Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey everyone,

My roommate has a rainbow boa (first snake) set up in a shoebox rubbermaid with a small light for heat, aided by a small undertank heating pad (not needed, but you can only tell people so much!). The rainbow is kept on paper towels. The enclosure is awfully wet (temps are kept below 90 however), so I thought about suggesting that the boa get changed over to cypress mulch or aspen, but didn't know if that would lead to mold problems?

The situation now is that the little boa has developed what I can best describe as little whiteheads on her body. She also appears to be going into shed (probably due to the bumps?). Do you think these are blisters from being in a too-wet environment? I was thinking that maybe she's dealing with a stuck shed, but I've yet to see a stuck shed cause those sort of 'blisters'. Any recommendations on what to do would be greatly appreciated!

caroleD,
...Do you have PICs of the blisters? The temperature is WAY too high. The blisters probably are due to substrate too wet or possibly not being changed out often enough. These snakes do great on damp substrate but will have skin problems on constantly soaking wet substrate. The good thing about the likely too wet paper towels is that they are probably compensating for the temperature which is way too high. The evaporation of the water is actually helping to cool the cage. If the substrate was changed out for dry papertowels the temperature would probably climb high enough to kill little BRBs. My little BRBs do great on damp paper towel substrate in plastic boxes with the temperature in the mid 70s. The plastic boxes are stacked inside a large cage that is kept at a constant temperature with a proportional thermostat and a small heater. If I warm the Baby BRBs up into the 80s they start having shedding problems and do not eat well. These snakes absolutely do not need lights in their cages. They are very secretive and nocturnal. Lights cause stress to them. Stess can cause a reduction in their naturally occuring infection resistance and that can lead to health problems. Your roommate needs to get rid of the light and drop the heat down and go with damp paper towel substrate for awhile. Hopefully the blisters will clear with the shed. I would not change to mulch substrate until the skin clears up. If the snake still has blisters after the shed it will need veterinary help.
Jeff

>>Hey everyone,
>>
>>My roommate has a rainbow boa (first snake) set up in a shoebox rubbermaid with a small light for heat, aided by a small undertank heating pad (not needed, but you can only tell people so much!). The rainbow is kept on paper towels. The enclosure is awfully wet (temps are kept below 90 however), so I thought about suggesting that the boa get changed over to cypress mulch or aspen, but didn't know if that would lead to mold problems?
>>
>>The situation now is that the little boa has developed what I can best describe as little whiteheads on her body. She also appears to be going into shed (probably due to the bumps?). Do you think these are blisters from being in a too-wet environment? I was thinking that maybe she's dealing with a stuck shed, but I've yet to see a stuck shed cause those sort of 'blisters'. Any recommendations on what to do would be greatly appreciated!

CARE OF NEWBORN BRAZILIAN RAINBOW BOAS
Epicrates cenchria cenchria
By Jeff Clark

Brazilian Rainbow Boas (BRBs) make great pets. They are very hardy and typically grow to around 6 feet in length. Many BRBs have been kept in captivity for over 20 years. Their size is much more manageable and practical than many of the other Boas and Pythons. They do require high humidity. This is especially important when they are small. If kept too dry they will dehydrate. Minor dehydration will cause feeding and shedding problems. Major dehydration will kill them. Baby BRBs should be maintained with close to 100% humidity in their cages. This can be accomplished by using damp substrate and limiting the ventilation. They do require some ventilation but in cages with large screen sides or screen tops the humidity will rapidly escape from the cage. Ideal substrate material for little BRBs is paper-towels or newspaper. The advantage of paper-towels and newsprint is that it can be easily changed. Damp substrate will quickly grow mold. It should be changed often. BRBs drink more water and pass more liquid urine than most other snakes. Substrate that is kept in the cage too long will become contaminated with urates which are very acidic and this will harm the snake’s skin. Many people use mulch and chipped bark substrates. Some of these substrates are excellent but you should be careful not to use one that is too acidic or one from a garden center that may have parasites in it. I especially like the cocoanut husk chunks and chips substrates for BRBs. It is vitally important to not use cedar substrate. The oils in cedar and similar woods are toxic to snakes. Pine shavings and aspen shavings are also not suitable for BRBs. Did I mention that you should change the substrate often? BRBs require cages with a cool end in the low 70s and the warm end in the high 70s to very low 80s. If you keep them in cages that are too small to maintain a temperature gradient in the cage they should be kept with the entire cage in the mid 70s. Temperatures higher than this can quickly cause dehydration and death. Most reptile heating products are too hot for Rainbow Boas. These snakes are nocturnal and secretive. Using overhead lights to heat their cages will create too much stress for a BRB. Cage temperatures must be controlled with a proportional thermostat or a carefully set and monitored rheostat. Don’t guess what the temperature is down in the cage where the snake spends most of it’s time. Invest in good temperature measuring equipment and use it often to make sure you do not overheat your BRB. BRB temperature requirements are 10 to 15 degrees cooler than what is required for many other boids including Ball Pythons, Boa Constrictors and Burmese and Reticulated Pythons. People who try to keep BRBs hot like they keep their other boids often kill them. Extra care should be taken when transporting BRBs. If left in a closed car in the sun the temperature will rapidly rise and kill them. BRBs should be provided with caging with hiding spots so that they can avoid light and activity. Small plastic containers like margarine is packaged in with a small entry hole cut into the side of the container work well. Place substrate material such as damp moss or damp papertowels in the hiding container. BRBs need a waterbowl in their cage that is large enough for them to submerge. They will often soak in the water for several days before shedding. However, when they do not have a good hiding spot they may have to use the waterbowl for a hiding spot and spend too much time in the water. Adult BRBs can be set up in elaborate naturalistic caging. They look especially nice in large cages with exotic plants. However they will spend much of the daylight hours hiding in or under the plants. It is best with a new little BRB to keep the caging simple to make sure the snake is doing okay before adding too many variables that may cause problems. After the snake is acclimated and doing well you can make small changes in the caging and try different substrates and plants making one change at a time. Little BRBs should be fed small live mice at first. Many will also take live pinky rats for their first meals. They will feed much more readily on a live meal than a dead meal. They also like mice that are large enough to run around much more than they like pinky or small fuzzy mice. I have actually fed full-grown adult mice to BRBs for their first meal. They can handle very large prey but are more likely to regurgitate if fed extremely large meals When they have become accustomed to eating live prey they will easily switch to eating fresh killed and then frozen and thawed prey. Thawed prey will work best if it is heated to around 105 degrees for the first feeding attempts with it. BRBs are always more likely to eat undisturbed in the dark than when being closely watched in bright daylight. Do not force-feed a BRB. Force feeding is very stressful and stress is often the reason that one will not eat. These snakes are eating machines. If your BRB does not eat it is because of stress or improper husbandry. Eliminate the stress and correct the husbandry and they will eat readily. The most common husbandry problems are keeping the snake too hot or too dry or subjecting it to too much light or activity. Little BRBs have a very simple outlook on other living things. Anything it sees moving is either a predator or prey. When first born they will often strike and bite. The bite of a little BRB is not painful and usually does not bleed. If you handle the snake for several minutes everyday it will quickly become tame. If it bites or strikes it is because it is afraid of you or it thinks it can eat you. Just let it bite and hold on and chew if it wants. By doing this it will learn that you are too big to eat and that you are not harming it and that striking and biting will not make you go away. If you do retreat when it strikes you will reinforce the striking and biting behavior. Little BRBs can be handled for as much as an hour per day. Too much handling can cause stress and stress may cause them to not feed. It is okay to have them out of their cages in humidity much lower than 100% for short handling periods.

If you have any problems with your BRB email me at jclarksnakes@comcast.net
Visit the Rainbow Boa forum on kingsnake.com to get answers to any questions you may have about Rainbow Boas. The archives of posts there are full of information. My Rainbow Boa website has information on breeding Rainbow Boas and also has information about and photographs of the other subspecies of Rainbow Boas. The website is located at http://www.corallus.com/cenchria/index.html

Thanks Jeff! I feel pretty silly now, I thought ideal temps for rainbows were no higher than 85. Thanks for the help!