Hog Island Boa

[Pancho Madera]

I've been caring for a delightful HIB for a year now, and have had no issues up to now. "Olive" is going on 5 feet and appears to therefore be a female (I've heard that male HIBs don't often get more than 3 1/2 to 4 feet). You've already seen this herp on a posting a year ago by Zortal, when it was assumed this fellow was a male!
Olive is in a 90 gallon tank (a great improvement on the Rubbermaid storage bin!) with cypress substrate, an underfloor heating pad with a slate panle above the heater and a hide box over that. I also have an antler in the aquarium and a branch for coiling and resting, with a heat lamp over part of that area for alternative heat control. The water is about 8" across and 2" deep.
Olive feeds well, a rat every 10 days or so, sheds well (last shed about a month ago was a single complete moist shed) and seems happy - I take her out for some human time most days.
In the last coupe of weeks, she has started to spend a lot of time in her water dish. The water (tap water) is changed every few days and after handling, she usually rests in the antlers or on the substrate for a few hours, and the last three days has then meandered back into the water. I thought that it might be the temperature, so I turned off all external heat and the temp in the room is about 70 degrees. The humidity is high, I mist every few days, and now she's slopping water all over the place.
Does anyone know if this is completely normal behaviour for a HIB or is this a problem of some description.
Any advice would be appreciated.
p.s. Once I've figure out how, I'll post some images of the delightful subject of this post!

[johnrandle]

check for mites

[Aaron_S]

Yes check for the mites. You'll notice little black dots near her eyes and nostrils and on your hands after handling. If you don'thave mites then check the humidity level. Just because you mist it doesn't mean it's where it should be. Especially in a glass tank, humidity easily escapes. Also with the overhead heat light it'll dry up the tank too.

[Pancho Madera]

Thanks for the tips. I checked for mites, no signs at all:). I also thought about the humidity issue. It's quite amazing how little water is actually squirted out when misting, so I've allowed Olive to spill the water from the water dish and added more to it. After last night's "handling" (taking her for a spin around my arms!) she settled down for the night on the substrate and has now gone back to her hidey hole, so maybe she's on track more than I am.
I'll see how her appetite is tonight, there's a rat thawing out for her as I type this...
Cheerssss!:rolleyes:

[Aaron_S]

Good to hear things are better. Probably you were just over concerned.

I would just watch the humidity closely still with the snake being inside an enclosure with a screen/wire top. A lot of heat and humidity exit that way.

[johnrandle]

better to watch all the time and keep an eye on things.. and ask the pros around here then to have a problem and ask how ti fix it.
what are you using for substrate?

[Pancho Madera]

Olive seems to just like spending some time in the water. Since the last posts, she was almost exclusively "terrestrial", and then last night she slipped back into her water bowl.
Where is the best place to locate a humidity monitor, and what sort gives the best results? Anyone know?
Oh, yeah, John - the substrate I use is cypress chips, as recommended by the guy who sold us Olive. Any comment on that?
Cheers.

[Pancho Madera]

Another comment for Aaron (and thanks for the suggestions, cool!) the enclosure is glass on five sides, the top is not wire, however. One side of the top is panels of glass that I can move for access, the other side is a perforated plastic panel from a Rubbermaid container with a kitchen sieve housing the heat lamp.
How do I post photos? I can see how to add images from a web site, but I'm not sure how to post an image to show you the set up and her home...

[Aaron_S]

Any pet store SHOULD carry a hygrometer (I think i got the name right) Or you can go buy a digital one that reads really easily.

Ok, I do believe you need to host the pictures on some website like photobucket.com and then upload them from there.

[Pancho Madera]

I will get onto that right away! Olive is in shed mode, cloudy eyes Tuesday, cloudier today. I expect that they'll clear tomorrow and she'll shed Saturday. Last shed was the purest yet, I didn't actually see her, but came across the shed skin within a few minutes, one piece, soft, moist. I shook it out to its full length easily, so I'm going to keep the humidity high hoping for similar results.
Incidentally, going back to the mites comments earlier in these posts, what do these little beasts actually look like? How big? What shape? Where on the snake's body? And how does an infection start, where do the mites come from?
Special thanks to Aaron for your help - most appreciated!

[johnrandle]

mites just come out of nowhere basically, there is no way i have found to figure out where they come from... usually from new animals or you bring them in on your clothes from somebody who has mites.
they are easy to get rid of. they look like little grains of pepper, except they move.. they will be everywhere, around mouth, eyes all over cage lots of dead ones in water bowl. around the vent.. i only got them once, but we had to clean out every tank i have and spray all the snakes with nix to make sure they didnt spread.

i clean my snakes out at least once a week, sometimes more if there is need to. i had cleaned them all out on a Saturday and then on the Thursday i found like 500000000000 in my big female boas tank. it was disgusting. i am guessing they came in from a new snake i got and i didnt see it.

i like to use the digital hygrometers too, its fast and simple.
i dont use cyprus mulch but that doesnt mean its a bad thing. if you are having good sheds and you like the look of it, and cost is fair, then use whatever you want.
i use newspaper or coconut fiber for my snakes. i like the coco fiber because its so cheap, and it holds the humidity well. all my snakes shed great on it. easy clean up too. the newspaper is okay but im tryin to get away from it because i heard the reptiles can get ink poisoning. makes sence

[Aaron_S]

Just don't use new newspaper and the snakes should be fine. If you use new newspapers then the ink will rub off just like it does on your hands. Also I do believe you're supposed to stay away from colours, but I could be wrong. I do agree with the coco fiber. Where do you get it from?

The mites aren't any larger than the period at the end of this sentence. You will find them all over the snake, just by holding it they'll be on your hands afterwards. The most common places to find them are around the eyes,nostrils and heatpits (if the snake has any).

[johnrandle]

i get coco fiber from the hydroponics store, a big block that makes up 75 liters for 15 bucks. it does a bunch of tanks.

as for the mites, i went to get a bunch of my balls probed today, and found that i had 4 females 2 males & one of them had mites.. so tomorrow everything is going to be cleaned out and treated with nix.
:( there goes my first day off in 14 days.!!!! down the drain.

[C#@$e]

is Coco fiber good for any snake or just HIB?

[johnrandle]

i use it for almost all my snakes.. but they are all on paper towel at the moment as i spent 12 hours today cleaning and re cleaning eveything and spraying it all with nix solution. its cheap and it holds humidity well.. and you can re moisten it when it gets dry... easy to clean up, and cheap!!!!
plus its very fine so it does not clump and i just really like it..

[Pancho Madera]

Hi HIB fans, a new question about my lovely Olivia.

As I mentioned up front, Olivia is about 5 feet long and I am led to believe that this is about as big as she'll grow - lengthwise anyway. I keep a pretty close check on her feeding schedule and between August and October, she consumed a rat on average every 24-14 days. I offered her food in early November and she wasn't interested, I tired again this weekend and the same result.

I last fed her a few days after her last shed (Oct 19th), a single complete skin, moist and no difficulty as far as I could see. Her last rat was back October 22nd and she had a mega-dump on Hallowe'en, just before we all headed out to a great costume party. Olivia had a good time and met lots of new friends. She's very adaptable to handling, but I am wondering if this might have been more than she's used to.

I'm not panicking, but how common is it for a snake that has been eating on a very regular schedule to decide not to eat for twice as long as usual? Are there any signs I should be looking for?

I was interested to find that the collective noun for snakes, amongst other names, is a "slither of snakes"!

Happy Herping!

Pancho

[Aaron_S]

I am not a boa expert, so don't take my advice as 'the word of the gospel' here but I think it would be because she's looking for a mate. I do think boas, around now are breeding and she could be off feed for that reason. She sounds like a large snake anyways so I wouldn't worry as long as she has clean, fresh water and isn't drastically losing weight.

Secondly, it's a bad idea to take a snake out like that. It causes a lot of stress to the snake and well, it's just a hassle to have a snake out when you want to have a good time.

[Durtis]

i wouldn't get coco fiber for your milk chase its no good for borrowing

[C#@$e]

i posted that a whail ago like when i was thinking of getting a corn.

[LadyParvati]

Re newspaper ink--I've been told that the toxicity issues that used to exist don't anymore because they used soy-based ink nowadays--but I haven't confirmed it locally. It seems to me. that it could vary by printer, too. Maybe check with your local newspaper as to what type of ink they use if you're concerned about the colors.

[Aaron_S]

You could also use paper towel, or unprinted newspaper. I don't know where to get that though. I've just seen it used.

[LadyParvati]

Aaron said Any pet store SHOULD carry a hygrometer (I think i got the name right)

That's the right name!

I'm going to have to get a digital hygrometer--the one we got from the pet store is definitely sticking.

I look forward to seeing the photos when you get them posted, Pancho. After she's shed, I bet she glows!