Epicrates striatus

[toddnbecka]

Looking around the forum, I'm not seeing anyone else posting about DRMB's. I gathered that they're not that common, but thought there would be one or two people keeping them anyway. I just received a pair of yearlings last week. Love their disposition, quite like the red tail I had in college in the 80's.

[Snakesitter]

They are great snakes, just not widely kept (yet). Looking forward to picts!

[millertime89]

I think there are a few people here that have them. I think they're gorgeous and wouldn't mind one some day.

[MM1]

I have had my Haitian Boa, Rudy, since Dec. 1982 (not a typo). I believe I had a thread called 'Old Man Rudy Feeding Day" or something similar awhile back. As a clueless kid (12 when I got him)' I initially had him in a 55 gallon fish tank, but thankfully he was hardy and forgiving of that and now lives in a 5L x 2.5H x 2.5D plastic enclosure with a radiant heat panel. When not digesting food, I find he is equally likely to hang out on the cooler side (72-75F), under the panel (82-86 depending on height), or somewhere along the gradient. I generally feed a medium rat every 2 weeks. At one point he was taking large rats but I noticed he gained weight quickly after a few of those so I stick with the mediums at the heavier end of the range. I haven't tried measuring recently, but going by the observing him cruise the enclosure and the last couple of sheds being about 7 feet,I figure he's a bit over 6 feet. Despite his age, he's pretty active, mostly patrolling after dark but sometimes during the day as well. Still has a lean muscular body and you can feel the strength when he perches on you. Personality is pretty mellow. Not a bite in 32 years. Just the occasional musking if he's not down for handling. Once in awhile he'll actually crawl out onto my arm, but this is rare. He also crawls back in readily, which I take to mean he finds his digs generally comfortable. While not a red, he has exactly the same patterning but with more brown hues and only a few reddish flecks. I have never bred him nor am I by any means an expert but that's my general experience with this species.

[toddnbecka]

I've seen pictures of quite a variety of color variations among them. Apparently the really red ones are selectively bred from the Dominican mountain region stock, and from what I've gathered that's only been in the last 5 years or so.
I've noticed these two like to hang out on the cooler end as well, though their body temp is a bit warmer than the substrate, which seems a bit puzzling. Just got a rheostat today, so I'll be lowering the heat on the warm end to the mid 80's. They're housed in a 55 for the time being, UTH on one end, 100w ceramic bulb on top of the screen at the other end. Thinking about getting another pair of yearlings from a different breeder to mix the bloodlines when they mature rather tank breeding siblings together.

[Snakesitter]

Wow, great job! I wish more people practiced such good long-term care.

[TempestK]

Very cool, had to look those up since those are new to me. I'm gathering that these don't have the humidity requirements that other Epicrates do. Is that correct?

[MM1]

Well, NYC humidity from late spring through the end of summer has always seemed adequate to promote one piece sheds and an active, healthy looking animal. During the winter months I give the occasional partial misting, which along with a large water dish, maintains those levels.

[toddnbecka]

I have 11 active aquariums in the basement, from 30 to 220 gallons each, around 800 gallons of water total. The average humidity is around 70%, and there is a water bowl more than large enough for soaking (though I've been told they don't) in the boa tank.

[MM1]

It sounds like humidity will not be a concern for you. I really like RHPs for heating. For the warm side "hide" I kind of built some cover from some larger fake plants. It provides him good security and heat even though it's not an actual hide box. I have something similar on the cool side. It seems to suit him since he's a decent size (6 feet+) ; as opposed to babies and juveniles that really like tighter spots to hide for security. I just try to give as much choice between temperatures and degrees of cover within the enclosure.

[toddnbecka]

I noticed they like tighter spaces for cover, showed no interest in the inverted plastic flowerpot with a couple holes, but love hanging out between a couple pieces of "eggcrate" packing foam, so I've been trying different stacks around the bottom to allow them freedom of choice between cover and temp gradient. Still adjusting the rheostat on the UTH, trying to get it around 85.

Here's a couple pics of the current setup, UTH on bottom of left side, 100w ceramic heat bulb on top of right side, 60w bulb in pole lamp. The really thick block of foam on the left side is wedged halfway up, I've noticed the male seems to like hanging out among the silk plants, or did until I lowered the UTH temp a bit. It was reading close to 100 at the edge of the foam block on the bottom. They definitely do make use of the branches.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v628/toddnbecka/Snakes/P1060462_zpsd0b4028e.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/toddnbecka/media/Snakes/P1060462_zpsd0b4028e.jpg.html)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v628/toddnbecka/Snakes/P1060464_zps25865a5e.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/toddnbecka/media/Snakes/P1060464_zps25865a5e.jpg.html)

Just barely a glimpse of the female in the middle, between the upper layer of eggcrate foam. Surface temp at that level is 86. directly below the ceramic heater.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v628/toddnbecka/Snakes/P1060465_zps7e632e40.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/toddnbecka/media/Snakes/P1060465_zps7e632e40.jpg.html)

Pics of the female shortly after she arrived and ventured out of the shipping container:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v628/toddnbecka/Snakes/P1060459_zpsb13922c0.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/toddnbecka/media/Snakes/P1060459_zpsb13922c0.jpg.html)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v628/toddnbecka/Snakes/P1060461_zps2a126a09.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/toddnbecka/media/Snakes/P1060461_zps2a126a09.jpg.html)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v628/toddnbecka/Snakes/P1060458_zpsc69a10e5.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/toddnbecka/media/Snakes/P1060458_zpsc69a10e5.jpg.html)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v628/toddnbecka/Snakes/P1060460_zps10e6302d.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/toddnbecka/media/Snakes/P1060460_zps10e6302d.jpg.html)

[MM1]

Nice. How old are those guys? Mine was about 18-20 inches when I got him, so whatever age that equate to plus 32 years is his actual age. I'll try to get a shot or two of him in the enclosure over the weekend.

What size food are they on at this point?

[toddnbecka]

They're one year old now, feeding on day-old quail chicks, will be switching to rat pinkies by the time they finish the bag. They're between 24-30" long, so yours must have only been a few months old when you got him. They were fed last night, apparently being handled a bit while waiting on the shipment from Rodent Pro didn't put off their appetites. The male prefers to hang out in the silk ivy rather than under the foam on the bottom level. I thought he'd stay closer to a heat source after eating, and thought he was in fact under the foam until I flipped it over and found he wasn't. I turn off the light and ceramic heat bulb at night, average room temp in the basement is low-mid 70's.

I sent out a money order Wednesday for another pair of yearlings from a different breeder. I'm thinking it would be better to have 2 different bloodlines when they mature in a few more years rather than breeding siblings together. They can all share the 55 for some time, will eventually move them into a larger setup though. I'm thinking to build something about 96" wide, 24" deep, and 24" tall with a movable screen divider to separate the 2 pairs at breeding time. In the meantime I'll be playing around with ways to park another tank on top of one end of the 55 to raise the ceiling a bit for more climbing space. Just have to engineer a secure partial screen cover for the 55, shouldn't be too difficult.

[Snakesitter]

Good call on genetic deiversity.

Just a friendly warning that four in one enclosure will make tracking individual health pretty hard, especially for sheds, and substantially raises contagion risk if any one of them gets sick.

At the very least, Q/T separately.

Good luck!

[toddnbecka]

I could easily set up another tank for the second pair, have empty 38 and 75 gallon tanks on hand. What sort of sickness would I need to watch for? I was just thinking to keep them together because they're all around the same size/age, and I've heard from the breeders that they keep their adults together. Apparently that increases the testosterone level in the males and produces more young, very few slugs. Reason for the screen divider in the larger enclosure for the adults would be to keep the pairs separated yet allow them to sense each other to stimulate hormone levels.

I certainly welcome/appreciate any input on my ideas. Main focus is keeping the healthy and happy, I really like the critters. :)

[MM1]

Here are a few shots of Rudy from earlier this afternoon. I only handle him about once or twice a month now, but if he's out and about during water changes I'll tap him with a small stick (= no food forthcoming, just checking on ya) and let him crawl over my hand or settle on my arm. But nothing forced. It's hard to tell but he's about 6 feet long. In one shot you can see one of the plants I formed some cover with (he decided to urinate on it). Also visible is a small piece of shed that ripped off when I removed the shed from the enclosure. As I mentioned, I spritz some areas of the enclosure twice a week during the drier winter months, but during late spring through early fall this is normally not needed. There's a RHP over the area where that plant is. The white box in the back and the dowel provide opportunities to be closer or farther from the heat source and there's a big corner shaped water bowl on the opposite (cooler) side.

[MM1]

Have to load one at time from this device

[MM1]

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[MM1]

Next ......

[MM1]

As to the sharing a divided tank, do you think the whole physical proximity thing with respect to hormones, pheromones, etc. would come more into play as they get to breeding age? For myself, I would tend towards more caution with the addition of 2 more individuals by keeping them quarantined initially, just to be sure everyone's healthy. When they're old enough to breed, they'll be plenty aware of each other in separate enclosures kept in the same room or general area. Just my 2 cents.

[toddnbecka]

He looks great, well fed but not too fat. I can clearly see the same general pattern that my babies have down their backs, but it's much more defined on him. That dowel must be nearly the diameter if a baseball bat, lol. He's about the same length my red tail boa was when I had to give her up, though she was a good bit bulkier from eating too much too often. I saw a male the same length she was (quite similar to Rudy's size) and realized how fat she actually was. I presume the plant is silk?

I'm setting up another tank, it's a 38 gallon (36"x 12" footprint) on another stand beside the 55. By the time they're are old enough to breed there shouldn't be any worries about health, and at that size I'm thinking they'd be happier with more vertical mobility than the glass tanks offer. If they don't need the screen divider it would be easier to build and move around 2 separate enclosures.
This is all new to me, will probably change ideas and plans several times along the way as I learn more. Incidentally, what's an RHP? I'm new to reptile forums, will take a bit to learn some of the common abbreviations.

[MM1]

RHP is for radiant heat panel. The 2 main brands I've seen mentioned on here are Reptile Basics and Pro Products (that's what I have in the enclosure). I found them much less drying than bulbs plus they can be on day or night without messing with normal photoperiods. About feeding, I try to maintain biweekly feedings with medium rats. He's eaten a few larges with no problem but the larger mediums seem to be just the right size to maintain a relatively lean but still muscular, well fed body on this one. He actually went through a bizarre 1 year fast when he was about 4-5 years old. Never found any designer bile illness and no severe weight loss. Very worrisome to me though. He also gone off for 2months at a time some years in the late summer/Fall. Been very regular the past couple of years, though. I do know boa constrictor species are normally much more thicker bodied (and square shaped) than the Epicrates species even when lean and in good shape. I tried keeping the water over on the cool side opposite from some of his preferred napping spots so movement is required to get a drink. However, he's out and about every night after dark, climbing on everything anyway.

[MM1]

Correction:" designer bile " should read "discernible" . Auto correct is a pain sometimes.

[toddnbecka]

Radiant heat panel the same as under tank heater pad? The Zoo Med I got actually recommended sticking it to the side rather than the bottom of the aquarium, but since the 55 is sitting on a stand with an open top under the glass I figured it wouldn't make much difference either way.

I've been trying to think of better ways to set up their enclosure/s since they do like to climb and seem to be quite active. Maybe a sort of jungle gym made from pvc and heavy sticks, the bark would give them better traction than the smooth plastic.

I was rather surprised to find them so active the 2nd night after they ate, (didn't check the 1st night) thought they'd be curled up over the warmth digesting their food for several days like my red tail boa used to.

They don't seem too worried about staying toasty at night when they're active. With just the UTH providing warmth most of their environment temp is low to mid 70's, humidity is 53%. Even during the day with a full belly they're inclined to stay in the cooler zones.

Does Rudy soak in his water bowl at all?

[Aaron_S]

They're one year old now, feeding on day-old quail chicks, will be switching to rat pinkies by the time they finish the bag. They're between 24-30" long, so yours must have only been a few months old when you got him. They were fed last night, apparently being handled a bit while waiting on the shipment from Rodent Pro didn't put off their appetites. The male prefers to hang out in the silk ivy rather than under the foam on the bottom level. I thought he'd stay closer to a heat source after eating, and thought he was in fact under the foam until I flipped it over and found he wasn't. I turn off the light and ceramic heat bulb at night, average room temp in the basement is low-mid 70's.

I sent out a money order Wednesday for another pair of yearlings from a different breeder. I'm thinking it would be better to have 2 different bloodlines when they mature in a few more years rather than breeding siblings together. They can all share the 55 for some time, will eventually move them into a larger setup though. I'm thinking to build something about 96" wide, 24" deep, and 24" tall with a movable screen divider to separate the 2 pairs at breeding time. In the meantime I'll be playing around with ways to park another tank on top of one end of the 55 to raise the ceiling a bit for more climbing space. Just have to engineer a secure partial screen cover for the 55, shouldn't be too difficult.

I'd keep them separate while you raise them. The males will most likely hit sexual maturity earlier than the females and then you will have the issue of them trying to copulate with the females. It could easily stress them out and prove to be bad news.

If breeders keep them together as adults I would wait until they are all mature and then house them together.

Personally, I'd keep them separate all the time and only introduce two males to one female at a time like other breedings. Keeps stress down to a minimum.

[Snakesitter]

No specific illnesses, more just unusual occurrences-- bugs, unusual breathing, shedding problems, locamotion issues, etc. Standard quarantine period is three to six months (I go a year, but I'm extra careful).

I would keep the pairs from the same breeders together for the quarantine period (same tank, separated by screen dividers), then rearrange however you wish afterwards.

Good luck!

[MM1]

Radiant heat panel the same as under tank heater pad? The Zoo Med I got actually recommended sticking it to the side rather than the bottom of the aquarium, but since the 55 is sitting on a stand with an open top under the glass I figured it wouldn't make much difference either way.

I've been trying to think of better ways to set up their enclosure/s since they do like to climb and seem to be quite active. Maybe a sort of jungle gym made from pvc and heavy sticks, the bark would give them better traction than the smooth plastic.

I was rather surprised to find them so active the 2nd night after they ate, (didn't check the 1st night) thought they'd be curled up over the warmth digesting their food for several days like my red tail boa used to.

They don't seem too worried about staying toasty at night when they're active. With just the UTH providing warmth most of their environment temp is low to mid 70's, humidity is 53%. Even during the day with a full belly they're inclined to stay in the cooler zones.

Does Rudy soak in his water bowl at all?

He used to soak more frequently in the winter until his dopey owner switched to a plastic cage with no screens and started occasional misting as needed during the drier winter months. He'll dunk his head, look around in there, crawl through it, but rarely just settle in it. I do see him drink regularly though, and always after swallowing his food. For this species and individual, as long as he looks good, exhibits good energy levels (regular exploring behavior), and has clean sheds, then the environment is pretty much dialed in. I am very thankful to have been able to enjoy him for so many years.

[toddnbecka]

The average humidity in my basement is 70%, actual humidity inside the 55 has been dropping to 60% with the ceramic heat bulb on all day, then back up to 70% after I turn it off for the night. I'm wondering if high humidity will make them less inclined to soak, or if soaking is an indication that their environment is too dry for comfort?
They definitely become quite active after the lights are turned off, and their color is looking a bit more reddish. Going to offer them each a quail again tonight, it's been 5 days since their last meal and they've both pooped a couple times.
I surely hope mine live as long and well as Rudy.

[MM1]

Best wishes with them and keep us updated as they develop. Also, if any issues or questions arise along the way, be aware there are many knowledgeable people here who are always looking out for the animals' well being.

[Juan 8]

Hi i have two epicrates striatus. How dobyou post pictures?

[toddnbecka]

Hi i have two epicrates striatus. How dobyou post pictures?

Sign up for a photobucket account, upload pics from your computer there, then use the photobucket links in your forum posts.

[Juan 8]

Thankyou
Is it possible from a phone?