New BCI

[Ice9]

First of all , hi all ... just joined :D

OK , while Im not new to snakes (I have corns and pines) , I am new to boas and have just obtained a baby female BCI.

What size viv am I looking at for her when she reaches adulthood? and what is the preferred method for heating?

Also , she spent most of the night curled up in her water bowl , is this normal? .. I was a bit worried she may be too cold.

Thanks

[Drew S]

How's your humiditiy and temperature? If it's not humid enough in the enclosure, the snake might be trying to tell you something by holding up in the water dish. If it's only been one night, I wouldn't worry too much. She might just be a little scared, and feels secure in there. If she keeps it up, you might want to double check your setup (temps, humidity, hides etc).

I find the best way to heat is to use a UTH or a human heat pad. Place it under roughly 1/3 of the enclosure, and make sure you connect it to some sort of dimmer (rheostat, etc).

For an adult, you're going to want to have around 10 square feet of floor space, or something around 5x2x2, but bigger is better of course.

[Linds]

Firstly, welcome to sSnakeSs.com! :D

Reasons for soaking can include: low humidity, insecurity, ticks/mites, high temperature (although this one never makes sense in my mind since the water would be the same temperature? but I've seen it countless times so I can't argue it). What is your setup like?

As for cage size, most adult females can be kept in a minimum of 4x2x1 (if you want to decorate it will need to be larger). I find 2' height to be overkill and wasted by the snake, unless you are building a shelf for your snake (which it may or may not use). Of course, as mentioned above, if you can afford to go bigger then all the power to ya :)

[Ice9]

Thanks for your replies ...

Maybe it was her new surroundings as shes out and about and exploring more today. Temps and humidity are ok and I cant see any mites either on her or in the water shes been soaking in so maybe it was just first night nerves :D

thanks all

Ice