New Boa & owner.

[zooky]

Hello to all good to be here :D

I've looked and read so many articles and care
sheets to get to grips with this rescued Boa. I'm hoping I've got it right. To cut a long story short I turned up to see that the viv had no thermostat/hygrometer and the heat pad was on and on top of the snake. The water dish was black, generally the viv was in a right mess. I've only had a corn snake for 7 months so all that I know came from setting that up. (which was another rescue) I lifted the heat mat only to find the snake was in bad shed and not knowing how long it had been like this decided to take action. So got her out and straight into a tepid bath to help her. (I think its a her) she hissed a bit for the first 5mins but she seemed to work out what I was doing and settled down and let me finish stroking her until all the bad shed was off. With lack of a rub and any other stuff it was the only option I could think of.

I have her home now and I've set up the viv as best I could. I have the heat mat under the sub straight set up with heat tape a ministat 100 attached direct to the heat mat set at 30c. (I've found that heat tape stops heat spots on the mat and distributes the heat evenly across the mat)

I know I've a few more questions yet to come.

[infernalis]

http://www.varanid.us/mat.jpg

[hunter4life]

How did you make that? :) Oh and welcome from my cold blooded andimals! (some furry and feathered ones too!)

[zooky]

Hi all :)

What I used was 3M Aluminum Foil Tape. I found this stuff really works when setting up my corn.

The one thing I'm worried about is her weight I can feel her ribs so not sure how much under she is. I had her out yesterday with a tape, measured out to 6 feet. The humidity went right up due to the new substrate so made an extractor to keep it down to 60%

[Lankyrob]

Welcome, you really dont want ANY tape in the viv with a snake, if a corner lifts and the snake gets snagged on it then you are looking at major issues.

[zooky]

Welcome, you really dont want ANY tape in the viv with a snake, if a corner lifts and the snake gets snagged on it then you are looking at major issues.

Thanks Rob, yeah I've been thinking about that. I will put the thermometer on the bottom of the heat pad, seems like the safest place just trying to get it all set up right. Any thoughts on the weight? Here is another pic..

[Lankyrob]

Not really a boa person but it does look a little skinny to me, am sure someone more experienced can tell you properly tho :)

[Amadeus]

Thanks Rob, yeah I've been thinking about that. I will put the thermometer on the bottom of the heat pad, seems like the safest place just trying to get it all set up right. Any thoughts on the weight? Here is another pic..

It does look a little skinny. A good feeding schedule and some good sized rodents will make her gain pretty quickly.

[zooky]

Thanks Amadeus,

I fed her on the 11th with a large weaner rat 51-95g. She took it no problem, from what I was told she was being fed on one mouse every now and then. :( What would be a good schedule to get her where she should be every week, two weeks?

[rocknhorse76]

She's 6 feet long and only eating mice and weaned rats? That poor thing is underfed!

[zooky]

Thanks Rocknhorse76,

I got 4 frozen rats from the pet store, the other 3 are larger in size. I read somewhere that the size of feeds should be increased if your Boa is or has been underfed. I just want to get her healthy. I've not had her a week yet, but was handling her for a month prior to me getting her. She is in the same viv and has all the same decor as before. I've just changed the substrate, added a hide and sorted temps/humidity to what it should be. I'm on a learning curve and reading care sheets and sometimes conflicting views on what I should do. I'm looking for all the help I can get.

[sweatshirt]

Welcome =) thanks for taking her in.

[zooky]

Thanks Sweatshirt,

I fell in love as soon as I saw her, just want to do what's right for her. :)

[zooky]

So what anyone's thoughts on feeding, when is too soon?

She is very active tonight.

[RyanReptile]

I would personally try feeding her tonight and I would definitely try to get some large rats for her too. Best of luck with her!

[zooky]

Thanks Ryan,

Will get one out to thaw and see what happens :)

[zooky]

All went well, apart from she ate it the wrong way round. :wacky: She now has a nice noticeable bulge and is chilling in the basking spot. Think I will give her a week before the next one. Thanks for the help guys will keep you posted on progress.

[KORBIN5895]

Feed it a large rat weekly for the next 6 weeks. Them we'll go from there. I would also try to get guinea pigs as opposed to rats.

She really doesn't look too bad so good luck.

[zooky]

Thanks Korbin,

Will do :) Will also get some scales to get her weight at some point over the next week.

[KORBIN5895]

I personally never worry about the animals actual weight. I have weighed all of my snakes exactly once.

[Lankyrob]

I personally never worry about the animals actual weight. I have weighed all of my snakes exactly once.

One more time than me :). I can understand checking for breeding weights, and potentially for baby snakes before selling but as a hobbiest dont see the need.

[pdomensis]

I tend to be obsessive about my snake's weight and length, but mostly just so I can say, wow he's 4x as big as when I got him.

[RyanReptile]

Feed it a large rat weekly for the next 6 weeks. Them we'll go from there. I would also try to get guinea pigs as opposed to rats.

She really doesn't look too bad so good luck.

Are guinea pigs really better to fed then large rats? The only reason I ask is because everything I have heard has suggested to avoid them because high fat and fur contant.

[Snakesitter]

Congrats on the new addition, and well done fixing her up!

[KORBIN5895]

Are guinea pigs really better to fed then large rats? The only reason I ask is because everything I have heard has suggested to avoid them because high fat and fur contant.

The higher fat content would be great for the under fed boa.

[BryanB]

My boa at 5 feet takes rats up too 240 grams and he is a long tail which is a light bodied boa so yours should be able to take one that size no problem. If you got some under 100 g feed 2 at a time.

[Kid Boa]

Welcome and good job.

I would have to agree with Korbin and Bryan above. guinea pigs are ok for short periods of time to build up some mass. Also, a 6ft Boa should be eating much large than 50-100 gram rats, I would have to agree with the 240+.

Good luck with it. :)

[zooky]

Thanks everyone loads of great input :)

[zooky]

All seems to be going well and she has settled in. She now seems more alert and curious to explore her surroundings when she is out. I've had her out on the lawn and sat down about two foot in front of her, she came over to me and took up a resting position on me. I think this is a good sign?

I got a correct weight today which was 1817g/4.0058pounds for a 5'7" BCI (Am I correct in saying she is a BCI?) this seems to be very under weight?

Monday I will feed her the two rats I have left, then will buy larger rats in the 240g range.

One of the reasons I was concerned about weight, as a first time keeper it just helps me gauge where she should be.

[snakeman879]

Hello I hav a 5ft female common bci and she us eating large rats 450g every 2weeks hope this helps u a bit with feeding her

[zooky]

Things are going great, she has put some weight on and has had a few good sheds.

I've done away with the heat mat and got a AHS heater which seems to be doing the job very well. Keeping the humidity seems to be a challenge, I'm just using a spray bottle once/twice a day to keep it up.

[Kera]

congrats, she looks great. :)