[Deano]

After spending ages reading up on the differnt species available, I've finally got my second snake - A 2 month old female Brazilian Rainbow Boa. She SOOOOOOO cute!!! 95 quid - bargain!

I'm aware BRB's are much more demanding pets than my current Corn, so I'm just gonna outline my cage setup - can you let me know if I've gone wrong anywhere...

Enclosure - Large, Flate exo terra. I've covered 2 thirds of the top with a damp towel to dry to retain moisture. I'll keep this damp, plus mist twice a day. I plan to move to a tall viv when she gets bigger

Heat - Heat mat under half the tank, mat stat sensor mid cage in the air, set to 80f. Not sure if position of the sensor is right? I'll leave it on 24hrs a day.

Substrate - Beech chips (supplied by shop). Think I may change this to paper towels or something that holds moisture better.

Furnishings - Large water dish in warm end. Dry hide each end. Humid box with spagnum moss mid cage.

Gonna leave in a quite room till next Saturday before feeding - 1 pinkie a week.

Have I missed anything / got anything wrong? Now gotta find her a boyfriend...

 

[Cara]

you'll want to go with something like this (below) or as you said kitchen paper, the beech chips arn't great for humidity which as you know is v important:

http://www.everythingforpets.com/t_rex_jungle_bed_substrate.pet/use.id.5.item_id.7356.dept.1283/

You don't mention a thermometer/hydrometer tho? Have to have one of those!

Put the mat stat sensor on the bottom of the viv directly on top of the mat as you need to measure the temp where the heat is, don't want to burn your snake!

 

[Cara]

if you need a thermo/hydrometer get a digital one as the exo terra ones can be loads out & din't work very well at all!! (to my experience - I've had every single one i'v bought break)

 

[Deano]

Something like this http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Digital-Therm...55477643QQihZ006QQcategoryZ1285QQcmdZViewItem ? Got one on order. See what you meen about the exo-terra stuff - I have a 'strip', which shows 3 completely different readings. Useless!

I'll be picking up some cyprus mulch, or the 'jungle' substrate tomorrow, and the mat stat prob has been buried into the substrate at the warm end, set to 90 degrees.

Anything else?

 

[Cara]

one of these would be much better as it has a sensor so it can tell the temp in both hot & cold end on the screen at the same time(plus alot cheaper) It also has an alarm if the temps go too low or high

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/HYGROMETER-Th...285QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item110059411485

but if youve already ordered one it should be fine.
Can't think of anything else, the are semi-aborel, but youve already mentioned youre going to upgrade to a taller viv so youve got that covered, if i think of anything will let you know!

 

[Trice]

Two hides?

 

[Deano]

3 hides - 1 each end, and a humid box full of moss in the middle.

 

[SnakeyPete]

have to agree with whats been already said ....and you got more or less same set up as I have for my male BRB...you see condensation in there ...ya got humidity . Nice one Deano !

Take care

 

[Deano]

Thanks for the reassurance, I think I'm just getting a bit paranoid! I read on a care sheet that they can take rat pups from birth... mines apparently 2 months old, and is 18 inches long, but very slender, looks like pinkies would be better for now. Does that sound right?

Also, she is a more of a brown / olive colour than the typical red / orange I've seen in photoes, though the pattern looks normal. Do BRB colours vary like this?

 

[Cara]

Yea thier colours can vary thats not a prob , i would start with pinkies & not feed anything bigger than its girth at the widest point, you can get rat pinkies i think so you could try that, if youre worried that its not enough feed 2 pinkies...

 

[skimpy]

I tried a few different substrates, but Im back on Aspen. It clumps when wet, is easy to spot poo on, Is easily digestible...had problems when a bit of bark got stuck on pinky i was offering. Wee bugger wouldn't eat it on the plastic tray I provided, took it away into the 'bushes' he has in the corner, and swallowed the bark as well as the pinky. Not pleasant for snake...or me come to think of it. I was hysterical watching him frantically trying to discard the bark.

Aspen is also cheaper than the other options, and they love to burrow in it.

Skimpy :wink:

 

[Cara]

I always feed in seperate containers on newspaper anyway, gets rid of the substrate stuck on food dilema!

 

[Cara]

Oh yea and theres no way a baby BRB will be able to eat a rat pup NO WAY!! lol they're only tiny little things when they're born, it'd be like me trying to squash a full grown cow down yr throat! (lol ok over exagerated slightly there...) My two CRBs have only just got onto fluffs and they're about 3/4months don't worry so much (though its very nice to see someone who cares so much about their reptile they want to make sure everything is perfect ) From what youve said everythings good so sit back, relax & enjoy yr new friend