Redtailed rescue.....

wspsatisfyd · #1 (**permalink**) 04-02-2002, 10:17 PM

New to this forum and wanted to tell my story and ask for advice from you crazy herpowners. I have kept snakes off and on since I was 8 or 9. My first snake was a ball python which died about a year ago from (i think) it's heat rock. I found out from my sister (a schoolteacher) about a fellow 4th grade teacher having a boa that she could no longer keep. She told me this and my eyes sparkled. The only background that my sister had on the snake was that the teacher had aquired the snake from a biology teacher at the high school. The teacher said that the biology teacher promised to come to the intermediate school to feed and maintain the snake and its 55gal. tank. The biology teacher became slack in his responsibilty and the 4th grade teacher could not bring herself to feed the snake. So, the next day my sister takes my truck to school and brings home the snake and its cage here to me. The snake as I got it was very thin and had the skin rolls.....very unhealthy. I went to the local store and bought 4 small mice. I put the snake in the rubbermaid container and one by one the snake gobbled up the freshly killed mice. About 5 days later the snake went into a patchy shed which I helped by soaking and rubbing. I waited another two days and fed the snake another 3 mice. It is now starting to fatten up and look well. Here are my problems:
1) I am using a substrate called naturebark...for reptiles...good?
2) Went to walmart and bought a heating pad which I set on medium, but then came back the next day and decided that medium was not enough. Is high too much? I think it is not enough because the pad itself is not touching the glass. Should I tape the pad to the glass bottom and set on medium?
Bought a huge rock water pool which is big enough for soaking. Hopefully this will up the humidity and ease the shedding problem.
3) There is a piece of shed about 3 inches long on the head~neck area which will not fall off....I have soaked and rubbed...but the snake does not agree with me touching its head area.

Should I hold off feeding and start it on a regular sched (btw, I decided to start with rats from now on), or should I keep trying to fatten it up. My dad says (no expert), a snake which is used to eating every other month, shouldnt be fed multiple meals once a week.

Any help, comments will be greatly appreciated. I plan on getting the snake back to health and stopping by the intermediate school and showing the kids and teacher the healthy snake.

Jason Rockhill
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eddie · #2 (**permalink**) 04-02-2002, 10:33 PM

WSP,
Welcome to Redtail!
Congrats! Sounds like you are doing good already!

Feeding does need to be put on a regular schedule, from every 7 days for a juvie on up to araound 2 1/2 foot, and every 10 - 14 days for larger.
The food needs to be close to, but not exceeding, the snakes thickest point in size.

You found out the hard way about hotrocks...... And as for the pad, the best way to tell is to put a thermometer right on top of the substrate and get a reading there. Another way, is to put your hand on the heated side and see if it is warm, or uncomfortably hot. If the snake burrows and the pad side is too hot, it can cause burns like a hot rock can.

Check out these two care sheets on care and feeding, they are very helpful.

Boa Care.
Feeding Snakes.

As for your substrate, I have never used that kind, so I can't help you with that one...
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eddie · #3 (**permalink**) 04-02-2002, 10:39 PM

I didn't see where you were from till I had made the post, but most of my family is in the Birmingham, Tarrant and Gardendale area.
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Boaguy · #4 (**permalink**) 04-02-2002, 11:09 PM

Welcome to RTB.NET!!!
hope ya'll stick around!
well first of all.. you sound like u are doing great!
good rescue.. wow only fed every other month.. i can just imagine how skinny he is ..
eddie gave u some good info. good luck,
keep us updated!
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LdyDrgn · #5 (**permalink**) 04-03-2002, 02:47 AM

Hi! Welcome to RTB!

The bark should be fine. It's usually harvested from fir trees. The only problem with it is that it seems to harbor bugs and mites. The bark can be washed before use and every 2-3 months and should be replaced every year. Just soak it in hot water and then let it dry before putting it in the enclosure. Bark will help with the humidity since it holds water well.

As for feeding, yes, definitely need a schedule, your father was correct. I have a rescue here that refused to eat for the past 6-7 months, was very ill and about as thick as a soda can. We half way force-fed her 2 rat fuzzies once a week (she's near 8'). She is now eating on her own (thank goodness!) but still needs to put on weight. Her modified feeding schedule is now 1 jumbo rat every 10 days. Once a week with a large meal is too much and every two weeks would be a normal schedule. You don't want to upset their digestive system. Too much food will make them sick and cause a possible regurge which is much harder on a snake. If they regurge once, they will be much more susceptible to it in the future. So, please, for the sake of it's health, feed 1 correct size item or 2 smaller items every 7-10 days.

The heat pad on medium should be fine. I have one under the rescued boa and it isn't touching the glass, either, but it provides sufficient belly heat.

For the shed, you do need to see that it comes off before it tries to re-fuse with the new skin. I realize that she may not like her head or neck touched, but you gotta do what you gotta do! Good thing it's not a venomous snake, eh? There is a product on the market called Shed-Aid. Don't waste your money! All it is is a gentle soap added to water (so I've heard). You can use a little bit of gentle dishwashing soap in the soaking tub to help that come off or you can rub some natural oil (like olive oil) onto the shed to soften it enough to come off. Mineral oil is used by some, but it is dehydrating to the snake's skin.

Good luck! [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_wink.gif[/img] [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]
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#6 (**permalink**) 04-04-2002, 12:51 AM

First off..

WELCOME TO REDTAILBOA.NET!!!

Next..I may have missed it BUT what size is the snake exactly anyway ?
For feeding..Definately go with what others have said here. Feed appropriate sized rodents [ preferably rats as they are more nutritional in content] and NO more than 3 prey items at a time also. For the rescues that I deal with that come in underweight like this, here's what I actually do :
Feeding : 1 prey item that is sized to girth of snake [ go a size smaller on consecutive feedings if the snake regurges though].
10 days later : 2 prey items that are sized to girth.
10 days later : 1 prey item that is sized to girth.
AND so on & so on....
By doing such you will not be powerfeeding the snake, yet you will be adding to it's girth/weight in a healthy manner.

As far as reptibark goes...I can't stand the stuff myself [ personal opinoin] due to the fact that no matter where I have acquired the stuff, I have always wound up with mites from it. arghh. If you want to continue to use this stuff, I would definately spot clean daily and also do a complete change-over of the substrate on a monthly basis though. Just my opinoin is all. I prefer to use ASPEN bedding for the snakes such as bci/bcc.

The heating pad... Place it inside the enclosure and set it on medium. I never do nor would I suggest using them on high at all.
For the retained shed..I don't use the shed-aid stuff BUT have seen it used....stuff seems to work great also. I use mineral oil & have for many years now. I have never had a snake get dehydrated from using it either in all that time. I do NOT use it on neonates though myself also. I will use it on a snake that is a yearling or older though with no ill effects from such. I think what's happening is that some people are applying the oil to the snake and just leaving the snake in a soak of it for a looong time and that may be where the problems with dehydration are coming from possibly. When using mineral oil...apply it liberally, let snake remain with it on for a couple hours, remove shed, and then bathe the snake to remove any left over mineral oil.
If you need anything else just ask away [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_wink.gif[/img]
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wspsatisfyd · #7 (**permalink**) 04-06-2002, 11:35 PM

Thanks for the help folks......I am about to make my way over to revamp my boas 55gal aqaurium. Gonna do away w/ the reptibark and put the aspen bedding in use. Also gonna soak him/her one more time and do the olive oil trick to get the now ?fused? skin off its neck. I am afraid a vet visit is in the future if the skin doesnt come off today. I am gonna feed the snake on Tuesday (fed last friday) 1 small rat (fresh killed). Everything except for the skin is going great. I am really about ready for another boa, and just wondering whom has the gravid females ready to drop. Have a great day folks!

Rockhill
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#8 (**permalink**) 04-07-2002, 12:39 PM

We just had a post in our trade forum for some baby boas.
On the shed thing and it not coming off. Try a long soak also..and I have heard that shed-ease has helped some people also get the shed off too.
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wspsatisfyd · #9 (**permalink**) 04-15-2002, 02:10 AM

Just wanted to give you guys an update.....(and gals)...the boa is doing fantastic and is gaining weight extremely fast. I got my order of rats (20-small, 10-medium, 5 large) from rodentpro.com in from airborne on friday.....wondering, whats the best way to thaw em suckers out? I plan on feeding tommorow after work (5ish), should i go ahead and put em in water (ziplock or not?)? I measured the snake today as well (w/ my dads help) and is 51" long, but still extremely too skinny. Also, that damned piece of skin on the neck/head area will not come off....I have bathed, oiled, and pulled....should I take to the vet? Or will the skin come off next shed? Thinking very hard about getting a new snake...which means I will get a new cage for the boa, and move the new baby to the 55gal aquarium. I was looking at cages today and think i narrowed it down to boaphile plastics and precisioncaging.com....I like Jeff Ronnes cages, but they are a little hard on the wallet ($256 for 48x24x12) or ($338 for 48x24x1

. I have heard nothing but great things about these cages though. Precisioncaging is a little more affordable at 48x20x13 for $180....but have heard nothing about them....I do like the dual doors on the cage alot. Opinions, please...
I am looking for a very light colored, very bright tailed baby-to yearling boa to reside in my 55 gal once i get my new setup. I might want to get a BCC(love those beautiful surinames!), but then again I think i will stick w/ bci because I might wanna try breeding once. I know their are a buncha females dropping here lately....keep me in mind. Went to the dixie reptile show here on sat., but showed up too late (3:30 and everyone was packing up....my bad for my forgetfullness) and almost bought a pair of baby corns (regular), but decided to wait and try to find a morph I really like (reverse okeetee and creamsicle) and not buy just to buy. Cant wait till the next show so I can go early and look at everything....everyone seemed real nice.

Later,
Rockhill
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wspsatisfyd · #10 (**permalink**) 04-15-2002, 03:38 AM

no advice?
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Boaguy · #11 (**permalink**) 04-15-2002, 03:50 AM

Ya i put my mouseys ratceys in a bag of steamin hot water until completely thawed and warm.
if u go to boaphiles site go to "Drastic plastics" u can get a 4' cage for $199 shipped!!!
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wspsatisfyd · #12 (**permalink**) 04-17-2002, 04:22 PM

Does anyone have any exp. w/ precisioncaging???
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#13 (**permalink**) 04-29-2002, 09:00 PM

NOPE..I don't. YA find anything out on em as yet ? How's the snake doing now ?
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wspsatisfyd · #14 (**permalink**) 05-06-2002, 11:47 PM

Update #2...Everything is goin GREAT!! The snake is gaining MAJOR weight thanks to the fatty small rats that arrived from Rodentpro.com that I have been feeding 2 rats every nine days. Also other big news, noticed the cloudy eyes before I went on vacation for nine days (Widespread Panic Spring Tour 2002), so I got my dad to spray her down every day w/ hot water. I came back home, lifted her hide box, and their was a perfect shed lying beneath her! I was so excited....I took her out in the yard for a day in the sun....meant to take pics while out there but forgot. Anyways, thawed her out two rats that night and fed her immediatley the next morning. Gonna take her to Dr. Alvin Atlas (exotics spec.) for probing and fecal exam tommorow, but have no fresh fecal. I do have some in the old substrate bag which I have yet to dump...should i take it? Does it have to be fresh? Anyways, still wondering about precisioncaging.....I know SOMEONE out there has used this cage (the biggun w/ 2 openings). Comments, and I need to have some soon so I can get one of those babies that went on sale today!!

Rockhill
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