Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Bought her from a friend of mine.

She's a ~5yrs old, CB female. She's about 22-24". My scale is broken, so I don't know the weight. She looks pretty healthy to me.

I'm currently keeping her in a 15qt sterlite tub with a sand/cocofiber substrate, water bowl, hide spot. I keep the tub on the floor where temps are consistently in the mid 70s.

I haven't fed her yet but she's supposed to be a weekly consumer of one thawed fuzzy. Her previous owner hibernated her in the winter in hopes of breeding her, but the snake only produced a few slugs.

I plan to keep her as a pet.

I have about 10 years experience keeping lizards, torts and frogs. I once had an Arizona Mountain King. She did OK but I eventually sold her. I've had my most success breeding Russian tortoises.

And I've reviewed the info on rubberboas.com

Questions:

1) I plan to eventually move her into a 10-15 gallon tank with a semi-natural setup: coco/sand substrate, hollow log, potted plant (maybe pothos), water bowl, branches. Aside from it being a bigger pain to keep clean, is there anything else I should know about keeping rubber boas in a natural setup?

2) If I don't plan to breed her, should I continue to hibernate her? My basement drops into the mid 50s from around December to March, and that's where I hibernate my tortoises.

3) Is a temperature range of 75-80 sufficient for digestion for these snakes?

Thanks

Nice boa.

> I plan to eventually move her into a 10-15 gallon tank with a
> semi-natural setup: coco/sand substrate, hollow log, potted
> plant (maybe pothos), water bowl, branches. Aside from it
> being a bigger pain to keep clean, is there anything else I
> should know about keeping rubber boas in a natural setup?

Sounds like a good set up... Just be sure to keep it humid. Rubber Boas are almost always found in moist microclimates within their range. Misting the cage once a day should be sufficient.

> If I don't plan to breed her, should I continue to hibernate
> her? My basement drops into the mid 50s from around December
> to March, and that's where I hibernate my tortoises.

It's not necessary, but most Rubber Boas will refuse to eat during the winter and sort of hibernate on their own. For the sake of simplicity, you should probably just continue to hibernate her.

> Is a temperature range of 75-80 sufficient for digestion for
> these snakes?

Yes.
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- Natalie
(San Francisco Bay Area)

1.0.0 Banded California King
1.0.0 Mexican Black King
1.0.0 Bay of LA Rosy Boa
0.0.1 Kenyan Sand Boa
1.2.0 Rubber Boas