2 new rtbs

piercedsilence18 · #1 (**permalink**) 09-11-2002, 07:31 PM

hey in the last month or so ive gottne two new red tails. i work at a petshop and i get animals brought to me all the time. this is how i got the bigger male of the two. hes about 40" long and about 1 1/2" wide. hes takeing small rats. and my female is about 22" long and about 3/4" wide. i have two questions. can anyone tell me the approximate ages of the two. the female was fed and taken care of very well (i know this because shes from the store i work at and i took care of her) but when i got the male he hadnt eaten in three weeks was dehyrated so im not so sure aout his treatment. and also as of right now they are living together in a 29 gallon aquarium. they have been like that for two days with no problems. but both of thier feeding days are coming up in about two days. i will be moving hte bigger male to is perment enclosure soon. but will it be ok to keep them together for about 3 weeks?
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captainmorgan · #2 (**permalink**) 09-11-2002, 08:18 PM

first off...welcome to rtb.net. [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]
with that size difference I'd say it might stress out the female. I'm not an expert but I do got a clue of what I'm talking about. now the male did eat right? for dehydration you can soak him in a water pedialyte mix I've read. I've never had to deal with a dehydrated snake but I've read that in these forums and that's where I get the majority of my info. If the snake is eating rats, he's getting fluids. overall though, I'd say you'd be safe for 3 weeks if you got them in a decent enclosure with hides and enough water for them both. I mean, I've seen some pretty harsh conditions that pet shop owners put there snakes through. Like BP's in sand with like 2% humidity. if you take care of them, I don't think 3 weeks is going to cause them to croak. BUT YOU BETTER HOPE ONE DOESN'T HAVE ANY PARASITES OR THEY COULD VERY EASILY BOTH BE SCREWED!!!! If they're eating, your a pet shop, 3 weeks, I'd say your in there if you got the right temps, humidity and enough hides for both. but most pet stores don't put hides in because then us public can't see the product right?? [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]
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#3 (**permalink**) 09-11-2002, 08:20 PM

As far as the housing them together for 3 weeks. their size is really not comparable and could lead to problems really fast IMO. If ya need to for a bit just shoe box the smaller one for awhile until you get the separate enclosure done up is all.

As for the dehydration on the snake...What you need to do is soak the snake to rehydrate it. I use an electrolyte type thing for this myself..usually gatorade, BUT ya can use pedialyte also. Just use like a 50/50 mix with water. If the dehydration is really severe then use 100% of the electrolyte is all. BTW.. Make sure and use like one of the close to clear ones also. If you use a red one then snake will turn a bit red. The coloring will go away over time though lol. Just avoiding the "I did what ya said and my snake is turning red now posting haha." Also offer the electrolyte in the snakes water bowl as well. Either 50/50 or 100% in that too. The more dehydrated the snake..the higher % to use is all. On the soaks.. Do em a few times a day also.

There could be many reasons why the snake is not eating also. This is another reason to not house them together btw. Just work on the dehydration first for now with the snake. feeding next is all. Just how "underweight" is the snake if it is from non feeding ?
Hope that helps some ! Got any other questions just ask away...

Oh AND...

WELCOME TO REDTAILBOA.NET!!
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Tom · #4 (**permalink**) 09-11-2002, 08:22 PM

Hi piercedsilence18,

Welcome to RTB. It sounds like your female is less than a year old & your male is about
1 to 1 1/2 years old. I would also separate them if your male has anything wrong with him
he might pass it on to your female. I quarantine all my new boas for 6 months before I put them in with another boa.

Here is a link to my care sheet page of my website.
"Care Sheet Page"
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#5 (**permalink**) 09-11-2002, 08:38 PM

OOPS! I forgot about that age question myself in answering. IMO you really can NOT tell a snakes age by it's size. Anything that ya come up with would just be a guess is all really. Many factors go into determining what size a snake is and due to such.. age can NOT be verified by size at all.

For example.. I have a BCI BOA that by her date of birth.. We know that she is in her 6th year of age.. BUT she is only 4 1/2' in length...and has been for over 4 years now too.

I also have other RTB's that are in same age bracket that are in the 7-9' range in length.

Go figure...
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piercedsilence18 · #6 (**permalink**) 09-12-2002, 06:59 AM

thanks a lot for the info guys. well after i got them bigger male he ate three mice right in a row after i got him. he then drank for three days strait. the dehyration annd not eating were the result of abuse. hes eating great now. and i can really tell when hes hjungry because he strikes at aanyhting that moves. thats the only thing that worries me with putting htme together so im going to feed him about2 days earlier then i normally do. the female ate today and i just got her yesterday so im fairly sure shes doing fine. she sleeps coiled on top of the male and he doesnt mind at all.they are getting along great so im not to worried. but the shoe box thing is a good idea that i might use. the approximate ages of my snakes sound about right. the owner of my other one told me it was about a 1 1/2 years it just seemed kinda small. by the way I AM NOT A PETSHOP. i just work at one. these are MY snakesi just work at a petshop that i acquired my baby boa from. and i was her main caretaker there so i know shes fine parasite and mite wise.
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