Boas - level of noise at night?

ozone · 02-01-05, 05:09 PM

Hi folks,

I am currently in the research phase of purchasing my first boa (a Dumeril). After several months of reading everything I can, there is one (admittedly strange) thing that I am a bit worried about...

the only good place I can keep the boa would be in a cage in my home office. The trouble is, my home office is an adjoining room attached to the master bedroom (like a retreat off of the master). My wife is a light sleeper, so having a nocturnal snake about 30 feet away from the bed (no walls in between) may be an issue. Our room is normally very quiet at night, so the last thing I want is to have to sell the snake because it's keeping her awake.

So, the question is: How active are Dumeril's (or other ground boas) at night, and are they typically making a fair amount of noise as they move around? The likely enclosure (a Showcase brand) will probably have aspen substrate and maybe a log or two to climb on. I plan on starting with a baby and keeping it for it's lifetime.

I realize that many variables are at play (like the snake's size, whether or not fresh kill feeding will need to occur overnight, etc.) and that this is a hard question to answer...but I'm hoping that at least one of you have had a similar experience.

Thanks for your insight,
-Chris

thunder · 02-01-05, 05:14 PM

they crawl around, but it really doenst make much noise. so long as you dont have any cage furniture that could be noisily knocked over, it shouldnt be a problem. on thing to think about is using a loose substrate such as aspen or carefresh as opposed to newpaper.

FirstSssnake · 02-01-05, 05:47 PM

I recently got my dumeril and barely notice the noise... mine was pretty old when I got it from the pet store, and probably about 2.5 ft. long now, I have it in an aquarium with carpet and don't notice any noise at night, although I do catch him cruising around a little, I wouldn't worry about it..

Jeff_Favelle · 02-01-05, 07:36 PM

You could have it in the same room, and as long as you don't tie bells to it or have extra noisy substrate in the cage, it wouldn't wake up even the lightest sleeper!

Good luck!

AshleyL · 02-01-05, 07:42 PM

I have a ball python at the foot of my bed, granted its a smaller snake but...
I keep her on newspaper and i can hear her moving around sometimes, but it is by no means loud. It kept me up at first, but that was only because every time I heard her I assumed she was trying to escape (as she did once....

)

ozone · 02-01-05, 09:17 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Jeff_Favelle
You could have it in the same room, and as long as you don't tie bells to it or have extra noisy substrate in the cage, it wouldn't wake up even the lightest sleeper!

Good luck!

oh darn, you mean I have to give up my plan to tie bells to my snake?

seriously, thanks for the replies folks. it helps.

Jeff_Favelle · 02-01-05, 11:36 PM

LOL, best of luck! Keep us updated on the progress man!

hbwright · 02-02-05, 08:33 AM

Not sure about Dums but my previous adult CA would try to get up as high as he could in the enclosure and fall. Thankfully it wasn't that much of a fall, only a couple feet but you could hear him fall and make a big thump. I wouldn't say this was often though, probably every couple weeks or less and if I remember right it was always a feeding time thing.

BOA68 · 02-02-05, 02:54 PM

I don't have a Dum either, but i do have an almost 6' BCI that is very active at night and i never hear her. I watch her from my bed all the time with a flashlight because the tank is in my room. I use newspaper as a substrate and even on that she makes no noise, no crinkling or rustling. Snakes are very quiet animals by nature due to the fact that they use the method of suprise to feed and move in the wild. It is in their genetic makeup to be stealthy. and if it is going to be 30ft away from your bed u shouldn't hear a thing.

Linds · 02-02-05, 03:07 PM

You shouldn't hear anything with aspen substrate, especially if it is so far away. We share a bedroom with over 50 snakes at the moment (lol we are literally encased by cages when we are sleeping, one stack even slightly overhangs the bed), and the only time we hear any of them, is the occassional crinkling of newspaper. Mike used to be a fairly light sleeper as well (lol years of being subjected to my menagerie has made him somewhat immune to it all), and has never been woken up by any of the snakes. LOL... usually just the cat bounding off the cage tops on to the bed

Piers · 02-03-05, 08:33 PM

Well I'm a very light sleeper and I keep my Boelen's In my room with me (they like it cooler than the rest of the snakes) and they are always waking me up! they cruse around almost all night. The only time they don't move is after a meal,and that only keeps them still for three days max.
I've found that a fan works well,white noise,and now they only wake me when they move the water bowl or their hides.
Piers

JdmAllMotorHatc · 02-04-05, 04:36 PM

i wouldnt use aspen on the DUM, id would use something like forest bedding, they often like to hide underneath the bedding and blend in but i guess you could do what youd like and i dont think youll have any problems hearing the snake move around until he is much bigger and things get in his way

HeatherRose · 02-06-05, 01:55 PM

I'm a tad late here, but I have 4 snakes (a large ball python, large slender boa and two baby slender boas) about 5 feet from my pillow and I never hear them even though they're quite active.

If anything wakes me up, it's the cresties squawking