Please offer me some RTB advice...

[privateE2]

Ive bought a baby female columbian red tail boa about three months ago, i usually feed her an adult mouse every ten days. She is housed in a rubbermaid container and i have vegetation and branches for climbing as well as hollowed out logs for hide boxes. I have a screen i place on top of the enclosure during the day with one heat lamp and a heating pad under the left (hot spot) side of the container. it usually stays at 88-94f during the day and 72-76 at night.

Ill be leaving for afghanistan soon (go guard) and am wondering if i bought this baby boa a ten gallon tank or so with screen top, heating lamp and heat pad on one side of the tank and any suggestions for decoration or bedding? This is my first boa i have had alot of pythons in the past that like to bask in the heat hime, are boas not baskers? Id also like to ask if i should mist my cage with water to keep the hummidity levels up...?

I know alot of people who say they just use rubbermaid containers with heating pads and keep the lid the rubbermaid lid on all the time, what do you recommend? Would i have to cut small breathing holes in the lid? What size rubbermaid should i get her? And how should i decorate? I want her to feel at home.

And one final question. the only petstore in my area is petsmart, they sell only fancy mice. I bought one the other day and got home and realized the mouse has been medicated with frontline and it could harm my snake... is this true? The people at petsmart said it would kill her?

Any advice is greatly appreciated! thanks in advance.

[infernalis]

http://www.thamfriends.com/mat.jpg

[privateE2]

thanks but any advice? lol :sorry:

[Reptile_Reptile]

i wouldnt give her the mouse till you give the mouse a long warm bath and give it a day or 2... if you have the means otherwise give it to a pet store and get frozen feeders as this is a wayyy better feeding method for many reasons like no possibility for things like advantage or parasites and the mouse can cause little to no harm (mostly circumstantial from something your snake does with it)

[privateE2]

ive never been able to get one of my snakes to accept pre killed no matter what the method however i do stun the prey item. any help with the other questions? thanks for your help!

[infernalis]

thanks but any advice? lol :sorry:

Never owned a red tail.. I just approve posts and send greetings.

I leave advice to the members who actually own the snakes in question. ;)

[infernalis]

I can't believe the frontline story, sounds like the store associate is a mouse hugger.

Never heard of such a thing.

[shaunyboy]

i would not take the chance

a snake ingesting frontline would die imo

i have friends who use the frontline method when dealing with snake mites

they all say to never let the snake drink any of the solution

i personally would not feed the prey item to my snake if i thought it had been treated with chemicals

hello and welcome

cheers shaun

[marvelfreak]

Ive bought a baby female columbian red tail boa about three months ago, i usually feed her an adult mouse every ten days. She is housed in a rubbermaid container and i have vegetation and branches for climbing as well as hollowed out logs for hide boxes. I have a screen i place on top of the enclosure during the day with one heat lamp and a heating pad under the left (hot spot) side of the container. it usually stays at 88-94f during the day and 72-76 at night.

Ill be leaving for afghanistan soon (go guard) and am wondering if i bought this baby boa a ten gallon tank or so with screen top, heating lamp and heat pad on one side of the tank and any suggestions for decoration or bedding? This is my first boa i have had alot of pythons in the past that like to bask in the heat hime, are boas not baskers? Id also like to ask if i should mist my cage with water to keep the hummidity levels up...?

I know alot of people who say they just use rubbermaid containers with heating pads and keep the lid the rubbermaid lid on all the time, what do you recommend? Would i have to cut small breathing holes in the lid? What size rubbermaid should i get her? And how should i decorate? I want her to feel at home.

And one final question. the only petstore in my area is petsmart, they sell only fancy mice. I bought one the other day and got home and realized the mouse has been medicated with frontline and it could harm my snake... is this true? The people at petsmart said it would kill her?

Any advice is greatly appreciated! thanks in advance.
Hello and welcome! I would get a 40 gal long critter cage. It come with a sliding screen top with two snap locks. Get a UTH (under tank heater) put a towel over half to help hold humidity. Reptile bark works great for keeping humidity level up. Then you should only have to mist once every couple days. you can go to Wal-mart and get a digital thermometer that will give you temp and humidity for around $8.00. You can get a thermostat at pet smart for around $20.00 this way you can control the temperature out put of the UTH.:)