!!! They really are spectacular creatures!!!

It sounds to me like you have covered the husbandry nicely. One thing I might mention is that lights can often times dry out the air in the enclosure. If you are supplying the correct UTH like it sounds you are I would say you don't need to really worry about the additional light. If you are using the light for your viewing purposes then by all means use it, but the snake doesn't really need it. Beyond that I would say the quicker you get it into a permanent non-screen topped enclosure the better, but for the time being you should be good to go.

It sounds like you are using spaghnum moss as a substrate and while I think this is fine, many people prefer to use a hidebox filled with spaghnum moss and then either paper towels, newspaper, cypress mulch (what I recommend and prefer) or some other humidity friendly substrate product for the actual ground cover. This is mainly just for ease of cleaning and looks in my opinion. I think all of these ways can work just fine as long as you keep your cages clean!

I myself have finally just gotten all of my BRBs into boaphile animal plastics and repti-racks cages (yes i'm testng all 3 manufacturers to decide what I like best for future orders). I can tell you that all these types of cages hold humidity and heat well and they are well worth the investment!!

Anyay, sorry to ramble. Welcome to the forum! and you MUST post pics ASAP!!!

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Ike Lightner

2.3 BRB (Dugo, Sultan, Roxy, Brazita, & Lucille)
1.1 100% het hypo BRB (Diego & Rusheena) -Diego is here already, Rusheena's still on hold!!!

Thanks. I'm a little obsessive compulsive when I first get a new snake, so I've been checking temps constantly. My worry was that the 79 F. "body reading" for my BRB was too cool, but I'm so used to having higher temps for my other snakes. (Yes, I pointed to the temp gun at the baby to check its "outside" heat). I'm sure that I'll be less anxious, as it gets older.

I plan to get Boaphiles for both the BRB and my Hypo Hogg. Just didn't want to invest a lot in a temporary enclosure.

Thanks.

I would say that 79 degrees is nowhere near too cold for a BRB. The cold ends of my enclosures are 68-70 degrees usually and I oftentimes find my snakes in the 72-76 degree body range. Cold temperatures by themselves for too long can be problematic, but if you provide a proper temperature gradient with a hot spot of around 85 degrees you should be set. The snake will decide what it wants for itself from there!!

And I hear you on the temporary cages, it makes sense.
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Ike Lightner

2.3 BRB (Dugo, Sultan, Roxy, Brazita, & Lucille)
1.1 100% het hypo BRB (Diego & Rusheena) -Diego is here already, Rusheena's still on hold!!!

Getting less anxious. I have experience with snakes, but all the care sheets that I've read make it seem like BRB's are so fragile. That's why I'm trying to have everything perfect.

Thanks again.

Many people think BRBs are fragile. They are actually very hardy if kept properly. I experience zero losses with babies except for the few that are born with birth defects. The problem which has persisted for decades with these snakes is that people who think they know what they are doing set them up just like they keep their Boa Constrictors or Pythons and seriously overheat and dehydrate them. Little BRBs can do fine with winter temperatures as low as the high 60s and temps in the low 70s the rest of the year. If kept in small cages with the entire cage in the mid 80s or higher they overheat and dehydrate. It was very difficult when I put out my first BRB caresheets to get people to keep these snakes in cages with a temperature gradient with much of the cage in the low 70s and just a small part of it in the 80s. It was also difficult to get people to understand that these snakes do best with limited ventilation to maintain high humidity. I think your setup is okay but you should cover more of the screen, perhaps as much as 98% of it. Your cage will retain moisture with the top covered and you will not need to mist. You will also need to back off on the heat because the limited ventilation will stop much of the heat loss that is now escaping through your screen top. I keep my baby BRBs in very small plastic boxes with just very small air holes. I never have to mist them or do anything else to keep humidity up except that I have water bwols that are large enough for the snakes to soak in them and I keep them full enough that there is often a little siullage when the snakes go in and out of them. I keep the entire cages in the low 70s and the snakes eat well and grow rapidly in these cages. These snakes are very nocturnal and very secretive. An overhead light will stress them and cause them to spend more time in hiding places in their cages and they may also be less likely to eat when stressed by lights and activity.

Thanks for the support. Jeff is right. I'm a python/ boa owner who us used to higher temps. Ill definitely lower the heat a few degrees for safety. Happy New Years.