Brazilian Rainbow Boa

[boasnpythons03]

Hello everyone,


Im looking at getting a BRB and figured the first thing i should do before getting it was to be completely prepared for it (Obviously):p

I am going to build the cage and would like to make one them with the sliding class front ( D = 60X30X18)... how would this work out with these snakes as the humidity must be kept at a high level?

Also im looking for the best heater for this size and wanted to know what you recommend since i have not yet owned a BRB.

I was thinking a UTH but thought wouldn't provide heating through both the wood and substrate that i would be using be using

Which brings up the many choices of substrate, I am going to do a tile floor for the tank and put the substrate on that, which would be best. (I have heard newspaper is good but i think over time the ink would run off onto the scales)

If you could answer these Q:'s for me i would greatly appreciate it,



Thanks!

[HetForHuman]

Hey man welcome to the site.

But there is a place for the discussions of brazilian rainbows here it is just down on the page a little further and it is called Epicrates slender boa discusion.

You should be able to find alot of what your wanting to know there.

Good luck man

[boasnpythons03]

Alright am i allowed to possibly repost this there?

Sorry for posting in the wrong forum.

[BoidKeeper]

Go right a head. Before you know it you'll have all kinds of replies. Oh and welcome aboard!
Cheers,
Trevor

[Jeff_Favelle]

Moved to the slender boa forum. :D

[foman]

Hey Boasnpythons03 welcome to the site. Brb's are sweet snakes, Newspaper is the best substrate, I would use plexiglass instead of tiles on the floor(when I make my cage i will cover the whole cage with plexiglass as its can get quite damp in these cages and you don't want a wood rott problem), as for heating I use a human heating pad for mine(works good and is half the price of the pet store ones),as for your cage 48"x24"x18"(length,width,height)is ideal for these guys. But if you buy it as a baby a rubbermaid would be the way to go.

[boasnpythons03]

Thanks for moving the post, and the info too.

So glad i found this site!

I am going for a cheap design so would this still be the way to go with the plexi-glass, all that i needed was just a place to look in the front?

My idea was a custom built wood box that is sealed with a moisture proof paint with tiles over the wood and then some sort of substrate, vents , a basking shelf and a sliding glass front. (all diffrent ideas from others plans)

But now after reading tons of BRB threads in this forum not the others, i see that a rubberware is good for the little/medium sized ones and am thinking of doing this and building one when he is big.

Now the Q: is how to you heat a plastic storage bin without burning it...

I will use the human heating pad idea, sounds great!

Wont the ink on the newspaper rub off onto the snake as it is so humid?

Thanks again!

[HetForHuman]

You can also heat it with flexwatt heat tape, but make sure you hook it up to a rheostat so you can control the heat.

Just type in the search Heat tape, and Rheostats, and you will find tons of reading and pics about them.

If your scared of the ink running off you can also use paper towel as well.

You can get heat tape at www.beanfarm.com

Good luck man

[boasnpythons03]

Thanks Het,

I was going to use the rubbermaid bin, but was wondering if the heat pad would burn the plastic... What do you think?

I will use paper towls, may not look good but it isnt for me, its for the snake!

[Jeff_Favelle]

Human heat pads on LOW will not burn plastic. If they did, people wouldn't use them, as skin will burn at a lower temperature than plastic!!!

[boasnpythons03]

OoOoO....

Very good point there, i didnt even catch that part!

If it dosnt is it worth the money for a rheostat?

Thanks for the reply jeff, i was looking at your snakes but then saw you were in canada :(. Wish i had a setup like yours its amazing!

(Also wanted to say thanks again to the board, has things i would never find on the caresheets and other internet pages i was looking at!)

[Jeff_Favelle]

When I used the human heat pads (Sunbeam) I never used a dimmer. I just put it on low and make sure its OUTSIDE of the Rubbermaid. I measured the temperatures well before putting a snake inside and I always kept my snakes in a room with stable ambients. Therefore, the cage should always be close to the same temperatures.

Calibrate it so that its 88F on one end, and 78-80F on the other end. Piece of cake!

[boasnpythons03]

Sounding good,

So far i am at, keep a relative 80% humidity by the putting the pad under the water bowl, Human heat pad for heating, plus 2 wet boxes, a soaking bowl, paper towl as substrate, dead mice/rats as food, feed every 10-14 as adult, 5-7 as a neonat, 88F on one end, and 78-80F on the other end, cut a little slot at the top and put glass on it to look in, another small slot with glass for a low heat producing light, couple little hiding areas for him, have a thermo and a hydrometer in it and keep close watch on the conditions (pay close attention to the humidity!).

Thanks again Jeff,

If i am missing something, please advise.

Thanks!

[Linds]

Your heat source should be hooked up to a control at all times. Whether or not it is on plastic, glass or wood. If it is hot enough to warp any of that, it is definitely too hot for your herp.

Rubbermaids work great for younger rainbows. Once they get old enough for their adult enclosure, I would recommend building a wooden enclosure and instead of using tile or lining it with plastic, just use an epoxy finish. The type of wood you use is up to you and how much you want to spend. Urethanes and the like won't hold up to the humidity, but epoxy will give you a hard as rock, 100% waterproof finish. This way you can avoid the tiles altogether.

[boasnpythons03]

I soppose it is better safe than sorry, im going to get another control for it.

How much is it to paint the enclosure with epoxy paint? If it is a good price for a waterproof finish, or maybe an "ok" price i will do it that way once it outgrows the rubbermaid bin.

Thanks Lindsay

[boasnpythons03]

Also, do i have everything down for this guy and his needs?

thanks

[Linds]

Feed them when they are hungry. If you do not know how to read your snakes behaviour yet, a good guideline is every 5-7 days as babies, and once a week as adults.

It cost me cheaper to do all of my enclosures in epoxy than it would've with a polyurethane. I used <a href="http://www.niacoat.com/Specifications/epoxal3-1.htm"> this product</a> for mine, and it cost me around $65 CDN per gallon (option to purchase half gallon as well). That may not be of too much help, since they are not located in your area.

I would keep your neos at cooler temps than that. Babies are prone to overheating and dehydration. 75-85 has worked well in the past for me. I have kept them with warmer abient temps, but I find they do better at lower temps.

Scrap the idea of a light for heating them. Lights aren't a suitable heat source for these snakes. An undertank method should be fine (I don't like to use human heat pads - they weren't designed to be left on 24/7) unless your ambient temp is way too cold.

[boasnpythons03]

Ok thanks linds,

I was looking at the human heat pads just 20 minutes ago and they have a 2 hour auto shutoff, which stopped me from getting them then...

What do your pads do???

Can you tell me how to get past this feature if you can or how you get around it?

I would use the UTH meant for it, but it seems like they are the same thing and have heard good things about them.

I know they arn't the ideal item for heating but i have seen them run for long peroids of time without any problems, i do see where you are coming from though.

[Linds]

I just use heat tape on almost all my setups, a few have regular herp UTH as well. <a href="http://www.beanfarm.com">The Bean Farm</a> is the place to go for heat tape. There isn't anything you can do about the automatic shutoff on human heat pads... some have them some don't. If you really want to go that route, just get the kind that doesn't have it. The auto-shut off feature is a safety feature (hint hint).

[boasnpythons03]

:), ok im going to go with the tape on this one i guess, on the bean farm they have the pad for reptiles at almost the same cost as the human heat pad ones!

Now its between the heat tape, and Ultratherm Heat Pads...

[HetForHuman]

i use the Sunbeam human heat pads you get at walmart, and they have the low, med, high settings on them. I have not seen the ones with the 2 hour shutoff before. They work just great on the low settings in my opinion.

But heat tape works just as well to as long as it is on a rheostat :)