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Help: Brazilian Rainbow Boa Set-Up?

G

GabeCastro

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Hey everyone,

I'm getting ready for a BRB.

I have a few questions about their set up needs and have done a fair share of research.

For now, I'll be going the cheap route and will be using a plastic bin. From my understandings Juveniles do fine in a 15CT bin? 25CT? Correct me if i'm wrong. Just seems a bit "small" but it's what i've seen from different forums.

I'd also be using a Under the Tank Heater (UTH) with a Thermostat to regulate the hotspot at around 83f degrees. Just seems awkard keeping a snake in a 15CT bin, but having a cool spot of 70-75f degrees...so i really want to figure this size of the enclosure down.

For substrate i'd be using eco earth with a mixture of spagnum moss. This substrate will be around 3-4 inches to the bottom since BRB's like to burrow down.

I'd have a hide spot, moist box, bin large enough to swim, and a water bowl / drink bowl.

Foliage will be added aswell for extra hide areas / humidity. Holes will be drilled around the tub to keep airflow / humidity in check.

For measuring humidity i'd be using digital hygrometers and a few analogs since I have extras on hand.

Is there anything i'm missing? I'm mainly concerned about the heat mat. Do you guys have any recommendations? brands? And if kept at a solid 85degrees, will it melt through a plastic bin? I've never housed a snake in a plastic bin, so this is all new to me. I'd be using Zoo Med Medium / Large size if needed.

I'm really just concerned about the heat mat melting the plastic bin. so if anyone has some advice they could pass on, it would greatly be appreciated!

Thanks!

-Gabe
 
See the two gents in the other thread below,Cliff and Dave are reliable resources of experience with these guys.

Best Of Luck!
 
Metachrosis said:
See the two gents in the other thread below,Cliff and Dave are reliable resources of experience with these guys.

Best Of Luck!
Click to expand...
Thanks for the reply!

Could you copy/paste their usernames into my thread? Or PM their names?

I feel like It wouldn't hurt for me to PM them :)

Thanks!

-Gabe
 
All sounds fine, the 83 hot spot is only good if the baby can get away from it though.

separate swim/drink bowls (you know the BRB will use either for whatever right)

Bins will not melt at 85, they would likely not melt well above 100.

Feel free to peruse my care sheets at:
http://rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com/Care_Sheets.htm

There are ones for general, baby and even one specific to humidity.

Dave
 
rainbows-r-us said:
All sounds fine, the 83 hot spot is only good if the baby can get away from it though.

separate swim/drink bowls (you know the BRB will use either for whatever right)

Bins will not melt at 85, they would likely not melt well above 100.

Feel free to peruse my care sheets at:
http://rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com/Care_Sheets.htm

There are ones for general, baby and even one specific to humidity.

Dave
Click to expand...
Thanks allot Dave, I appreciate it.

Def clears everything up for me. Just printed out your care-sheets!

I thought the brb i was getting was a Juvenile, but it's a baby. Read the caresheets for them and it makes easier on my end.

As for the bins, I think i'm going with a 6-10ct.

How are brb as escape artists? I've had king snakes and they're pretty sneaky :)

I'm wondering if a sterlite container lid will be secure enough to keep them from getting out.
 
Finally got him home!

Just got my little guy, breeder I got him from said he's a male.

Also, Just want to update everyone on my set up. Please let me know if you see anything wrong. Is the water bowl too large? Not enough coverage? Etc.

My heating set up is a Digital Thermostat combined with a small size Zoo Med Heat Pad.

Ventilation I put some small holes, 3 holes in each corner, one on each of the sides, and a circular pattern on the front/back. Top i didn't touch at all.

Humidity I have a large rock bowl and a moist box with sphagnum moss which was soaked with water and squeezed out.

Foliage I have a planters pot in the corner where my heat pad will be aswell as some fake plants I added which are not shown in the picture.

Heating, Still waiting for my temps to get correct so I'll update once everything is connected. Theres about a 3" thickness of ecoearth/sphagnum moss combo as substrate, is this enough? And will my heatpad still heat everything up? Hopefully I get some accurate temp readings.

And is it normal for the BRB to burrow? He cruised around for a second, then jetted off under the substrate hah.

Thanks!






 
Gabe, contgrats on the new family member. He looks great!

Be careful with temps in a smaller tub. If you can't create a solid gradient, better to go with a lower hot spot (77-80F) than risk him overheating.

For ventillation holes, less is more. It's easy to add, hard to take away.

As Dave noted, if there is an escape path, the baby will find it.

Burrowing is natural for these snakes. They love to hide -- rainbows are very secretive -- and are also ambush predators.

I would suggest letting your baby settle in for a week before offering the first meal. After he eats, give him three days to digest...and only then start short handling sessions. He may be bitey at first -- small Brazilians are notorious for this -- but he will settle down over time, and become an excellent pet.

Again, congrats!!!
 
Snakesitter said:
Gabe, contgrats on the new family member. He looks great!

Be careful with temps in a smaller tub. If you can't create a solid gradient, better to go with a lower hot spot (77-80F) than risk him overheating.

For ventillation holes, less is more. It's easy to add, hard to take away.

As Dave noted, if there is an escape path, the baby will find it.

Burrowing is natural for these snakes. They love to hide -- rainbows are very secretive -- and are also ambush predators.

I would suggest letting your baby settle in for a week before offering the first meal. After he eats, give him three days to digest...and only then start short handling sessions. He may be bitey at first -- small Brazilians are notorious for this -- but he will settle down over time, and become an excellent pet.

Again, congrats!!!
Click to expand...

Thanks Cliff! :thumbsup:

As for feeding, I was going to give him some time to settle in. Figure on Monday I can offer him a Pinky in a separate enclosure for eating w/ no substrate.

Usually with any animal I own I give them at least a week or two to get used to their new environment before handling them. But thanks for the heads up anyways. BRB's are very fascinating and it's really hard to resist to handle them! lol I've done good so far, just took pics when I first got him before I put him in his new home.

The tricky part about my set up so far is getting the heat pad to hit right...so far it's working out pretty well. Just worried where my placement of the probe should be...

I have 4 more questions :dgrin:

1. Should my 80f hot spot be on top of the surface? Or should it be 80f about .5-1" into the substrate? I just stick my probe from my thermostat into the substate to know if my brb burrows down about an inch, it won't be too hot for him. But, lately when I check on him he's been in his moist box or under a bunch of foliage, I measured the area and it's about 77f in the hotspot. Just worried he's not getting warm enough on the top surface. So again, should it be 80f on top of the surface?

2. Where should my moist box be placed? I have it between the hot spot /cool spot. My humidity has been pretty high, around 85-90%. I know this is a must in a cage so my brb will always have the option to have high humidity if it's not high enough for him.

3. How often do you mist your enclosure? Do you let the humidity slightly dry out to around 75% to avoid any mold growth or possible respiratory infections?

4. How often do you clean your enclosure? Such as changing out the substrate and cleaning out the bin?

Sorry for all the questions! Just want to make sure my set up is perfect!

-Gabe
 
Gabe--

I place my probe between the heat mat (Flexwatt in my case) and bottom of the viv. I adjust the thermostat, however, based on readings from the viv floor on the warm end.

1. Take your readings at the surface of the viv floor (below the substrate). The baby may well tunnel there if he wants heat, and a reading from the substrate top might thus prove too warm below.

2. I move mine according to the season: on the warm side during winter, and on the cool side during summer. That said, there are no wrong answers, so long as it somewhere he can find and will use it.

3. For most animals, I mist twice per week. For animals in shed, I mist once per day.

4. I spot clean daily, change the water and go through the moss/paper weekly, and change the moss quarterly (more often if it stinks).

There is no suchy thing as too many questions!
 
Snakesitter said:
Gabe--

I place my probe between the heat mat (Flexwatt in my case) and bottom of the viv. I adjust the thermostat, however, based on readings from the viv floor on the warm end.

1. Take your readings at the surface of the viv floor (below the substrate). The baby may well tunnel there if he wants heat, and a reading from the substrate top might thus prove too warm below.

2. I move mine according to the season: on the warm side during winter, and on the cool side during summer. That said, there are no wrong answers, so long as it somewhere he can find and will use it.

3. For most animals, I mist twice per week. For animals in shed, I mist once per day.

4. I spot clean daily, change the water and go through the moss/paper weekly, and change the moss quarterly (more often if it stinks).

There is no suchy thing as too many questions!
Click to expand...
Thanks for all the help!

So far My set up has been great. Just fed my boy his 2nd pinky since I've had him. Been handeling him pretty much everyday this past week.

Another question I have is when can I feed my snake a fuzzy? He's currently 28g. Eats pinkies fine just want to know at what weight should I move him up to fuzzier.

Thanks!

-Gabe
 
Any time. :)

Rat or mouse pinkies? If he's on mice, move up to hoppers right away, as mouse pinkies are too small. If he's on rats, wait until he is as big around at his largest part as a fuzzy. Usually, that seems to have around 75 grams...so you have a while to go.

Good luck!
 
Snakesitter said:
Any time. :)

Rat or mouse pinkies? If he's on mice, move up to hoppers right away, as mouse pinkies are too small. If he's on rats, wait until he is as big around at his largest part as a fuzzy. Usually, that seems to have around 75 grams...so you have a while to go.

Good luck!
Click to expand...
Dang, I feel kinda bad that I've been under feeding him. I've been giving him one mouse pinky.

I usually feed him every Monday one pinky, should I feed him again tomorrow? But a hopper? Or wait it out til next Monday?

Haven't had a snake since I was a kid so I'm pretty much learning the ropes again haha.

-Gabe
 
Hoppers seem kind of big, should I start with a fuzzy?

I read somewhere that a 30g brb should be fed a 5g pinky, assumed my brb would be fine on pinkies since he's under 30g.

Just curious to know my options.

Thanks!
 
He'll be fine on a small hopper / larger fuzzy. If you're concernsed, give him a fuzzy on Thursday, and then another the week after, before moving to small hoppers.
 
rainbows-r-us said:
Baby BRB's that size can take down mouse hoppers. I prefer to go a little small like barely a hopper or a nice fat crawler.
Click to expand...

Snakesitter said:
He'll be fine on a small hopper / larger fuzzy. If you're concernsed, give him a fuzzy on Thursday, and then another the week after, before moving to small hoppers.
Click to expand...

Thanks for all the help, fed my boy a small hopper and he did just fine. I went on a vacation for 3 days, but haven't seen him since last Thursday and he's gotten a lot bigger :thumbsup:

I'll feed him on Thursday another hopper.

-

When would you start seeing your brb start to color up? I know in tree boas they have different stages of colors so I wanted to know if brb's are the same. Not sure on the age of my boa, but he's about 30g.
 
Gabe, it varies...but in general is a slow process. The first shed shows the biggest difference, with lesser changes thereafter. He will not reach his adult/final look until between 18 and 30 months.
 
Snakesitter said:
Gabe, it varies...but in general is a slow process. The first shed shows the biggest difference, with lesser changes thereafter. He will not reach his adult/final look until between 18 and 30 months.
Click to expand...

Nice, I like to play the waiting game anyways haha. It was the same with my panther chameleons. They'd always go threw tons on color stages.

So, I have yet another question haha. Everything is going good with my set up, humidity is always above 80% and i'm misting about once a week-2 times a week.

I noticed a few days ago my snake was a pale bluish color. I know this is a major sign of shedding, but with my past snakes their eyes turn bluish aswell pretty early on. Do brb's wait till the last minute to have their eyes change? His belly is still a pinkish color with a slight blue tint, i heard that the belly turn bluish too when shedding.

Another thing is my snake never defecates! I can only find urates & not a sign of a stool (stool looks like he's well hydrated, pure white). Does this mean i'm not feeding him enough? Or does he just save up for a big load? I've been feeding him small hoppers w/ eyes still closed, thinking about bumping him up to a hopper about 2" body length (Is this too big?).

Again, thanks for all the help!

_Gabe
 
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