Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi All, I'm Clint, 33yr. old Mason contractor, I live in S.E. Wis. I currently keep 3 Ackies(monitors), 1 brb, 1 colombian b.c., and 1 Hogg isle, which I traded to a pet store for my Argus monitor Yesterday. I have the B.C. manual and have set my BCI. up according to the book. Should I do the same for the Hogg isle or is there a slight variation in husbandry. I am keeping both in seperate rubbermaid opaque containers. The bcc. is in a 66qt. and the Hogg is in a 31 qt. Both containers have the same floor space. Would the Hogg isle benefit from a higher container. These snakes are all still small. the Hogg isle is the largest, being maybe 30". Also, I offered him/her a f/t mouse lastnite it struck, constricted, and dragged the mouse up on top of its hide, but did not eat it. The pet store was feeding live. Any thoughts on this, how hard is it to make the transition from live to f/t, should I just offer another in a few days or what. I know he is hungry, since he has seen me with food he has a different look in his eyes, so to speak. I got him out earlier this morning and to me it seemed like he was tring to decide if my hand was food or not. Although I could be wrong. Very cool animals, fun to work with, beats wrestling with a hissing, biting, tail whipping, defacating monitor. I think I'm a convert, I used to be just a lizard man. I think now I've missed a lot of fun, really sweet, docile animals to work with, I can't say enough. Sorry so long winded, by the way I've been lurking here for awhile, just reading and studying as much as I could. Thanx for all the info, and thanx for reading this, Clint.

Welcome to the forum. What are the floor dimensions of your containers? I'm guessing something like 24" x 18". That is enough for a 3 foot boa now, but they will quickly outgrow them. The rule of thumb is that length width of cage should not be less than the length of the snake. So, a 24" x 18" cage could house a 42" snake. Hogg Island boas are a BCI species, and should be housed the same as your Columbian boa. How long did you leave the f/t rat in with the Hogg? Give it an hour or so at least and see if it will eventually eat it. Also, make sure the rat was completely thawed. You might even want to warm it up first. Put it in a ziploc bag and let it sit in a bowl of warm water for a few minutes after it has thawed. It might just take a couple days for your snakes to adjust to their new environment before they will feed. Make sure they are totally comfortable in their setups while feeding.

Hello Clint, you and I have a few things in common, forum newbie, hog newbie, and having some previous experience with common Colombian BCI. I'm certainly no expert, but I can tell you what's worked for me so far, and what I've learned from others. (If I'm doing something wrong folks, please point it out.) tmflyfish pretty much covered the housing question, but I would like to add that young boas enjoy having vertical structure to climb.

The younger of my baby hogs, still in it's baby grey skin, took it's first frozen thawed mouse right away when I dropped it in, (as did the older one that had taken f/t before I bought it.) One of the breeders recommended feeding it in a separate smaller dark container, like a deli cup. I figured I'd just try feeding in their cages first. I fed in the evening when the room was semi dark and still warm. I thawed the mice in warm water for about 15 minutes and changed the water a couple minutes before I dried them on a paper towel and put them in the cages. The male stalked, then struck and constricted its mouse before dragging it into its hide and eating it. The little female just cruised up and gulped down it's first ever f/t the way my adult kingsnake does.

Boas are definately low maintenance compared to big lizards. Enjoy the hog, I know I am!

Lyon jerlyon@msn.com