Epicrates striatus

toddnbecka · 09-22-14, 12:20 AM

Looking around the forum, I'm not seeing anyone else posting about DRMB's. I gathered that they're not that common, but thought there would be one or two people keeping them anyway. I just received a pair of yearlings last week. Love their disposition, quite like the red tail I had in college in the 80's.

Snakesitter · 09-22-14, 01:58 PM

They are great snakes, just not widely kept (yet). Looking forward to picts!

**millertime89** · 09-22-14, 06:47 PM

I think there are a few people here that have them. I think they're gorgeous and wouldn't mind one some day.

MM1 · 09-22-14, 07:59 PM

I have had my Haitian Boa, Rudy, since Dec. 1982 (not a typo). I believe I had a thread called 'Old Man Rudy Feeding Day" or something similar awhile back. As a clueless kid (12 when I got him)' I initially had him in a 55 gallon fish tank, but thankfully he was hardy and forgiving of that and now lives in a 5L x 2.5H x 2.5D plastic enclosure with a radiant heat panel. When not digesting food, I find he is equally likely to hang out on the cooler side (72-75F), under the panel (82-86 depending on height), or somewhere along the gradient. I generally feed a medium rat every 2 weeks. At one point he was taking large rats but I noticed he gained weight quickly after a few of those so I stick with the mediums at the heavier end of the range. I haven't tried measuring recently, but going by the observing him cruise the enclosure and the last couple of sheds being about 7 feet,I figure he's a bit over 6 feet. Despite his age, he's pretty active, mostly patrolling after dark but sometimes during the day as well. Still has a lean muscular body and you can feel the strength when he perches on you. Personality is pretty mellow. Not a bite in 32 years. Just the occasional musking if he's not down for handling. Once in awhile he'll actually crawl out onto my arm, but this is rare. He also crawls back in readily, which I take to mean he finds his digs generally comfortable. While not a red, he has exactly the same patterning but with more brown hues and only a few reddish flecks. I have never bred him nor am I by any means an expert but that's my general experience with this species.

toddnbecka · 09-23-14, 12:06 AM

I've seen pictures of quite a variety of color variations among them. Apparently the really red ones are selectively bred from the Dominican mountain region stock, and from what I've gathered that's only been in the last 5 years or so.
I've noticed these two like to hang out on the cooler end as well, though their body temp is a bit warmer than the substrate, which seems a bit puzzling. Just got a rheostat today, so I'll be lowering the heat on the warm end to the mid 80's. They're housed in a 55 for the time being, UTH on one end, 100w ceramic bulb on top of the screen at the other end. Thinking about getting another pair of yearlings from a different breeder to mix the bloodlines when they mature rather tank breeding siblings together.

Snakesitter · 09-23-14, 01:49 PM

Wow, great job! I wish more people practiced such good long-term care.

TempestK · 09-23-14, 02:35 PM

Very cool, had to look those up since those are new to me. I'm gathering that these don't have the humidity requirements that other Epicrates do. Is that correct?

MM1 · 09-23-14, 08:37 PM

Well, NYC humidity from late spring through the end of summer has always seemed adequate to promote one piece sheds and an active, healthy looking animal. During the winter months I give the occasional partial misting, which along with a large water dish, maintains those levels.

toddnbecka · 09-24-14, 12:35 AM

I have 11 active aquariums in the basement, from 30 to 220 gallons each, around 800 gallons of water total. The average humidity is around 70%, and there is a water bowl more than large enough for soaking (though I've been told they don't) in the boa tank.

MM1 · 09-24-14, 07:43 PM

It sounds like humidity will not be a concern for you. I really like RHPs for heating. For the warm side "hide" I kind of built some cover from some larger fake plants. It provides him good security and heat even though it's not an actual hide box. I have something similar on the cool side. It seems to suit him since he's a decent size (6 feet+) ; as opposed to babies and juveniles that really like tighter spots to hide for security. I just try to give as much choice between temperatures and degrees of cover within the enclosure.

toddnbecka · 09-25-14, 12:01 AM

I noticed they like tighter spaces for cover, showed no interest in the inverted plastic flowerpot with a couple holes, but love hanging out between a couple pieces of "eggcrate" packing foam, so I've been trying different stacks around the bottom to allow them freedom of choice between cover and temp gradient. Still adjusting the rheostat on the UTH, trying to get it around 85.

Here's a couple pics of the current setup, UTH on bottom of left side, 100w ceramic heat bulb on top of right side, 60w bulb in pole lamp. The really thick block of foam on the left side is wedged halfway up, I've noticed the male seems to like hanging out among the silk plants, or did until I lowered the UTH temp a bit. It was reading close to 100 at the edge of the foam block on the bottom. They definitely do make use of the branches.

Just barely a glimpse of the female in the middle, between the upper layer of eggcrate foam. Surface temp at that level is 86. directly below the ceramic heater.

Pics of the female shortly after she arrived and ventured out of the shipping container:

MM1 · 09-25-14, 07:29 PM

Nice. How old are those guys? Mine was about 18-20 inches when I got him, so whatever age that equate to plus 32 years is his actual age. I'll try to get a shot or two of him in the enclosure over the weekend.

What size food are they on at this point?

toddnbecka · 09-26-14, 12:12 AM

They're one year old now, feeding on day-old quail chicks, will be switching to rat pinkies by the time they finish the bag. They're between 24-30" long, so yours must have only been a few months old when you got him. They were fed last night, apparently being handled a bit while waiting on the shipment from Rodent Pro didn't put off their appetites. The male prefers to hang out in the silk ivy rather than under the foam on the bottom level. I thought he'd stay closer to a heat source after eating, and thought he was in fact under the foam until I flipped it over and found he wasn't. I turn off the light and ceramic heat bulb at night, average room temp in the basement is low-mid 70's.

I sent out a money order Wednesday for another pair of yearlings from a different breeder. I'm thinking it would be better to have 2 different bloodlines when they mature in a few more years rather than breeding siblings together. They can all share the 55 for some time, will eventually move them into a larger setup though. I'm thinking to build something about 96" wide, 24" deep, and 24" tall with a movable screen divider to separate the 2 pairs at breeding time. In the meantime I'll be playing around with ways to park another tank on top of one end of the 55 to raise the ceiling a bit for more climbing space. Just have to engineer a secure partial screen cover for the 55, shouldn't be too difficult.

Snakesitter · 09-26-14, 02:07 PM

Good call on genetic deiversity.

Just a friendly warning that four in one enclosure will make tracking individual health pretty hard, especially for sheds, and substantially raises contagion risk if any one of them gets sick.

At the very least, Q/T separately.

Good luck!

toddnbecka · 09-27-14, 12:15 AM

I could easily set up another tank for the second pair, have empty 38 and 75 gallon tanks on hand. What sort of sickness would I need to watch for? I was just thinking to keep them together because they're all around the same size/age, and I've heard from the breeders that they keep their adults together. Apparently that increases the testosterone level in the males and produces more young, very few slugs. Reason for the screen divider in the larger enclosure for the adults would be to keep the pairs separated yet allow them to sense each other to stimulate hormone levels.

I certainly welcome/appreciate any input on my ideas. Main focus is keeping the healthy and happy, I really like the critters.