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Yaqcubper
Snake mite

USA
6 Posts

Posted - 17/10/2011 :  20:11:48  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
Okay so, as I mentioned in my "Introduction" thread I am currently caring for a friend's CRB. My roommates bought a male and female on impulse at a reptile store we went to and hadn't done any research on them before bringing them home.

They are both about 2-3 months old (the Boas hehe) and although they've had them for a month now and claim to have done research I think they may have looked up regular Columbian Boas instead of Rainbow ones because they believe their snakes will grow up to 10 feet or more. (If I'm wrong and they go over the 4-5 feet normally mentioned than I apologize for my ignorance in advance).

They are both in ten gallon tanks with a hide that doubles as a water bowl, a UTH on one side and a kind of Eco Earth substrate. I've read that hatchlings need humidity levels near 90% and that temps shouldn't get too high but they have no thermostats, thermometers, or hygrometers in their enclosure. There also have nothing for them to climb on or a humid hide box or anything. The female in particular is trying to get over mites and has lost weight, regurged a meal, and had a horrible shed (her scales were coming off in flakes).

Any and all important information on how to care for these animals will be very much appreciated. I don't want anything to happen to her while under my care. Also, any idea on how to approach my roommate about changing things in her enclosure without seeming like I'm attacking him for bad husbandry would be awesome too. Thanks so much!

TL;DR- Any and all information on CRBs would be awesome!!

oakleyman18
Hatchling

United Kingdom
269 Posts

Posted - 17/10/2011 :  21:17:02  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
Well kudos to you, it sounds like youve done infinitely more research than your room mates, so well done. Yes, when hatchlings they need humidity around the 90% mark, condensation on the sides of the tank is usually a good sign. You need to get a thermostat straight away, while temps below 29C arent ideal, temps above 30C can begin to become lethal, especially if they can't escape it.

Climbing frames arent really necessary, so long as they ar taken out regularly for exercise. Also yes, the are coloumbian rainbow boas, not what your friends have read about. They grow to a maximum of around 6ft, amd they dont get very thick,about the thickness of your wrist usually as a maximum guide. They are slender boas! I am curious to know what sort of hide doubles as a water bowl though?



Oscar Morrell
0.1.0. Brazilian Rainbow Boa CB'10 "Jade"
1.0.0. Normal Cornsnake CB'00 "Camo" _RIP_
0.1.0. Normal Stripe, het Hypo, Amel, Lavender Cornsnake CB'11 "Amber"
0.0.1. Spider in the bathroom
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Yaqcubper
Snake mite

USA
6 Posts

Posted - 17/10/2011 :  23:18:05  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
The hides that they have in there look like this:



And they actually have a Jungle Mix (fir and sphagnum moss substrate) not Eco Earth. They don't get taken out too too often normally only to feed (they are fed outside their tanks) and to check if they have any mites or anything (because of the female having mites recently) so that's why I figured a small branch or something would be nice (although yeah probably not necessary lol).

They also are fed about twice a week. Or right after they poop. As in, let's feed the snake today. She poops by Wednesday we feed her again Wednesday night/Thursday afternoon.

Edited by - Yaqcubper on 17/10/2011 23:19:26
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XxRedDevilxX
Snake mite

USA
31 Posts

Posted - 18/10/2011 :  00:13:34  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
I'm new here and don't know near what everyone else does... But I can help with the speaking to them... Try printing out what you have heard and seen on here mostly about what snake they have... If they can understand that what they have is not what they think that might help them research more and learn from their mistake before its to late.
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Yaqcubper
Snake mite

USA
6 Posts

Posted - 18/10/2011 :  01:06:25  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
Thanks :) I was actually thinking about doing something similar to that but instead of printing the information out (my printer broke recently) I was going to just keep a note book with information on the snakes we have. The roommate that owns the Male (that is still here) didn't want to listen to me at all when I was talking about his boa (as soon as I mentioned that they only get so big he cut me off and didn't want to believe me) so I'm hoping that if I call the owner of the female (the one I am watching over) that he will hear me out and give me the OK to make the changes that I feel I need to.

Edited by - Yaqcubper on 18/10/2011 01:09:24
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XxRedDevilxX
Snake mite

USA
31 Posts

Posted - 18/10/2011 :  01:26:55  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
With someone so stubborn its going to be hard.. I am stubborn too but I know when someone knows more than me and what I should listen to or at least investigate myself... Maybe just mention to him dont listen to me but please do a little more research...
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Yaqcubper
Snake mite

USA
6 Posts

Posted - 18/10/2011 :  01:44:58  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
Well I just talked to the Female's owner and he is letting me make whatever changes I need to! Yay! He just asked me to please make sure that the information I find is specifically for his type of snake; which is totally understandable. Maybe once he sees that his friend had faith in me the Male's owner will do some research too :)
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XxRedDevilxX
Snake mite

USA
31 Posts

Posted - 18/10/2011 :  02:26:37  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
Hopefully! That's definitely a good step forward.
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