My Snakes' Scales Got Darker?

lilla2008 · 03-22-15, 10:07 AM

I just joined the forums today, so I hope I'm posting in the right thread!

So my 7 month old, red-tailed boa just ate two days ago. Her heat lamp is on the far right of her 40 gallon tank, and she sat in the middle of the tank for those two days, not going under the heat lamp at all. I just took her out today and noticed that her colors are much darker and she has grayish splotches of color especially around her head. I asked another snake owner what she thought of this and she said it may be because of temperature or mood. My bet is on temperature since she wasn't under the heat lamp at all, but I was just wondering if anyone else knew? She is acting perfectly normal and healthy

Thanks!

**Pareeeee** · 03-22-15, 03:44 PM

Welcome to the Forum!

FORUM RULES

**Pareeeee** · 03-22-15, 03:47 PM

Do you have a photo? It's easier to identify problems if we have a picture to go by. Try uploading to an image host like Imgur and post the link here.

HollyG · 03-22-15, 04:07 PM

My BCC does this too. While he digests his meal, he goes dark phase. He also goes dark phase when he's cooler to the touch. Sounds to me its just a mix of both. Your boa is just digesting and just feels like being on the cool side at the moment. My boy also always goes to the cool side to digest. My old BCI use to go to the warm side to digest but again, he went dark phase while digesting. Both go dark phase just before a shed as well, so consider that a possibility as well if your sweety hasn't shed for a while.

lilla2008 · 03-22-15, 04:30 PM

She shed just last week, and she's actually back to normal now! Sorry, I was just being a worry-wart! I took her out for a few minutes and it's been about 3 hours since then and she's fine, I'm assuming it may have been because of lack of activity and movement. Thank you guys!

Zcorpshea · 03-23-15, 05:18 PM

Yeah my boas all go through color phases - my hog Island can go from dark to light in a few hours. its actually pretty cool to see happen in such a short period of time.

bigsnakegirl785 · 03-23-15, 11:40 PM

Hello and welcome! Boa constrictors go through dark and light phases, and it seems to be more pronounced as babies. Mine used to look like a completely different snake when he went dark, but now it's not very noticeable. They seem to go into dark phases for a variety of reasons, but it's perfectly normal and healthy.