I 'm a newbie to the joys of owning a snake, and I just purchased a Columbian Red Tail Boa. I absolutely LOVE my new snake, and I believe the feeling is mutal considering he wears himself as a scrunchie in my hair while I work. The thing is I've never owned a snake before and I don't know a whole lot about them, I mean I know the general maintenance, I work in a pet store, but there are some things that I don't know. I have two question that hopefully someone will know the answers to, they are: 1. Is there any way other than probing the snake to find out what sex it is? 2. Can snakes pick up sicknesses from humans? ie: Common cold or flu??
Congrats on your new baby. CRB's are great snakes. To answer your first question: there is a method of sexing known as "popping" where you apply pressure with you thumb at the base of the vent and try to get the hemipenes (if it's male) to "pop" out. It's not easy to do with some snakes and if you've never done it before, I wouldn't try it on your own. It can cause more harm than good. Plus, sometimes the hemipenes don't pop and you think it's a female when it's not. So, in the end, probing is better in my opinion and should only be done by someone who has a lot of experience doing it. Check with your herp vet and if you don't know of any, find one ASAP. You don't want ot be in the middle of a medical emergency and not know what to do. Your second question: can snakes get human diseases. Viruses are usually species specific. Human viruses will usually only transfer to other primates and then not always. There are many viruses that attack different species, but once they are in the host, you can only pass them to another host of the same species. West Nile can be transmitted to both humans and reptiles, but...a human cannot transfer the virus to a reptile. Some fungal infections may be transferrable, but not very easily in most cases. The best bet in handling any collection of animals is to wash you hands before and after handling and wash you hands in between handling different individuals. So.....tell us about you setup. What's your little guy in?
Males typically have longer, narrower tails. Females have short, fat tails. I can't find where I read this at the moment, but you can rub your thumb down the underside of the snake from the vent down to the end of the tail. If you feel what feels like 2 BB's (pellet gun) these are the hemipenal buldges and that will mean you've got a male. Probing is the only sure method of sexing and probing and popping should only be done by someone wih a good deal of experience. Edited to add: I found a good site here with some decient info. http://www.vpi.com/9VPITipsAndTechs/Determ...SexOfSnakes.htm
My little guy's name is Tiegan he is about 2 - 2 1/2 feet long right now, nicest most docile snake i've ever seen before (i'm very lucky). But, he is in a 20gallon tank right now, with a carpeted floor, heating pad under the tank, hiding log, tree to climb on, and a water dish. Nothing fancy but the boyfriend is in the process of building him a much larger home. If anyone has any suggestions on what you think he/she might like, let me know. Also: Comment for BoaMan: Tiegan's tail is long and very thin. One more question: Is it ok, at the age he is right now for me to take him everywhere with me? I want him to be comfortable with me, and know my scent, so I pretty much take him with me wherever I go.
The cage sounds pretty good. How big is the water dish and how's the humidity? Good to know there are no heat rocks in there....sooooo many people screw up there. Glad to hear he's getting a new home! Can't wait to see it! I wouldn't take him 'everywhere' with you. You never know when something will startle him or stress him out too much. I think keeping him with you sometimes while at home is cool, definitely want to get him used to being handled. But you also want to make sure you can control him if you have to, especially as he gets older and bigger. I'm big on proper snake handling and I don't like to see large constrictors around people's necks are being allowed too much freedom outside the enclosure. It can be dangerous for both the handler and the snake. What are you feeding right now?
I built a 4'x2'x2' for my boa with a basking shelf. I used 3/4" ply and plexy for the window. If your boyfriend needs some plans I don't mind giving mine up. Here's a pic of my BCI cage. [/img]
Thanks biochic It was a lot of work, but I think it really paid off. My boa basked all day on the shelf and it always makes me feel good to see her enjoying her cage.
Tiegan is about 8 or 9 months old, about 2ft long and about 5 -6 inches around. My boss gave him 3 mice last wednesday, and he just went to the bathroom today, so i figure i'll feed him 2 tomorrow, maybe three if he still seems hungry. I don't really have his feeding schedule down yet, but i think i'm getting the hang of it. If any of you guys have any suggestions, please, let me know. And, thanks for the pic BoaMan, i'm sure the boyfriend would love to see the plans, that's a really nice set up you have. Thanks to all of you guys for being so helpful, i've never had a snake like this before, I appreciate it. Well, until next time. See ya )
Welcome to the wonderful world of snakes Be forewarned, they are addictive! As for feeding the best thing would be to offer one frozen/thawed prey item every 7 days. A proper sized prey item will be equal in diameter to the thickest part of the snake. (Probably a rat pup or small rat.)
I agree. If he can take 3 full grown mice, then he could probably take a juvenile rat. Offering once a week is a good idea. Especially when you're still figuring out a feeding schedule. Poop is always a good thing too. What goes in, must come out...eventually! lol Stormy's right...they are addictive. The more you get to know about them, the more you want one of every species and variety, just so you can experience all the things that makes each on unique. They are fascinating creatures. BoaMan - I know what you mean about your snake enjoying it's cage. We just finished five large enclosures for part of our collection and it's great to see them climbing on the branches, hiding in the caves, and crawling over rock walls you make and design just for them. It makes you feel like you must really know your animals to create a home for them they really like.
The thing is guys - he's really picky, he wont eat rats. If it's not a mouse, he wont eat it, we've tried. He also won't eat anything frozen and thawed, he will only eat live mice. I don't know what i'm supposed to do about him, is it satisfactory that he eat a couple mice, or is there something I can do to get him to like rats? Any advice would be helpful. Appreciated
As snakes get larger, so should their food items. It's best for their digestive tracts, especially captive snakes that aren't as active as wild snakes. Try a young rat, about the size of a mouse. Maybe even keep a live mouse nearby for scenting. Just rub the mouse on the rat to get the scent on it, it may trick him into taking it. Once a snake is offered food a certain way and size, it can be hard to get them to switch. But just wait him out, he'll take it eventually. As for not taking F/T food items, well, that's just a matter of personal opinion. Some people insist on F/T, some on fresh killed, some on alive. I personally think F/T or fresh killed is the best. It's less stress on the prey, and less risk of the snake getting bitten or scratched. I'm not saying that happens often, but it can, especially if the snake isn't hungry and the prey is left in the enclosure with him. I've seen the results of the Redtail Boa's tail after being left for the weekend with a live rat. It was chewed off almost all the way to the vent. It's not pretty and is preventable. But most people aren't willing to kill the prey before feeding so F/T is the mainstream way of feeding, especially large collections. It's easier to keep a few frozen on hand rather than trying to keep a colony of smelly rodents going. But again, that's my opinion. If your snake accepts live food quickly and doesn't have any problems catching and killing, then there really isn't anything wrong with feeding live. But again, if you're as stubborn as your snake is, then warming up a F/T really well under a heat lamp and leaving it in the cage for an evening (or feeding bucket, which I prefer) should do the trick. If he's hungry, he will msot likely take it. As for the feeding bucket, I always prefer feeding out of the cage because then the snake doesn't relate your sticking your hand in the cage with food and you are less likely going to be bitten or struck at around feeding time. Anyways, I hope this helps!
That was very helpful, thank you. As far as feeding him live mice, I work for a pet store, so I have anything from pinkies to jumbo rats available to me at any time, so the problem with stinky rats isn't one. I also always feed him in a place other than his cage, I don't want to be biten by him, and from my experience at the pet store, I definately know not to feed them in their cage. I will try the rat and mouse idea, he should eat tonight, so I'll let you know how it works. Thanks again for the advice, talk to ya soon. :wink:
Please don't feed live. Live prey will hurt your snakes. Ever hear the phrase "fights like a cornered rat"? In captivity there is no exit for the snake or prey, so the rodents will lash out and cause permanent damage. Whack those rodents first, and if you can't your boyfriend can, or switch to f/t soon as possible.
I never leave a rodent with him in his tank alone unattended. I know what damage they can cause. He is always attended while feeding, just like every other snake I feed at work. If I notice within 10 - 15 minutes that he is not interested in the rodent, I will take it out and feed him later. I would never put Tiegan in harms way. Another thing, he will not eat anything other than live prey, and they have to be mice (he's very picky). I tried the rat pup last night, and he wasn't having it. I put a mouse in there, and within 5 seconds he ate it, I put another one in after that, and he ate that one too. He likes his mice, I figure he's still small enough to where he can eat them, and when it comes time for him to eat rats, well... I guess he'll just have to learn to like them. I've got my digi with me today, so I will post a couple pictures of him later tonight. Until then, See ya!
Can't wait to see the pics. I don't like to feed live, for the reasons BoaMan said, but...it sounds like you keep a close eye on the situation and understand any risks. He has to eat, and if you have tried F/T, then what else can you do? You may want to try fresh killed, he may not notice as long as it's fresh. As far as the rat pup, well...chances are good he'll come around. Did you try offering the rat after the first mouse? Or was it too big maybe. Anyways, keep trying! Can't wait to see the pics!
