New Member with a New snake

Raaru Venn · 10-16-18, 06:49 PM

So I am new to this whole snake keeping deal, and let me tell you. It's been a battle to find the proper gradient and temperatures within the cage. She's so curious and I absolutely love her though, picked her up at Exotic Pets in Wichita Kansas.

Though on a side note... I built a cardboard hide for her yesterday and I came home to find her buried in her substrate, nothing was quite different about that or anything.. But I will say some of her vent/cloaca seemed to be exposed as there was quite a bit of pink around there. I could take pictures, but i'd rather not disturb her if she needs to defecate. She was fed a frozen mouse last friday, and hasn't defecated since I got her the 7th of October.

**EL Ziggy** · 10-16-18, 07:14 PM

Great looking boa. Keep an eye on that vent though.

Raaru Venn · 10-16-18, 07:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EL Ziggy

Great looking boa. Keep an eye on that vent though.

What could it be though? I'm honestly a bit worried, and really afraid of it being something serious.

Raaru Venn · 10-17-18, 07:26 AM

I ended up taking a picture of what it looks like, and what i'm concerned about.

It's in the link below so that way you can see it much better than this forum size will allow
https://i.imgur.com/iIYvA5W.jpg

**EL Ziggy** · 10-17-18, 08:13 AM

I see the pink area you mentioned but I'm not sure what the issue could be. It doesn't look like a prolapse.

Raaru Venn · 10-17-18, 08:34 AM

I was thinking I might try to give her a bath sometime tomorrow, and see if she just needs to defecate or something... She has been burrowing a lot these past 2 days and it was only when she started burrowing that i've noticed she's had this.

riddick07 · 10-17-18, 08:56 AM

Looks normal. I have a few that have pink coloration on the vent. She shouldn’t need baths to do anything if her humidity is correct and she has a water bowl. What is her humidity and what are you using to measure it? What are her temps? What are you using to heat the cage & measure the temps? If it’s a mat you need a thermostat. I only ask since it sounds like it’s your first snake and there are some basic problems new keepers come across.

Boa imperators (what you have) do not need to be fed often. Ones the age/size you have can be fed every 10 days to 2 weeks. As she moves up to rats you can spread out feeding times even more. I tend to add a week as I move up so small rats every 3 weeks, medium every 4 weeks, larges every 5 and as she gets some age on her I’d spread it out more from there depending on how easy she keeps on or adds weight. For example my oldest (14 yrs) eats every 8-10 weeks because she adds weight just looking at food lol. Also, don’t give her a meal so big it’s leaves a big lump. A meal like that every once in awhile is fine but consistently is too much.

Don’t expect her to go to the bathroom between every meal. Sometimes they can go months. If she starts to look bloated for a while then you might have a problem.

One of mine for an example, I just got this girl in yesterday. She’s the only small normal I have and she has the pink too.

Raaru Venn · 10-17-18, 09:13 AM

1) The humidity I've been trying to keep has been between 60-70 percent and it's a gauge on the side of the enclosure in the middle on the inside.

2) I had an 8x8 Zilla 4 watt heating pad underneath her tank, but that wasn't putting out nearly as much heat, so I got a heating lamp with a 75 watt halogen bulb (for the day). I have 2 temperature temps for the ambient and her warm side is 89-90 and the ambient for the cool side is the upper 70's or so. I do also measure the surface temperature with a heat gun and try to have it to where it's around the same temperature as the ambient.

3) The heat mat doesn't pose enough of a risk (I think I got a faulty one) At most it got to 85 degrees and that was after I left it in the tank for 12 hours or so (without her in it)

4) I thought i got a boa Constrictor Constrictor and she's only maybe 4-5 months old at this point.

(Update) I just started moving things around on the cool side, and noticed mold growing on the wooden log I have on that side. I think I might have had it a bit wet over there... So I removed it and either i'm gonna let it dry out and bleach it, or i'm just gonna throw it away and should I replace the substrate?

Leah844 · 10-23-18, 07:54 AM

If you found mold, yeah you should probably clean out the whole tank with bleach. The problem with mold is that the bad bacteria is spreading before you can even see it. So because you can see it on the one log is a good indication that the tank needs a good cleaning.