Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My daughter just today got a boa - she dances with her pet ball pythons, and wanted to get a bigger snake for awhile. We found a nice calm 3-4 year old male, 4, maybe 4 and a half long. We bought him from the pet store and brought him home (30 min ride in very vibrations heavy car - need new muffler). When we got home, we took some pics and then she danced with him to see how he'd do. After the one number she sat with him and we noticed him wheezing when he breathed out, like "Paaaahhhh". As she sat quietly with him it got less noticeable and further apart. I called the pet store and on their recomendation put him in the tank (which I had at 32C), they told me to try to raise the temps to 35C, so I've added another small red light (the warm end has a big undertank mat and now two small red lights. He went into the hide on the colder side of the tank (40 gallon breeder). My daughter is freaking out thinking he has a resp. infection. I think it may be stress from us bringing him home and handling him on the first day. What do you folks who have boas think? Also, should I take the second red light off his tank since he's on the colder side? Thanks so much for any help - wasn't as ready for this guy as we thought we were.
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1.0.0 277 Graybanded Kingsnake, Boris Karloff
1.0.0 Crockett Graybanded Kingsnake, Julien Sands
1.0.0 Ball Pythons, Frank Langella
1.0.0 Pastel Ball Python, Claude Raines
1.0.0 Sweet Rosy Bourke Parakeet, Didgeridoo
0.1.0 Smart & Loving Teenager

There's a difference between a wheeze and an audible exhale. A wheeze will sound more like whistling. Even when you do hear whistling, it's not always a wheeze - sometimes it's a something partially blocking the nares (if the boa "nose rubs" a lot it can alter the structure, or their could be a small piece of stuck shed, or even substrate if the boa was kept on aspen) and it often clears on it's own. Hearing a boa exhale (without a wheeze) is nothing to worry about. Sometimes they'll do it if they're stressed out, I've seen overweight or particularly large boas do it, etc.

Temperature wise, a gradient from 28-33 degrees C is adequate for a healthy boa.

I always recommend allowing a new boa to acclimate for several months before true interactions begin (things other than removing the boa to clean the cage). Most people simply can't allow themselves to wait that long though - so most don't take that recommendation.

Hope that helps,
jb
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What's written above is purely my opinion. In fact, MOST of what you read on the internet is someone's opinion. Don't take it too seriously

Jonathan Brady
DeviantConstrictors.com Site received a complete makeover! Check it out!

Thanks so much for taking the time to respond and explain that to me. It really helps - this is our first large snake, so I'm not used to hearing breathing. Another question I have, though. I have the temp at 28C under the log hide the heating pad is under the tank, with 24C on the hot end on top of the hide. He's still hanging on the cooler side. I had to turn the heat lamp off this morning because when I got up the temp was 34C and he was as far away from that as possible, poor guy. Now I'm afraid it might be too cold for him, but if he's hanging comfortably about on the cool end of the tank I shouldn't worry, right?
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1.0.0 277 Graybanded Kingsnake, Boris Karloff
1.0.0 Crockett Graybanded Kingsnake, Julien Sands
1.0.0 Ball Pythons, Frank Langella
1.0.0 Pastel Ball Python, Claude Raines
1.0.0 Sweet Rosy Bourke Parakeet, Didgeridoo
0.1.0 Smart & Loving Teenager

What kind of enclosure are you using? My guess is, with such varied temperatures, you're using a fish tank style of enclosure.

If that's the case, I'd HIGHLY recommend purchasing a plastic enclosure. There are several good manufacturers to choose from (Vision, Animal Plastics, ProLine, Boaphile, Sentec, Neodesha). Each has it's /- so it comes down to which will work best in your situation. The HUGE upside to these enclosures is that heating is far easier to control and maintain and humidity is easier to maintain as well (humidity is just as important as temperature to a boa - 60%-80% is optimal).

24 C is about as low as you're going to want to let the temperatures get on a regular basis. But even when the temperatures are 24 C in one area, it would be beneficial to have warmer temperatures elsewhere.

Finally, where your boa hangs out has less to do with temperature comfort and more to do with safety comfort. They'll pick safety of optimal temperatures and humidity more often than not.

jb
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What's written above is purely my opinion. In fact, MOST of what you read on the internet is someone's opinion. Don't take it too seriously

Jonathan Brady
DeviantConstrictors.com Site received a complete makeover! Check it out!

One other point, it appears with the large fluctuations in your temps you are not using any type of thermostat to control your heat elements.

I would recommend either a Herpstat or a Helix thermostat for the job, several models available and with one, temps will not fluctuate so widely.
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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

I was not using one of those - thanks, I'll get one! Thanks for taking the time to help me.
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1.0.0 277 Graybanded Kingsnake, Boris Karloff
1.0.0 Crockett Graybanded Kingsnake, Julien Sands
1.0.0 Ball Pythons, Frank Langella
1.0.0 Pastel Ball Python, Claude Raines
1.0.0 Sweet Rosy Bourke Parakeet, Didgeridoo
0.1.0 Smart & Loving Teenager

I do plan on getting him one of these really good boa cages as soon as I can, thanks so much for listing some types - I'd only heard of boaphile yet. Till then I was wondering if I should use a mister in his tank (I have one from frogs before) or just keep a nice big bowl of water and a wet hide available? Thanks so much for taking the time to educate me!
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1.0.0 277 Graybanded Kingsnake, Boris Karloff
1.0.0 Crockett Graybanded Kingsnake, Julien Sands
1.0.0 Ball Pythons, Frank Langella
1.0.0 Pastel Ball Python, Claude Raines
1.0.0 Sweet Rosy Bourke Parakeet, Didgeridoo
0.1.0 Smart & Loving Teenager