Jamaican Boas Breeding

Drilling holes in the sides of the tub instead of the top/lid makes a world of difference in retaining the humidity IME.

Originally Posted by toddnbecka

Drilling holes in the sides of the tub instead of the top/lid makes a world of difference in retaining the humidity IME.

I had initially intended to do that, but the particular tool I was using at the time made it virtually impossible. I've modified my method since then, but it seems to be retaining humidity fairly well, using the measurement of how long water droplets are visible on the sides of the enclosure.

It looks like a good setup. My only concern would have been that the large size might have made him feel a bit lost, but if he's eating, that is clearly not the case. No doubt the ample decor goes a long way toward making him feel secure. The nice thing about snakes that go off feed so easy is that you know when you're doing things right. Haha.

Originally Posted by cguarino30

It looks like a good setup. My only concern would have been that the large size might have made him feel a bit lost, but if he's eating, that is clearly not the case. No doubt the ample decor goes a long way toward making him feel secure. The nice thing about snakes that go off feed so easy is that you know when you're doing things right. Haha.

Thanks. It took him a little while to come out and explore, but I have seen him out on most nights. I think he liked the plant additions, since the next day I found him curled up asleep in one. I'll probably add more once I see if they do well under those conditions. Until then, I just have to see if he'll keep eating. I'd love to get him comfortable enough that he can actually be handled sometimes without fear of a hunger strike.

Originally Posted by GillianC

Thanks. It took him a little while to come out and explore, but I have seen him out on most nights. I think he liked the plant additions, since the next day I found him curled up asleep in one. I'll probably add more once I see if they do well under those conditions. Until then, I just have to see if he'll keep eating. I'd love to get him comfortable enough that he can actually be handled sometimes without fear of a hunger strike.

There could be some significant validity to that theory, as all three of the troublemaker group, as well as the 4 in the escapee group, have all been observed by me curled up inside the plastic plants that make up the decor inside the screen cages. It seems to be one of their preferred positions in open cages. It certainly follows logically that baby subflavus in the wild would seek out vegetative cover, as it would provide both protection from predators and ambush positions for hunting while simultaneously being more exposed to sunlight and thus a better basking position than the imagined alternatives (log hollow, for instance).

T3 experiment Update:

Night 1- Anole # 1 eaten
Night 2- Anole # 2 eaten, with 2 additional kills
Nights 3-5- Nothing
Night 6- Anole # 3 eaten

There are 7 anoles remaining. I am interested to see if now that T3 has started up again, if it will be a short burst of feeding or another long pause of several days.

Also, with regard to feeding the others for this week and next, I will not be feeding the babies. I will be out of town for a decent chunk of that time and feel it would be best to simply let them be, rather than make attempts at feeding without the ability to properly monitor them. They have long since proven that fasting a couple of weeks will do them no harm, and I feel the attempt to switch up a feeding schedule without being around to monitor the progress has much higher risks than simply allowing them to get hungry. Hopefully, it will also have the added benefit of enticing the less avid feeders to eat when I get back.

Sounds like excellent logic. And good to hear that T3 has decided not to go all Krueger on the anole population this time. ;-)

Originally Posted by Snakesitter

Sounds like excellent logic. And good to hear that T3 has decided not to go all Krueger on the anole population this time. ;-)

Better knock on wood. Could be he was just taking a short break. We shall see.

Some bad news today. I lost another one. Nothing major pointing to any kind of cause, so I assume that this is another congenital defect. The deceased was one of the stubborn non-holdbacks. He (probed and dissected for verification) ate fine last week, and aside from having his tub moved to a different shelf, there was no change to his husbandry. I'm disheartened to have lost another one, but looking at the numbers, three out of 28 dead over the course of 5 months seems to be a fairly miniscule number. I'll double check all husbandry stats to make sure, and keep a close eye on the others, but I don't expect there are any environmental contributors to this death.

I'm sorry you've had another loss, although as you said it does sound like it was probably a congenital defect. Not sure if it'll cheer you up any, but Harper ate again tonight - seems to be settling in quite well.