Red Tail Boa Update, New Humidifier

XSPWR · 05-07-17, 11:44 AM

My wife and I got a Red Tail Boa last year around October ish. She came looking a little malnourished and wouldn't keep a meal down. After switching to tiny meals and extending her feedings out to almost 15 days she started keeping them down. She's now putting on weight and size quite well and her feedings are normal sized and down to once every 11 days.

We recently moved to a new house and it's been a lot harder keeping her humidity up. We had to use the old soaked paper towel technique and that kept it around 45%. She's never had any issue with her sheds, all of them coming off in one clean piece.

I just started using a humidifier to blow humidity straight into the cage, which has brought up the humidity to the 50%s. I've noticed that since then, she has started to darken up quite a bit. I don't know if it's too much for her or if her cage was just a little dry before, even though she never had any shed issues.

What are your guys' opinions on the humidity and her darkening?

I've attached a couple recent photos of her, a couple holding her and one panoramic in her cage.

private image hosting

dannybgoode · 05-07-17, 12:21 PM

Put her on a decent substrate. Coco coir (eco earth for example) or orchid bark works well.

Personally i use a mix of coco coir, soil and orchid bark for my boa and keep that lightly damped down and never have a problem with humidity.

Reptile carpet and the like isn't a great choice imo a) because of the humidity issues you mention and also it can harbour gems like nothing else unless kept scrupulously clean which makes it a lot of effort to maintain.

riddick07 · 05-07-17, 12:36 PM

70-80% humidity, 88-90 hotspot, 75-80 cool side. Most people like 80 cool side but I've always offered lower temps to my guys without issues.

Feeding too often. I would be feeding every 2-3 weeks. She looks like she is fine weight wise now.

dannybgoode · 05-07-17, 01:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by riddick07

70-80% humidity, 88-90 hotspot, 75-80 cool side. Most people like 80 cool side but I've always offered lower temps to my guys without issues.

Feeding too often. I would be feeding every 2-3 weeks. She looks like she is fine weight wise now.

Agree re temperatures completely. My cool side is as low as 65-68f at times with a basking of between 80 (at night) and 86-90 (in the day). I have observed her spending reasonable periods of time at pretty much every point in her Viv including the very coolest parts.

Also agree with the feeding

riddick07 · 05-07-17, 02:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dannybgoode

Agree re temperatures completely. My cool side is as low as 65-68f at times with a basking of between 80 (at night) and 86-90 (in the day). I have observed her spending reasonable periods of time at pretty much every point in her Viv including the very coolest parts.

Also agree with the feeding

In winter my temps on the cool side can dip to around 70 or a little lower at night but I generally like it warm so room temp stays around 74-75 minimum just for my comfort lol

Yeah I have found my boas spending long periods of time on the cools side. Except for my weird hypo jungle that likes her tail on the warm side and head on the cool. I'm guessing she likes the more median temp of 82 or so haha

DLLNP · 05-14-17, 07:45 AM

Totally agree regarding the temperatures! My cold side always stays between 70-75 and to my surprise by boas spend a large majority of their time on the cold side... usually only going to the warm side to digest and shed.

I think the farther south a person lives the warmer they think they have to keep their animals... but in reality South American rain forests cool down significantly at night and actually don't get THAT hot during the day. Humidity is the key. Here is a quick article on the climate of the amazon:

Average Temperature of the Amazon Rainforest | USA Today

Azrt · 05-20-17, 11:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by riddick07

70-80% humidity, 88-90 hotspot, 75-80 cool side. Most people like 80 cool side but I've always offered lower temps to my guys without issues.

Feeding too often. I would be feeding every 2-3 weeks. She looks like she is fine weight wise now.

Why feed every 2-3 weeks....seems a little far apart if she's eating fine

dannybgoode · 05-21-17, 01:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Azrt

Why feed every 2-3 weeks....seems a little far apart if she's eating fine

Not for a boa. Boas have a very slow metabolism. My girl a nearly 2yo gets a weaner rat every 3-5 weeks and she grows like a weed.

An adult boa should only be fed every 4-6 weeks most often at the 6 week range.

Different species have different requirements though. An adult corn would be fed every 10-14 days say, an adult C paulsoni every 2 months.