Hello!

[Jwebbem]

Hi everyone. My name is Jessica and I'm a new owner of a beautiful male brazilian rainbow boa. I have always loved snakes and am glad to have another one. I have had this one for about four days now. A little kid bought him about a week ago and lost him at my work. He didn't care to get him back so now I'm the lucky owner of him. My question is about moss... I read on here that it will help the humidity level in the terrarium, however when I took him to a snake expert (to find out more about him like his age and sex), he told me that moss is not good for him because it can cause mites. Is this true? Is there anything else that I can put in the terrarium to help with the humidity??
Any input would be appreciated. Thanks!!

[infernalis]

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[exwizard]

Welcome to the forum. Im sure you will come to know this site a very friendly and informative as I have the last few weeks.

As far as your Rainbow is concerned and the humidity levels, it has been my experience to simply put the water dish directly on top of the heat source. This moistens up things very nicely.

[marvelfreak]

Hello and 15023 to our zoo. As for your question moss don't cause mites. Tons of people use it and never get mites. I myself use Reptile bark in the bottom of the cage and just mist daily. This keeps my humidity up just find. What kind of set up do you have? What are your temps and humidity at now. Pictures would help us spot anything you might need to adjust or fix. Plus we love to see pictures of your little one.

[Gungirl]

Hello and welcome to the forum. Moss does not cause mites. If you want some info on better ways to keep the humidity up we are going to need more info about your set up. Pictures are great also details on temp hot/cold

[Jwebbem]

Thanks for the welcome notes and the information. The temperature is currently at 78 and my hygrometer is reading 70.

[Jwebbem]

The terrarium has a hot side and a cold side. I have his water bowl on the heated side and a log on the cool side. I'm heating the tank with a heating pad that I placed underneath. I would love to post pictures, buttt I'm not sure how to do that from my phone. :P

[Gungirl]

Ok so you have a heating pad.. do you have it on a thermostat? I don't have the type of snake you do but most snakes like hides on hot and cold sides.. what kind of sub-straight do you use? Is the snake in a fish tank with a screen top?

I want to help I just need more info.....

[Jwebbem]

No I don't have the heating pad on a thermostat. The water bowl that's on the hot side has a cave underneath it that he loves to hide under. The log on the cold side is large enough for a hide too. I am using eco earth, which was recommended by a pet store. Sorry I'm not giving enough info and I really appreciate your help.

[Gungirl]

You need a theromostat to regulate the temp the heating pad can get to. I have seen them get as high as 120 degrees and that will really harm your snake. If you have a screen lid you need to cover 80% of it to help retain moisture. The best way to retain moisture is to restrict air flow.

[Jwebbem]

I do have a screen lid and I placed plastic over a portion of it, but the guy I spoke to this morning, the same snake expert that told me not to use moss, told me to take the plastic down... Should I put it back up?

[UwabamiReptiles]

Welcome to the forum! And congrats on your new snake!

[Jwebbem]

Thank you!

[marvelfreak]

I do have a screen lid and I placed plastic over a portion of it, but the guy I spoke to this morning, the same snake expert that told me not to use moss, told me to take the plastic down... Should I put it back up?
Yes put it back up or you will lose all you humidity. It will rise right out of the cage and defeat the purpose have of trying to raise it.

I'll be the bad guy and say it. Sound like your snake expert don't know as much about snakes as he like you to believe. Does he or she work at a pet store? A lot of pet store worker like to make you think they know what they are doing when it comes to reptiles. When in reality they are just guessing or making up stuff. It's a good thing you found this site. We actually have a couple Brazilian Rainbow Boa breeder on this site.

[millertime89]

ok, you've got a BRB same as I do, in an aquarium, like I do. Your so called "expert" is wrong on a few things. BRBs require high humidity which can not be maintained with just a screen top, so leave the plastic there. Just make sure there are holes so fresh air can move in and out, just not a big one or too many. Think about it for a second, how can moss "cause mites" mise are parasites and, just like any other animal, have to be born somehow. Moss can allow mites to live and thrive because it presents a cool, moist environment, but as long as you keep your guy in his viv and do your best to keep the viv clean, you shouldn't have problems.

You want the humidity between 70 and 80 percent so good job on getting that there, that was one of my early challenges, I don't know about with ecoearth, but I use zoo-med forest floor and it does a great job holding and slowly releasing moisture, keeping the humidity up. I have a clump of moss that I put under some running water, then rang out inside the cool hide and my BRB spends most of his time in that hide.

Temps should be 75-80 during the night and 80-85 during the day with one side being warmer than the other. So you're probably fine. My temps are 85 hot side day, 78 cool side day, and 77 on both sides at night.

Congrats on the new snake, I love my little guy, post pictures when you can. I'm not a breeder, but I spent days researching mine before he arrived.
PS, in case you weren't keeping track, that's 2 strikes against your "expert".

[alessia55]

Hey! Welcome to the forum. Can't wait to see photos of your new BRB :)

[Jwebbem]

Thank you both for the information. I didn't have a lot of time to research BRBs before I got him, since he was a "rescue", however I researched it afterwards and figured my "snake expert" didn't know much about them. I have placed the plastic and moss back in his terrarium and the humidity is slowly rising and he is curled up next to the moss. I only covered a little over half of the mesh lid with plastic and put moss on both sides of the tank. thanks again for all the helpful information. I am really glad I found this site. I will definitely post pictures. It looks as though I need to download them on to my computer from my phone and then upload them, but they will be posted soon.

[millertime89]

depending on the type of phone you have, you can sometimes upload them straight to a picture hosting site. I've got a flikr app on my droid 2 and I'm sure there's a photobucket one as well.
Here's my profile thread, its got pictures of my set up if you want ideas.
http://www.ssnakess.com/forums/epicrates/88184-profile-nero.html

[Jwebbem]

I have an htc evo and a flickr account. I'm usually good at figuring stuff like that out.. Lol. I was able to post pictures on my profile but not to my thread, I'll try it though. Thanks for the link. He is a beautiful sneak. what is that vine??

[millertime89]

just something the pet store had, exo terra jungle vine, price varies by size.

[Jwebbem]

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[millertime89]

looks about the same size as mine, looking good.
I've got that same bowl in my BRB enclosure as well!
here's your pictures.
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6111/6270960172_c588d76e85_b.jpg
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6229/6270443583_ee90e839e4_b.jpg

[millertime89]

when you post a picture in the image tags, don't use the url in the url bar.
what browser are you using? I can give you directions to post pictures depending on which you use.

[Jwebbem]

Oh.. I am still using my phone. I tried using the shared link on my flickr account but apparently it's the same as using the one in the bar. Thanks for reposting them for me.

[millertime89]

no worries, I never try posting from a phone, too much of a hassle.

[Jwebbem]

That it is, but it's an evo or a dell mini... So really both a hassle. Thanks!!

[ZARADOZIA]

I use Spanish moss for my BP and there aren't any mites. If you go outside and gather it, yes, mites and others insects can become an issue. But if you purchased it from a manufacturer, during processing mites and such are killed.