Just got a Rainbow Boa

[msubigdawg]

I have just bought a Brazilian Rainbow Boa and I would love any information you can give me. I would like to know all feeding things I will need to know now and for the future. Right now it is only 7 months old. I would also like to know how much in one day and when I should handle it. All information would be helpful.
Thank You

[Colonel SB]

I hate to say this but you really should do your reaserch BEFOR you buy the snake.

[pandorasBox]

just a thought, you maybe should have done your research before buying the snake. I have kept columbian rainbows and they are not the type of snake for someone getting into the herp hobby. i remember reading that brazilians are not as forgiving in the husbandry like the columbians are. that means your humidity has got to be right on,same goes for your heat. i cant remember the exact numbers but i know cypress mulch alone or mixed with aspen shavings should help for holding in humidity. let the snake settle down for at least 2 weeks before you start handling this is important let your snake get use to its new enviroment. feeding i would wait a week. for now hold off on any type of mulch or shvings and just keep your new snake in a rubbermaid container that is big enough for a water dish and a hide, and cover the bottom of the rubbermaid with paper towels. dampen the paper towels with warm water. please remember to drill holes in the sides for ventilation. and i would suggest you do as much research on your own. there are sites that have caresheets N.E.R.D. kingsnake has some. the info is out there and you really should have done some research i head of time. you wouldn't buy a car with out taking it for a test drive, you wouldn't buy a house with out going inside to inspect so try not to buy an exotic animal with out knowing what it needs. you should be ok if you research and get things set up properly. just remember leave the snake alone for two weeks, no handling.

[msubigdawg]

I have owed balls and red-tails before so I know most of it. I was just wondering some extra. I have also done some research but I find that information from a real person, instead of a site, is better.

[Pookie]

I've owned my rainbow boa for almost a year now and the one thing i noticed that's extreemly important is the humidity. I found that if you put a peice of glass on top of the tank covering about 1/2 the top it helps a bunch! Aslo spray the tank with water daily. Also, i feed mine about once a week to every 10 days. I hear every 10 days is better! And it's good to handle them about twice a week especially when they're young so they get use to you, they tend to get nippy if you don't. good luck! They're really beautiful snakes, i love mine!

[chappy]

Hey,

I have an adult pair of BRBs and I made the mistake of not handling them and they got nasty, well the male has always been nasty and the female has a little bit of an attitude now. Anyway I house them in a 4x2x2 rubbermaid with a dish with wet sphagnum moss and a large water dish. I keep a UTH half under the water dish to keep the humidity up. My humidity gauge doesnt work anymore but the humidity is in the 90's. I find I have to empty the water out of the cage every week because when the water evaporates it has no where to go so it just drips from the lid. I have had them for a while now and I havent had any problems with keepign them this way, Im not saying what Im doing is right Im saying it works for me. I feed them about every 7 days, I use papertowel as a substrate but its soaked by 2-3 days after cleaning the rubbermaid.

Hope this helps

Nick

[Lasher]

I have a 1 year RB that is the perfect snake. He is blind in one eye and has received special attention all his life. I find that he is happy with an over-sized soaking bowl. I mist him a couple times per day, but husbandry has not yet been a problem. He eats F/T mice or small rat pups and is a happy-go-lucky kinda guy.

[BoidKeeper]

I got a pair back in December from Don Patterson (screamers!) and the male calmed down with in a week but he female only just stoped bitting me as of last week or so. Still I don't think I'll ever fully trust her. I keep mine in sweater box size rubbermaids with lots of damp newspaper, water bowl and UTH at about 88 or so. The rubber made is great for holding in humidity. I feed mine once a week like clock work. They started on fuzzie mice and are now eating fuzzie rats. They are the best feeders I have I just drop it in and walk away.
Cheers,
Trevor

[PoiSoNouS]

First of all, humidity and good temps are the key to keep them...

You MUST have a 70% humidity ALL time AT LEAST,
Give it a water bowl big enough so it can soak, a bowl full of spagnum moss that will have to be ALWAYS humid and clean.
I keep mine at 29 Celcius al the time...

You can keep a good level of humidity by misting in its enclosure twice a day..
Also. you can put your water bowl on the heat pad it can help.

You will notice it will be mostly in its spagnum moss bowl and will come out looking for food at night... :)

I hope this helped :) Oh and By the way, Ive moved your thread to the Epicrates Forum (rainbow boa forum :) )