Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Are they a difficult animal to keep..?? considering buying a pair would like some opinions..Thanks for your time.

Since no one else has answered, I will.

Basins or northern ETBs are easy to keep IF:

You do your homework, read up on the various care sheets available on the web (keeping in mind that everyone has their own ideas to a certain extent, you just combine them and come up with a middle ground as a starting point), provide proper caging/husbandry, and if you are just starting out in tree boas buy captive bred and born from a reputable breeder who will be available to answer questions you may have.

Proper caging/husbandry is a MUST. You have to be willing to invest the money required to provide proper housing, as well as the money for the purchase of the animal. You will need a thermostat for accurate temp control, plus heating units of some kind, plus a decent cage that will allow for high humidity, relatively high temps, plus air flow/ventilation so that you don't end up with mold and algae everywhere. Babies and juveniles should be in much smaller cages than subadults and adults, but still need the temp/humidity/ventilation parameters to all be correct (even more so actually).

Buying CBB vs CB vs WC: We started out with a CBB northern bought thru a broker. We did have a couple of problems, but between help from people on the web and the director of a local small zoo, we were able to get our little guy to thrive. It would have been much nicer to have been able to talk directly to the breeder, but the broker wouldn't give us his name.

When buying something advertised as CB, ask questions. If a broker is selling, see if you can get the breeder's name, contact info. The breeder may not want to be bothered with selling or answering questions, but it doesn't hurt to ask. CB can also mean a freshly WC female came in gravid and dropped, OR the babies could have been born at the exportor's facility and then imported into the country. Never hurts to ask questions.

As far as buying WC, we have never had a problem with a WC basin, however, have heard a few stories of others who have. We have purchased 13-14 northern WC ETBs. All but 3 ended up in our freezer. The conditions most of these animals are kept in after capture are not exactly what you call sanitary. Thus, disease is spread, organ damage occurs because of dehydration, leading to a large portion of the animals dying down the road at some point. Buying WC is definitely a buyer beware, big gamble type decision.

Guess what I am saying is if you are starting out with a tree boa, do your homework, buy CBB from a reputable breeder who will be available to answer questions, and be willing to invest the $$ in caging, as well as the animal. Then, yes, they are easy to keep.

Karen

I agree with everything Karen said, but would be more emphatic about buying CBB from a quality breeder (Like Karen who does have some CBB Basins listed in the Kingsnake.com classifieds).
also since Basins are a big investment, I would make sure not to house them too close to your other collection and to wash your hands well before touching them or their cages/food etc...
IMHO ETBs are the ultimate, but you should learn about the husbandry because the rules are few and simple, but cannot be ignored....here is a link to a GREAT caresheet, norm
http://www.kingsnake.com/emeralds/