Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi, I was wondering if any body out there could help me?
I know this is my first time on this site, So I’ll start with introducing myself...

My name is Shane, I first owned “Monty” who was a Burmese Python. I had him whilst I was in the Army about 20 odd years ago, I bought him off a colleague who was leaving, at this time he was about 18inches long. I had him until he was about 14 feet long, I had to sell him when I was posted to Germany. During this time I had a few issues, Mostly due to my lack of research (lack of the internet) my local vet put me right (at a cost) this was mostly due to lack of humidity / poor shedding, I remember fondly the warm bath times we had rectifying this.... the other problem I had was a heater burn, again rectifies after a shed (that got me worried) and then a home made heater surround. At the time I got Monty there were No books No internet and very little research was to be gained apart from verbal from the vet and the local pet store, and she knew very little...

Since then I have left the army got married and now have two wonderful children (who are 9 and 6) I have always wanted another snake without the pressures of army life... but the wife wasn’t so keen, anyway It took 11 years of persuasion, and finally she agreed, This Christmas after a lot of study and research (I wanted nothing that would grow much more than 6feet) I received a baby Brazilian Rainbow Boa.

The problem that I need help with, is that he isn’t feeding. I think I know the reason, but I don’t know how to rectify it...

To start with ill go through my husbandry and his living conditions to see if you could find fault with this...

“Professor Snape” is aprox 25inches long and weighs about 30g (as of righting this) he lives in a wooden vivarium 24” x 15” which is heated to 82-84 degrees on the hot end and around the 72 degrees on the cooler end, the humidity is maintained at around the 80% when it falls to 75% ish it gets a good hand spray till it gets to 85% which is the highest I can get it... His lights come on at 0730 in the morning and go out at 2130hrs, the caged ceramic heater is set to come on constantly for an hour and a half when the lights first come on (to get the heat up quickly) then are off half hour then on half hour till 2130hes to keep the vivarium temp stable. There is a small heat mat on perm 24hrs a day (on the hot side) this keeps the vivarium at about a constant 72 degrees when the lights and ceramic heater goes out at night.

I use a substrate of damp Orchid Bark and a very large water trough about 10” which sits in the middle of the setup. He has a snake cave stuffed with moist moss, which sits in the heat mat and a dry snake hide on the “Cold side” he alternate between the two. The vivarium has a large wooden stump which balances on the water trough, and there are plenty of plastic plants to enhance his surroundings. The water gets changed daily, the moss every week and the substrate every other week, daily spot check clean ups any mess found, and a handful of clean moist Orchid Bark replaces whats removed...

I think that’s the Vivarium fully described. Now I’ll describe Professor Snape...

He is obviously a Brazilian Rainbow Boa.
He was born on 15th October 2010
I bought him home on the 16th December, from Swallow Aquatics, he was a good colour, smooth with no broken bones and of a good weight for his size ie:- I couldn’t feel his ribs.. He was very active and seemed to love being handled, with me and the other members of the public. He was being fed on Wednesdays, his last feed being Wed 8th December, He shed (in one) on 15th December four days before I picked him up. I bought him home put him into his new surroundings and left him to figure it all out...
I changed his feeding days till Sunday, (which was easier for me, I work shifts on the Front Line Ambulances, so this will change a day either way if I would be working double shifts) the first time I handled him up was on the 19th which was feeding day, I had No problems and he took a thawed Rat Fluff instantly. I have been handling him every other day, with NO problems.
The eating / shedding goes like this...

EATING SHEDDING
Sun 19th PM (1 rat fluff)
Sun 26th PM (1 rat fluff)
Sun 2nd PM (1 rat fluff)
Sat 8th Refused
Sun 9th Early AM
Mon 10th PM (1 rat fluff)
Sun 16th PM (1 rat fluff)
Sun 23rd PM (1 rat fluff)
Sun 30th Refused
Sun 6th Refused
Thur 10th Refused (Last night)

This is where i think the problem lies..
I Used to feed “Prof Snape” on top of his vivarium after a 10 min handling session. On the occasion of Sunday 23rd I was holding the Rat Fluff with the tweezers as normal, I was probably distracted in the anticipation, when he struck. I was shocked and pulled back instead of letting go of the rats tail. Snape had a good lock whilst wrapping himself around the Fluff, at this point he fell from the Vivarium and onto the floor, about 30” I scooped him up carefully and placed him back onto the vivarium roof, he continued feeding as normal. This was the last time he fed.

He has continued to be handled every other day ish, no problems, he is very active when being handled, he never strikes me, and likes to be handles by my son (9year old) again he hasn’t tried to strike him.

He just wont strike at fluffs, Last night I tried again without him striking, I even tried braining the Fluff, but he wasn’t interested...

Over the past week on examination his scales seem a little baggy, “as if” a layer of fat below the scales were missing. You cant feel his ribs and he feels muscular with plenty of grip, so I don’t think he is skinny.

Now for your help, Do I have any Husbandry Problems with his Vivarium? Temperatures? Humidity? Layout? Etc? Should I be worried about him not feeding for the past few weeks?

Is there ANYTHING I have been doing wrong?

What could I do to increase the chances of him feeding.
When I had my Burmese I had NO issues with feeding...

Any Help that you could give would be much appreciated,
Many Thanks
Shane

Shane,
...Thank you for your service to our country and welcome to the forum. Little BRBs are eating machines if kept properly. If they skip a meal for a week, no problem. If they refuse a week later start looking for what you are doing that may be causing the problem. Your husbandry sounds pretty good except WAY too complicated for a new baby. There are too many variables to decide which if any of them may be causing the feeding problem. When someone buys one of my baby BRBs I would like to see them set it up in a really simple cage with newspaper or kraft paper or paper towel substrate and dirt simple temperature and humidity control. The only cage furniture they really need is a water bowl large enough for them to soak. They can hide under or between layers of the substrate. After the snake is doing well for a couple months adding changes gradually is then okay to quickly identify any problem. With so many different products and items and things going on in your cage there is no way to tell which if any of them may be a stressor and be causing the feeding problem. These snakes are very nocturnal and very secretive. Too much light and too much activity or handling will stress them and stress is often the cause of refusal to feed. They hate bright light and will do anything to hide from it. Your temperature control sounds like you have the right numbers but I wonder if it comes on too quickly and intensely and may be very hot at some point in the cage before the temperature stabilizes and the thermostat backs off on the power. The KISS principal is usually better in snake husbandry. Little BRBs can and will do well and eat regularly if kept in a simple cage with paper substrate and just a water dish and no heat so long as the room temperature is in the high 60s to mid 70s. Try going much simpler and see if that makes any difference. You could get rid of the lights and ceramic heater and just let the mat keep a small part of the cage warm. Also get rid of everything else in the cage except for a good size water bowl. With limited ventilation and simple low wattage heating and a large enough water bowl you should not need to mist the cage to maintain humidity. Too much wattage and ventilation may be evaporating humidity out of your cage too rapidly. The snake will usually spend it's time where the temperature is most comfortable. However, they will hide in the worst temperature spot in the cage if the lighting and or activity causes them to go there for security. The next and VERY BIG issue to consider is that your dead rats may not be right. My 40 baby Rainbow Boas are all eating every week like clockwork. Most of them get live pinky or fuzzy rats. The few that pass on them get a live hopper mouse. Most of them will take a dead rodent but will not dependably eat them each and every time offered. I want them to be happy and eat and grow so I feed live. Try a live pinky rat or hopper or small adult mouse and see if the snake will eat. That might be the quick and simple fix for the problem.
Jeff

There was plenty of good literature on Boa and Python husbandry available 20 years ago. 30 years ago? Not so much.

All his points were spot on.
Only thing I would add is to not handle him just before feeding. I find mine do best if they are in their ambush predator mode and the feeder comes along, very intense feeding response. Fed right where they lay.
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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

Hi, Thanks you for all your kind words...

If you want help there is no point in skimping on the details, or you won’t get the proper advice for that given situation... or answer a lot of questions and time, to gain the answer you want.

I have a few issues with the advice given, but I have gone ahead and done almost everything as advised, Ill ask the questions why later, But to say what I have done so far:-

I have removed the substrate, and I have replaced it with a couple of layers of blue medical paper towelling, I have covered up all the air holes at the back of the vivarium apart from one, I have reduced the daylight time so that it now comes on from 8 till 1900hrs and with it the heating now only comes on for 15mins every 2 hrs starting at 0800 till 2000hrs.

I have removed the Logs and all the ground plastic plants. (there is however one bunch hanging from the top back left hand corner, this is the original one he has had from birth) He now has the Moss Cave in the right hand corner under the hanging plant, the large water bowl in the middle and the rock hide on the right.

The 24hr heat mat is situated under the Moss cave and partially under the water, where it always has been.

I was working last night and could only read your posts, I tried to answer but my phone wouldn’t allow me to...

I came home knackered and fixed the points above, now for my issues, (Do it now, and whinge later)

OK, First: How do these animals survive in the wild? I tried to emulate there natural environments, and failed, they seem to live better in small cramped sterile environments? (but only time will tell with mine) When I bought Professor Snape he was living in a similar environment to the one I made, although I made mine a little larger, that and he was feeding fine for several weeks?

I cant seem to be able to turn off the heating entirely, as the temp drops below 75degrees and the temps in its original vivarium were the ones that I researched as to be the best for Rainbow Boas? Having the ceramic heater on for I5mins every 2 hours seems to stabilize the original temps as-long as I don’t open the glass doors, if I do it then drops like a stone till the heater comes on and only then does it stabilizes with the doors shut. I am however pleasantly surprised that the humidity has stayed the same, and with a LOT LESS work...

My vivarium is situated on my half of a split room, My wife is studying at University and we split our spare room in two with bookcases (with the ceiling light on her side) I have black blinds which leaves my side of the room in almost pitch darkness, which is how I wanted it, If I turned the vivarium lights off completely, it would be in near darkness 24/7. My Vivarium is situated here because its quiet, wont be bothered by the young ones unless supervised, and I only use it for playing on my Xbox, every now and again...

So far everything seems fine in the vivarium, it looks bare, Sterile and not very pleasing to the eye, but on the positive side its easier to keep clean, the Heating has stabilized to its original (as long as I don’t open the doors) and so has the humidity.

As for the food, now this is a Big Problem, Monty was fed on live food, so I have NO problems on that front, but because I acquired him at a reasonable size, he was already feeding on pets of a reasonable size. (on that front:- I have to tell you that I was given a life time ban from several pet shops in Colchester at that time, for purchasing pets for Food) LOL, But now My Boa isn’t feeding on juvenile / large mice or rats and I have phoned round and can’t find any for sale of a smaller description...

Anyway, I have digressed..

Have I made enough changes?

Do I need to do More?

If so what?

Again many thanks for your advice, I am taking heed to every reply.
Shane

Shane,
...Colchester CT? You should be able to find live mice at several places in Hartford. One in 30 US households has some sort of herp pet. There are mice available in virtually every fair sized town in America. You just have to do a little local networking sometimes to find where people in your area are getting their rodents. A baby BRB can actually eat a large mouse. Better to feed them half grown ones but they can and will kill and eat a large one. If feeding large mice you need to be very careful to make sure the snake strikes and constricts and do not leave the mouse in with the snake if the snake is not interested or the mouse could injure the snake. Also if feeding large mice the littlest BRBs are more likely to puke if disturbed so you have to be careful not to upset them until they have mostly digested it. I know it is cold in CT, even cold here in Savannah GA recently. Sounds like you are keeping the snake in an interior room. What is the room temperature? If the room is in the very high 60s or low 70s you would actually do okay with no heat in or on the cage. I keep my baby BRBs in simple plastic cages stacked inside a large cage. No heat on that large cage or the small cages inside it. My snake room is in the mid 70s most of the time because of heat from all the other cages for adult snakes in the room. During the winter when I am cooling my adults the room temperature is in the high 60s much of the time and the baby BRBs eat and digest and grow well during that time just like the rest of the year when they are a few degrees warmer. In the wild these snakes are nocturnal and very secretive. They find small micro moist hiding places and stay there to avoid the light and along with the light the daytime heat, at least to some extent. You can probably imagine the problems we had with these snakes back 20 years ago when as you mentioned it was difficult to find information and virtually ALL the easily found information said all Boids should be kept in the 80s and in well ventilated cages. Chris Mattison had several good books out then that had some information about keeping some Boids cooler and also limiting ventilation to hold humidity in the cage. Mattison's books are great but not well read or even much available in the US back then. When I put out care sheets in the early 90s that said to keep BRBs in the 70s and in cages with very limited ventilation it caused a stir. Many many old time herpers told me that they had had Brazilian Rainbow Boas and that they lost them quickly housing them like they kept their other Boas. They had the "proof" that what they were doing was wrong but many of them refused to believe it and instead blamed the snakes. These snakes had a reputation for being difficult to keep. They still do have a bit of that reputation among less intelligent herpers. If your room is in the mid 60s you could get by with a very simple method of keeping it warm enough in the cage with just a small piece of flexwatt under a corner of the cage. Even better would be to control the flexwatt with a proportional thermostat or for less money with a simple rheostat. That would make a warm spot on the floor of the cage and the snake would select the area of the cage between the paper substrate to hide that was best for it. The cage would have a temperature gradient from warm at the spot over the heater to cool at the other end of the cage. You could instead and possibly even more easily use a small room heater to heat the entire room to the low 70s and need no other heat for the cage. The changes you have made sound good but your entire description still sounds like you are trying too hard to heat the cage and may be unintentionally overheating it at times.
...Colchester Essex? You are screwed as England is an inhospitable place full of people who are so loony that they have outlawed the killing of rodents. A few enlightened herpers in England do have clandestine rodent breeding operations and do keep a few snakes. I salute those few good Brits.
Jeff

Hi Shane, I know how frustrating it can be when a Brazilian Rainbow Boa refuses to eat. Jeff has definitely set you along the right path. Simplifying things when you're having issues with an animal is usually a good idea. One more point I would add is to minimize handling your snake until you get him eating again. Best of luck to you.

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Paul D

www.MoonlightBoas.com

Hi, Sorry to disappoint all you folks...

I live in Colchester, Essex, UK

I served in the British Armed Forces with the Royal Army Medical Corps for 15yrs, as a Combat Medical Technician I served in many countries including Macedonia, Bosnia, Kosovo, Yugoslavia, and Iraq, All during their main conflicts, some in the same areas on two different tours! I was good enough to be “hired” out to serve alongside many different nationalities including your fellow countrymen. Hopefully my actions helped their recovery long-term.

England isn’t as inhospitable as you may first think! But yes I do understand where you may be coming from...

As for the Vivariums room temperature, I got my wife to record a couple of times whilst I was at work and before she went to bed and they were around the 62 -64degrees the house wasn’t particularly hot, and the main heating wasn’t on. On this basis I think the room would be too cold on its own to heat a vivarium without a little help. At the moment the heat mat is on the inside of the vivarium under the paper towelling, a couple of you have stated it should be situated under the vivarium. Could you please just confirm this, I was under the impression that it would be under a glass vivarium and inside a wooden one! I must admit my heat mat is a very LOW power one, and if I put my hand under the vivarium I cant feel any heat difference from the cold end (thick wood)

One of the things I was told when I had my Burmese was NOT to feed it in its cage, this was to not confuse the snake that when the sliding doors were opened, to expect food and strike the hand that fed it, so to speak. This has always made perfect sense to me.

As to the lighting, If Brazilian Boas don’t like the sunlight, Should I get rid of the strip bulb altogether and have a small blue or red light, ie nightlight for the daytime? Would that help the situation? If not is there anyway of shielding, dulling the strip lights to de-intensify them?

I shall try to hunt down Live food (Not literally) when I finish nights on Tuesday...

Again Many Thanks for your comments,
Shane

Shane,
...Colchester Essex? Bloody hell!
...Again welcome to the forum and thank you your service to YOUR country. I served alongside British forces in several places including Desert Storm. I was lucky and got to spend time in mostly nicer places than those you mention. Chris Mattison, who's books I mentioned in a previous post is a Brit. See if you can find some of his books. Particularly, "Keeping and Breeding Snakes". Lots of good info in all his books about doing things simple and paying attention to what the snakes are telling us by their actions. Much of the advances in herpetoculture which made for the giant boom in the late 80s in snake keeping and breeding here in the US are the result of husbandry techniques perfected earlier in Europe. Prior to 1985 most snakes in US collections did poorly because we were so backwards in our husbandry and had a throw-away mentality about snakes.
...Because of your room temps you definitely will need heat on the cage. A small weak heater is always better than a large hot one for these snakes. The goal is to provide a small warm area in the cage or to heat the entire cage to a warm temperature. The biggest mistake people make with these snakes is heating them too hot with big powerful heaters. BRBs will do fine without any cage lighting as long as they are in a room that has light at least for a few hours everyday. It really does sound to me like you have a good feel for the husbandry. My only reason for urging you and other new keepers of these snakes to go very simple is so that there are not so many variables that they are impossible to sort out when there is a problem. My best guess now is that your snake would eat a live half grown mouse ro fuzzy rat. Frozen rodents seem to last a long time in the freezer but after just a short time seem to be much less desireable to the snakes. As was posted earlier try defrosting the rodent to over 100 degrees and try at night with limited disturbance. The act of removing the snake from it's cage causes some small degree of stress and stress is often the reason when these snakes refuse to eat. All of my baby BRBs get fed in their cages. They get handled for a short time when cages are cleaned and that seems to initially tame them and then keep them tame. I do occasionally get bit because of feeding errors but it is not such a big deal with these snakes like it can be with Burms. I do know about the problems finding live rodents in England. You might check out British reptile forums (there must be one here on kingsnake though not sure how much activity it has) to network and find a source for live rodents.
Good luck,
Jeff

Hi,
I thought I would keep you all posted.
Its with great regret, I have to inform you, yesterday my Brazilian Rainbow boa sadly died...

I don’t know how or why it happened.

Yesterday morning I returned home from work checked everything was Ok with the vivarium, which it was. All the temperatures and the humidity were as normal. He was sleeping under the hide on the right hand side of the cage. I changed his water, and left him to it, this was at aprox 0900hrs.

I went to sleep, and woke at about 1600hrs, again another check all the temps and the humidity were Ok, although the humidity had dropped 1-2% ! He was now curled up at the side of the sweat box under the plastic leaves against the side of the vivarium, and on-top of the heat mat, nothing unusual there.

At about 6ish I was going to tempt him with a "piping hot" fuzzy rat as described on here (when getting them back from live food) I was going to feed him in his cage, which is against my best wishes... but I was willing to try anything.

It was when I opened his vivarium that I notices something wasn't right, he wasn't breathing, and was tough to manipulate (rigor mortis had set in) He had No visible marks, and looked as though he was sleeping, although he wasn’t breathing, and was quite clearly had passed away.

I was very upset and heavy hearted, I had to go to work with this bearing down on me.

This morning I was first in to swallow aquatics, and confronted the reptile assistant, she was very helpful, the manager was got, after a little negotiating, they have ordered in another one. Because the 7 day insurance / guarantee had expired they weren’t willing to replace him free of charge. I finally agreed to pay £50 which covered half the Postage, and import costs. They should get Mk2 in tomorrow and with a two week quarantine period, I should be able to bring him home by the end of next month. This one being 3months older.

Hopefully with your help, I shouldn’t have any further problems.
Many Thanks for your time and effort answering my questions
With Heavy Heart
Shane

Shane,

Sorry to hear this. Keep in mind there is the possibility that there was nothing wrong with your husbandry. Who knows, maybe the snake had some sort of rare congenital disease or a tumor. I didn't go back over all your posts, but I don't recall seeing anything about taking the snake to the vet. If you didn't take the snake to the vet, maybe next time you have concerns, a trip to a good reptile vet would be worth your while and peace of mind. Don't beat yourself up too much!

Having said all that, I'm in total agreement with Jeff regarding the "keep it as simple as possible" philosophy. While like anyone else I enjoy looking at an extravagant, natural looking vivarium, the more complex the set-up, the more variables are introduced, and thus the possibility of husbandry problems goes up. It's a personal decision, though, depending on how important one feels the aesthetics are.

Sorry again, and welcome to the forum.

Thanks,
Ed

Shane,
...I am very sorry about the loss of your snake. It is usually difficult to do but when I lose a snake I try to figure out why. A couple points to consider here. The snake's refusal to feed was very probably not the problem that caused it's death. The refusal to feed was likely a symptom rather than a cause. The snake may have sustained an internal injury when it was dropped. These snakes are pretty hardy and I have dropped a bunch of them without them being injured (at least I think they were not injured) but I am sure the possibility of injury from a drop does exist. Something that was in the snake's cage may have been emitting noxious chemicals. This one is high on my list of possibilites. The finish on the cage would be a possibility. Any of the cage accessories could have also been a source. Any plant or substrate material may have been treated with chemicals. Some wood products especially cedar have oils which are extremely dangerous to snakes. Pine has oils which may cause problems for some snakes but not for others. I like to see terrariums set up with lots of plants but there are plants which can be harmful to animals kept enclosed in a cage with them. There is also the possibility that the snake had a congenital problem. I only seem to lose baby snakes from congenital defects if they are born with externally obvious defects and these snake usually die within the first week or two. The last possibility I can think of is internal parasites. You could have taken the snake to a vet but many vets know little about these snakes and so sometimes recommend keeping them too hot or too dry because of what they do know about other boids. In many places it is difficult to find a vet who specializes in reptiles. The one potential problem where a vet would have been of help would have been if internal parasites were suspected and a fecal sample was taken. I am sure there are other possibilities that I have missed here.
Jeff

Two other possibilities. Infection and internal damage from exposure to heat. Infections are probably one of the greatest causes of death in captive snakes. Sometimes the infection is the primary cause of the problem but many times infections occur because the animal is stressed by other health issues. Back when heat rocks first came into wide use in herpetoculture lots of people used them. Many baby BRBs died with heat rocks in their cages. My guess is that these snakes liked the heat or limited security of hiding around these rocks and spent so much time on them that they caused damage to internal organs. I have heaters inside a few of my cages but they are carefully controlled with both proportional thermostats AND rheostat dimmers. The chance of a failure of a thermostat is not too great but it does happen and when it does it can kill snakes. It is usually better to keep heaters outside the cage so that if one of these failures does occur the insulating effect of the cage material can at least partially potentiate the problem. Geez, I seem to be rambling again.

Thank you for all your kind comments...

I was worried that my wife’s main (and my only) present for Christmas was to end in nothing. That’s 6 months saving on her behalf and 11 years nagging on mine...

It’s heartbreaking because the only memories I have of keeping snake were all good ones, this just taints it a little, but brings it back into perspective that we are dealing with a live animals.

To answer your questions I don’t think it could have been a toxic release from paints / lacquers because my vivarium is a purpose built laminated chipboard one (it was used for a leopard gecko, for about two years before) all the furniture and the plastic hanging plants are Exo Terra, the log came from Sea-Pets and had a genuine label for Reptiles (I forget the make/name) the ceramic heater is also Exo Terra as with the light strip, the only things I cant name are the starter unit for the light strip and the ceramic heater cage! Which I would hope as bought from a reputable Reptile company would be Ok.

As for injury when he fell from the top of the vivarium, I have been thinking back. At the time of the fall he had latched onto the rat and had coiled around it just before falling (it happens all so quick), On the floor he was constricted around the rat when I scooped him up. On top of the Vivarium everything went on as planned, he released from the prey, sniffed around the rat and ate it backwards! Maybe its breath stank and he couldn’t tell front from back!!!

Digressing...

I would have thought if he had sustained an injury during the fall, maybe he wouldn’t have continued to eat, Due to the pain! and if he did, the stress of the pain would have induced regurgitation!

All handling after the incident (I always left him for a couple of days after feeding to prevent regurgitation.) all went without hiccup or any obvious signs of pain. I don’t know what the signs and symptoms would be for an injury sustained from a fall in a snake... But I presume there would be a “step” in his spine (broken back) un-uniformity in his length on the sides (broken ribs) and general flinching when touched in certain areas (pain – internal injury – internal haematoma / bruising) and worse case scenario Professor Snape would have Struck out on handling as a warning to say I don’t want to be picked up today, I hurt – Thanks But NO Thanks. In the coming week or so, he was urinating normal (no blood) and had defecated twice, so in my mind all this internal organs were working, well on my basic level of knowledge, without any testing equipment.

Ed, Because I never really thought there was a life threatening issue I never contacted a Vet. When I first noticed a problem it was far too late. If I thought for one second that there was, I would have contacted one instantly or at least within 24hrs. This forum was my fist port of call, just to make sure I was doing everything right. And for a little help with the feeding issue I was having. I wasn’t too worried about him not feeding for two weeks, I know they can go a lot longer in the wild...

Jeff, Internal damage from exposure from heat is my biggest worry. As I stated before he was sitting on the heat mat when I found him passed away, there were only 3 layers of blue medical paper between him and the heat-mat! I am now wondering if this could have been his demise? I do hope that he would have had the sense to move to a cooler part of the cage once his body had become too hot, I mean that’s what they do as a species to regulate there body temperature, No.

The heat mat itself doesn’t get too hot, I have put my hand on it for some time with no ill,It’s very low wattage. (I know snakes in general feel heat differently to us) On examination there was no obvious external heat damage to the snake’s underside, which was in contact with the heat-mat, and when I picked him up, He wasn’t hot to touch. I have seen humans who have passed away, sitting next to a hot radiator, and there skin IS hot, amongst other things...

Because my vivarium is made of wood (chipboard and the heat-mat would have no effect whatsoever underneath) should I put something on top of it to prevent direct contact? ie, a cut piece of Perspex, just a little larger than the heat mat itself?

Cliff, please don’t worry, Its exactly where I was going to go if he wouldn’t take the “piping hot” rat. That’s the reason why I joined and contacted this forum, because I wanted help and advice.

Lastly I have cleaned thoroughly the Vivarium. Its up and running again, I have purposely not added any water to the cage, as I don’t want to grow any bacteria cultures. I’ll be keeping a close eye on any fluctuations in heat changes, only adding water and increasing humidity a couple of days before bringing Professor Snap home. Oh I haven’t told my son, Snapes just tired and sleeping a lot... because I have been working nights a lot, there shouldn’t be too many questions from him, When the new arrival comes in a couple of weeks ill only handle him for a little to make sure its Ok for my son to.

I don’t want him to feel any way like I do.

Many thanks for all your support so far, I’ll keep you all updated.
Shane

Shane, I'm sorry about your loss. It's always tough when a pet dies. I'm glad you're going to give Brazilian Rainbow Boas another try. You seem like a very dedicated person, and I wish you the best of luck.

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Paul D

www.MoonlightBoas.com

Could you recommend a type of console that your talking about. I’m using Exo Terra (round) thermometers and hydrometer which are placed on the ground for realistic measurements at the moment.
Many Thanks
Shane