Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm pretty sure I'll get asked to read the archives, or sent to Jerry Conaway's web site, so let me start by saying I've done both already - but thanks for double-checking.

Here's the deal: I recently purchased a viper boa; he(yes, a male-spurs make life so much easier) is 13", c.b.b eating fuzzy/hopper mice. I've got him in a 10 gallon for now, and have a 20l if I'll ever need it. The humidity is being maintained at between 65-80%,and ambient air temp is 84. The water bowl is of course on the cool side, same as my Dumeril's boa and ball python, and I made sure it was large enough for his whole body to fit comfortably. It's even deep enough for him to swim underwater a bit. All I wanted to do was make sure this sounded kosher with those with more exp. with candoia than I have. If my blasted camera was running, I'd have pics of the enclosure, and him.

Thanks in advance,
Kim & crew
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the crew:
1.0 Dumeril's boa (Ivan)
0.0.1 Ball Python, hypo (Nikkomis)
1.0 viper boa (named him Dante)
1 Shar-pei (Sable)
1 wookie(half old english, half giant schnauzer: Gus)
1 cat goddess (Graycee)
too many "breed-my-feeders" mice/rats
1 dumbo rat (Boopsy)

1 very understanding husband, who only claims the dogs

I don't have viper boas, but I do keep Solomon Island ground boas...from what I remember reading, the care is basically the same (jump in if I'm wrong guys! *grin*). The humidity sounds fine and the air temps sound okay, too. I personally keep my SIGBs at 80-82F, but 84F shouldn't be too hot for them. I also prefer to keep my water bowls on the cool side and big enough for a good dunking if that's what they want. All in all, I'd say you've got the setup situation under control.

Raven

Thanks for the vote of confidence!! I'd read 80 degrees is the norm, but I'm so used to needing to maintain higher temps that it almost seems wrong to me(out of habit, I suppose). He's already well-established - est. at two years, and seems to be comfortable in his new digs, so I guess so far so good. The gentleman I pruchased him from said he was due to feed Monday evening, but that was postponed because he shipped him out Tuesday morning; that was a relief since I've seen snakes arive DOA due to regurgitation caused by the stress of shipping.

Would you think waiting to feed until this weekend'd be alright? Naturally I'm dying to see him eat, but really hate risking anything.
Thanks for the kind response!
Kim & crew
-----
the crew:
1.0 Dumeril's boa (Ivan)
0.0.1 Ball Python, hypo (Nikkomis)
1.0 viper boa (named him Dante)
1 Shar-pei (Sable)
1 wookie(half old english, half giant schnauzer: Gus)
1 cat goddess (Graycee)
too many "breed-my-feeders" mice/rats
1 dumbo rat (Boopsy)

1 very understanding husband, who only claims the dogs

Most of my collection also requires the higher temperatures. My Candoia and corns are the only two species who don't need the higher basking temps and the Candoia won't tolerate temps too high and remain healthy. Just be careful not to keep him too warm - too much heat can kill these guys, especially neonates who are a bit more fragile. At roughly two years old, he should do fine with temps in the low to mid 80's (I usually keep new arrivals just a bit warmer - mid 80's - to boost the immune system a bit to fight off RIs and the like). I would think offering him a meal would be fine. I got my latest trio last Saturday and the male (probably a two year old) ate a f/t fuzzy on Sunday with no problem. The two neonates refused f/t pinkies, but they were supposedly eating live pinks, so that could be it. Typically I wait a week before offering prey items, but Sunday was feeding day for everyone else so I figured I'd offer, the worst they could do was not eat. For what it's worth, I've had few problems getting new acquisitions to eat if they've been allowed to settle in for a few days. The sole exception is my original wc male SIGB who didn't eat voluntarily for a year, regardless of what he was offered. I tried just about everything and resorted to force feeding when he started losing weight. I finally stumbled across his prey of choice thanks to my mom and he's done fine ever since. Good luck with your new guy and keep us updated.
Raven