My first "rescue" snake

[Cmwells90]

So my Roommate's girlfriend has a Rosy Boa. She hasn't been taking care of this snake but has had it for about 3 years. I'm not sure what size food it's being fed or how often, which is something I will find out before bringing it into our house. She's giving the snake to my Roommate, so it wont be a burden on me financially, but I would still like to have the knowledge so I can help. The Boa has been kept in a 10 gal aquarium this whole time, which I would imagine is WAY too small for this snake. When we get it I'll post pictures of it's size so you guys have a better idea, and she's going straight in to quarantine so if she is sick she wont get MY snakes sick. Any advice for taking this on? I'm assuming she isn't being fed right, so would I want to feed her more frequently and increase the size of the prey from week to week? Or should I stay with a 10-14 day feeding schedule like you would for most snakes of this age? Also What is a good weight and length for a Rosy boa that is this age?

[rocknhorse76]

I don't know much about Rosy's, but I'm sure someone will chime in with good info soon. I would venture to guess that a prey item as big around as your snake or slightly larger would be about the correct size, and 10-14 days should be a good schedule.

[slowhite03]

20 gallon long would be the smallest I would go for those

[Starbuck]

at 3 that rosy should be about done growing, so as long as it isnt underweight I would feed it ever 10 days-14 days. My small adult female rosy eats 1-2 hopper mice right now because thats what all my other snakes eat, as they upgrade i imagine she will stay at small/medium mice. Their heads are pretty tiny on top of their big ol bodies :)

I agree 10 gal is probably too small.

my adult rosy boa (16 years old) is about 28 inches long and weighs roughly 13oz/400 grams? Again, i believe she is a little small for an adult female, but i got her less than a year ago.

[Cmwells90]

Their heads are pretty tiny on top of their big ol bodies :)

Don't you measure the prey size based on the largest part of the snake's body? Just because they have a small head doesn't mean they can't eat a larger prey, that's why their jaws unhinge to open larger then normally possible.

[Starbuck]

as i mentioned ,my rosy is fairly small compared to others. Yes, generally you base prey size on the widest part of the snakes body, or you can go by weight. I think Aaron has posted something relatd to this a few times, i believe its 10% of the snakes body weight? not sure if this is correct.

i only mention the size of their heads because it can seem disproportionately small, similar to a ball.

[Cmwells90]

as i mentioned ,my rosy is fairly small compared to others. Yes, generally you base prey size on the widest part of the snakes body, or you can go by weight. I think Aaron has posted something relatd to this a few times, i believe its 10% of the snakes body weight? not sure if this is correct.

i only mention the size of their heads because it can seem disproportionately small, similar to a ball.

ahh gotcha, ok! Thanks for the help!

[Cmwells90]

Well we got him yesterday and he's looking good. Looks a little under fed, previous owner was feeding him hoppers, I've moved him up to large mice, fed great last night. Checked for mites, and all looks good. But the previous owner says he soaks a lot, and he's been soaking all morning. I've been told this is stress related, however I'm not sure what's causing it. He's in a 15 gal tank (plan to move him to a 20) warm side reaches 87-89 and cool side is 80. Humidity is kept at room humidity, which is low. The only thing I can think of is maybe it's his hide set up. When I got him he only had a paper towel roll for a hide, which I've seen used before, but that's his only hide. I'm working on setting up a sherbet container for him to use as a hide. Also right now he's got a bulb for a heat source, looks like a black light, could that be the problem too? I'm going to be getting a UTH for him as I prefer them.

Any help would be great guys, thanks!

[Pareeeee]

My adult male rosy is 27" long and eats an adult mouse every week. I would not recommend anything smaller than an adult mouse. Average tank size for them is 20gal, or a 38-41qt tub.