Pet Shop vs. Home

[BeginnerBoa]

I just pickedup my very first snaes today, and had a few questions. But first, by way of introductions
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/5556Male2-med.jpg
This is my male BCI
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/5556Female-med.jpg
This is my female BCI
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/5556Untitled-med.jpg
and this is their home:D

BTW, thanks you to HetForHumans for the great thread on enclosures. I basically took his design and modified it to what I wanted. Now for the questions.

1) At the pet shop they don't use heat tape or any UTH. I asked if I needed one for home and they said no. I have one 50 watt heat light in each enclosure. The temp stays in the low 80's but I think I am going to have to get a dimmer, because I came home today and the temp was at 86. I have the lights on a timer of 12 on 12 off, but should I use heat tape in addition to the light?

2) When I picked them up today they hadn't eaten for about a week. But I was told not to feed them for another week to allow them to get used to their surroundings. Now the male has been pretty active from the get go and I know they can do that when they get hungry, or he could just be checking out his surroundings. I don't want them to get sick, but I don't want them to go hungry either. Also, as far as feading, I read and got responses anywhere from every 3 to 10 days. Any suggestions?

3) Finally, I just moved to San diego, and I've heard about an IRBA? exhibit that coming up in July. Has anyone attended them in the past and can let me know what it's like?

Thank for the help. I've read a lot of acre sheets and talked to a lot of people, it just seems like every one I talk to passes off their opinion as fact, and I am just trying to make sense of it all. Thanks again.

Scott

[CHRISANDBOIDS14]

Hello Scott,

First off, Welcome to the site! Congrats with your new(and first) additions and good luck with them! Boas are not the easiest starters, but should give you some fun!

1) At the pet shop they don't use heat tape or any UTH. I asked if I needed one for home and they said no. I have one 50 watt heat light in each enclosure. The temp stays in the low 80's but I think I am going to have to get a dimmer, because I came home today and the temp was at 86. I have the lights on a timer of 12 on 12 off, but should I use heat tape in addition to the light?


The pet shop doesn't nessesarily know what your are doing or your caging conditions. Your temperature sounds good. What you might want to do is reduce the bulb wattage(maybe to 25-40 watt, whatever you can find), and get some heat tape or a heating pad and put it under one end of both enclosures to give them a thermal gradient in their cages so one side is warm, and the other cool, then they can regulate their body temperature. Im am assuming both cages are the same, and therefor you can set them up the same way with the light on top and the heat pad/tape on the bottom. Get a two lamp dimmers, and hook both lights into one dimmer, then hook both heating pads or the heat tape into the other dimmer. Get your ambiant temperature(average air temperature in the cage) to about 80-82, and give them a hot end/spot of about 88 with the heating pads/tape. This should work out your temperature issues. Play around with the dimmers till you get the right temps, and give them a humidity of about 50-60%:).

2) When I picked them up today they hadn't eaten for about a week. But I was told not to feed them for another week to allow them to get used to their surroundings. Now the male has been pretty active from the get go and I know they can do that when they get hungry, or he could just be checking out his surroundings. I don't want them to get sick, but I don't want them to go hungry either. Also, as far as feading, I read and got responses anywhere from every 3 to 10 days. Any suggestions?


Do not feed them for a week, let them roam. They are definetly exploring their new surroundings and getting used to you too. Feed them in a seperate container, not in their cage. They will not get sick and can go many months without food(though absolutely not reccomended). If they do not take the first food item you offer them after a week, do not worry, simply wait another week till the next feeding date and try again. I would suggest feeding every 7 days. I find this works very well for myself, and know many people that do this. 3 days is a little extreme(what we call power feeding) and 10 will slow their growth. I feel a week gives a healthy growth rate. Also, feed something about 1-1.5 times the snakes girth at its widest. Also, before you start handling them alot/at all, you might want to hand a piece of well-worn clothing of yours on/near their cages so they become accustomed to your smell. I have found that this works very well for me.

Its very good that you come to the site to make sense of everything! Good luck with the new "kids" and have fun!:D

C.