Boa never comes out of hide

sdiamond808 · 08-26-19, 08:25 PM

My boa is in her hide 24/7. She eats fine and is easy to handle, but never comes out. I set up a nest cam to see if she was coming out at night, and she doesnt. Sometimes she likes her head out but that's about it. My main concern is that she never goes to the water bowl. I keep it humid and have misters. Is that enough to keep her hydrated? She just coils up in her cave hide all day and night. Should I be concerned?

ClockwerkBonnet · 08-27-19, 02:03 AM

Do her eyes appear milky? If so, then she's getting ready to shed.

craigafrechette · 08-27-19, 08:28 AM

My first guess was upcoming shed as well. But it sounds like it's more constant than just an upcoming shed.

I wouldn't worry about not seeing her drink. I've been keeping snakes for r almost 20 years and VERY rarely see any of them drink.
The vast majority of the water they survive on comes from their food. That's one of the reasons I try to offer my prey wet. Only one of my snakes won't take it wet.

sdiamond808 · 08-27-19, 05:02 PM

She never comes out. I have a nest cam on her, and I see her head poke out sometimes but she never roams or goes to her water bowl. She just recently shed and I didn't realize. I lifted up the cave hide and the full skin was in there. She just chills coiled up. She seems healthy. Real easy to handle. Eats every 10 days with no issues. I have a grey banded kingsnake and I know they are reclusive, but even she roams at night. Didn't know if there were any issues. I heard boas have more personality and display more.

richardhind · 08-29-19, 03:31 AM

That is strange, my boas only tend to use there hides around shed time and are pretty much on display apart from then.
how are you heating your viv?
i wondered whether the ambient temp is warm enough and its just sitting on the warm spot (Heat mat) instead. may be worth looking at
i use a ceramic for my vivs so theres a hot spot 88/90 but also the ambient temp in the cool end is it warm enough mines normally around 80 so they can thermo-regulate them selves in either end
mine are generally in the cool end except when digesting food or in shed
hope this helps
cheers Rich

sdiamond808 · 08-29-19, 06:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by richardhind

That is strange, my boas only tend to use there hides around shed time and are pretty much on display apart from then.
how are you heating your viv?
i wondered whether the ambient temp is warm enough and its just sitting on the warm spot (Heat mat) instead. may be worth looking at
i use a ceramic for my vivs so theres a hot spot 88/90 but also the ambient temp in the cool end is it warm enough mines normally around 80 so they can thermo-regulate them selves in either end
mine are generally in the cool end except when digesting food or in shed
hope this helps
cheers Rich

The hide she is in is on the warm side. I have a heat bulb for day and a ceramic for night both controlled with a herpstat. During the day it's 87 on the warm side and 88-90 right beneath the bulb. Cool side is between 80-82. At night I keep it between 75-77. Do you think I need warmer on my hot side? I caught her today with her head about 3 inches out of the hide under some Moss just chilling. She sticks her head out sometimes but doesn't roam.

**EL Ziggy** · 08-30-19, 08:53 AM

My female Argentine Boa sits in her warm hide with just her head out quite often too. She eats, poops, and sheds just fine so I don't worry. My male BI hangs out in the open a lot more than she does. As long as they have options I figure they can go wherever they want.

richardhind · 08-30-19, 10:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sdiamond808

The hide she is in is on the warm side. I have a heat bulb for day and a ceramic for night both controlled with a herpstat. During the day it's 87 on the warm side and 88-90 right beneath the bulb. Cool side is between 80-82. At night I keep it between 75-77. Do you think I need warmer on my hot side? I caught her today with her head about 3 inches out of the hide under some Moss just chilling. She sticks her head out sometimes but doesn't roam.

it may be a bit cool at night to be roaming round at 75-77.
if shes juvenile snake and you have not long had her long she may just be settling in and hopefully start exploring, as long as she eats /poos etc then i wouldn't be over worried, she obviously feels safe in there
good luck

sdiamond808 · 08-30-19, 11:12 AM

Ya shes good overall. Just seemed odd she never drinks or roams. I'll try increasing the night time temp.

Scubadiver59 · 08-30-19, 11:16 AM

I was recently informed that anything below 80F was too cold for Boas. I kept my rooms at 75F but now I'm keeping them at 80F; however, I haven't been home enough lately to see if they come out more often or not.

Until you get a large enough cage for an RHP, you might find that they might not come out all that often unless you raise up the room temp...they'll just camp on the UTH day and night like mine do.

richardhind · 09-02-19, 09:55 AM

you say you use a ceramic at night .and a heat bulb in the day.so you swap these over at night? why dont you just use the ceramic then on the thermostat all 24hrs . if its set correct at one end of the viv/tank it will produce a nice thermal gradient like it does for mine, if you use one of those temp guns it will give a better reading, you may have to make a few adjustments with positioning. mines approx 6 inch from one end .i never use a uth aswell,dont need too

sdiamond808 · 09-02-19, 09:56 PM

[QUOTE=richardhind;1042257]you say you use a ceramic at night .and a heat bulb in the day.so you swap these over at night? why dont you just use the ceramic then on the thermostat all 24hrs . if its set correct at one end of the viv/tank it will produce a nice thermal gradient like it does for mine, if you use one of those temp guns it will give a better reading, you may have to make a few adjustments with positioning. mines approx 6 inch from one end .i never use a uth aswell,dont need too[/QUOTE

I have a dual dome. One has the hear bulb and another has the ceramic heater. I have a reptistat 2 channel thermostat that.controls day night modes. Both bulbs are on the same side of the enclosure. It works pretty well. I like the bulb for day because it gives off a good amount of light. Otherwise it's dark,.she's not near a window.

richardhind · 09-04-19, 10:39 AM

[QUOTE=sdiamond808;1042275]

Quote:

Originally Posted by richardhind

you say you use a ceramic at night .and a heat bulb in the day.so you swap these over at night? why dont you just use the ceramic then on the thermostat all 24hrs . if its set correct at one end of the viv/tank it will produce a nice thermal gradient like it does for mine, if you use one of those temp guns it will give a better reading, you may have to make a few adjustments with positioning. mines approx 6 inch from one end .i never use a uth aswell,dont need too[/QUOTE

I have a dual dome. One has the hear bulb and another has the ceramic heater. I have a reptistat 2 channel thermostat that.controls day night modes. Both bulbs are on the same side of the enclosure. It works pretty well. I like the bulb for day because it gives off a good amount of light. Otherwise it's dark,.she's not near a window.

ah that makes sense. im lucky my snake room has natural light in there which is also good for cycling them with length of daylight. i have led strips in there too