Reptile & Amphibian Forums

...Ok, I had ya going there for a second or two. But these are the 'Gals'..

I don't have to handle the adult redtails a lot, the shavings get a spot-cleaning daily and I can work around the Boas while doing that. Every once in a while (and at least twice yearly) everybody comes out to play and the cages get a thorough once-over or even a 'remove and scrub'.

Even so.. the boas are almost entirely cooperative and arguments and disagreements are rare. I don't keep soaking pools with any of my Boa.. so I guess maybe it's a treat for them to wait in a big bucket of cool water while I clean their house. Some just wait like this 8' Peru gal...
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... others are swimmers!
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Here's a 9' Brazil redtail enjoying the water...
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After a short while they get tired of soaking or swimming and want to come see what I'm doing...
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Fortunately they all seem to know when it's time to go back home!
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... though this gal always takes her time..
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I hope you enjoyed the visit!

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Gus
A. Rentfro
RioBravoReptiles.com
www.riobravoreptiles.com

"Quality is not an accident. Perfectly healthy animals are a minimum requirement.. everything else is just salesmanship" gus

What do you do when it is time to feed the boas? I have used paper towels because it is safe to feed on and easy to work with. The problem is, spot cleaning doesn't work. The boas have to be moved and the whole cage cleaned.

I have one female that doesn't like being handled. She always hisses and acts stressed when I get her out to clean her cage. If there was a way to leave her alone, I would, for health reasons. She is not aggressive at all, I just don't want to stress her. I have thought about useing Aspen, but wondered what to do about feeding, what if they ingest shaveings? Or is this not a problem with adult boas?

I've never had a problem using aspen with babies up to adults... As long as the food source is DRY, substrate ingestion almost never happens. I usually feed snakes that eat pinkies on newspaper or paper towels since defrosted pinkies seem to have moisture on their skin that attracts shavings. What do you think happens in the wild?? Do you see any newspaper laying around?? If a snake catches food in mud, leaves or any other type of debri, I don't see any way around substrate ingestion and they seem to have been doing fine since forever.
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Joe Lydon
Got Boids?

np
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Amanda Burke
Email
Burke Reptiles Website

N/P

Neat pics. Next bath day show us the boys. Mark