Brazilian Rainbow Boa Care

[Ariel]

Hey guys,

I was talking to my mom recently about snakes, as we were handling her hognose and taking pictures, and I mentioned to her I might look into getting a snake at the next reptile show, and shockingly she seemed just fine with the idea. I may just get a western hognose like my mom has, or a corn snake, but what I REALLY want is a brazilian rainbow boa. Can you blame me? they're the definition fo gorgeous.

Anyways, inane ranting on how awesome they are aside, I don't really know much about this species. I know they're an intermediate species because of care requirements (or so it says in my mom's reptile book) but they're otherwise a docile species (Which I believe, I've held my share).

So I guess my questions would be,

what kind of set ups do you usually keep these guys in?
How do you manage humidity?
And because I keep getting a variety of anwsers how big to these guys acctually get? My mom doesn't want a species in the house that gets big, since we do have a variety of birds and a guinea pig. I've heard they don't get very large at all.

Will they thrive on f/t mice? Don't know how capable I am of getting a different source of food.

And because of the possibility that I may move there in the future, does anyone know they laws on constrictors in florida?

After I finish typing this I'm going to be off to do some independent research, but I'd definately like to hear some opinions.

 

[GiantVinegaroon]

Hey I kept a Colombian rainbow boa, and spoke with many BRB breeders and their care is almost the same. I had my boa in a 29 gallon breeder with a screen top lid. Have a heat pad, hide and water...substrate can be newspaper or cypress mulch(or something similar that retains humidity). Keep humidity between 70 and 80%. A big water dish and a daily misting should be adequate. IDEALLY(that is, in a perfect world) you should have the warm end around 80-82 degrees and the cool end around 75 degrees. BRBs occassionally climb, so if you want you can offer height with the enclosure and climbing materials.

Baby BRBs would be fine with f/t mice, but the adults should probably get small rats.

Man now I miss my rainbow boa....I really need another one or two.

I noticed I forgot to answer your question about their size. The average is around 4-5 feet.

 

[gambite]

I have a large male that I have been keeping for over a year or so now. They require a little more maintenance than a ball python, but not much more. I have my guy in a tank that is roughly 24"x24"x24", give or take a bit, with a large heatpad underneath, newpaper bedding, some cork slabs to hide under and shed on, and a large plastic shoebox as a waterdish. I dont mist him unless its really dry. For the most part the water dish keeps the humidity up high enough. A little while ago I had a second plastic shoe box in there with him, filled with wet coco fiber. That worked really well and he seemed to like it, though after a while he started pooping in it so I had to take it out, have not had a chance to put another one in. Mine likes to soak in the water a lot, so make sure your waterdish is large enough to fit the whole snake. If you listen carefully, sometimes you hear him farting underwater. It makes a great conversation starter ("It wasnt me, I swear! The snake did it!")

Be mindful of your RB's temperament. Out of my 9 snakes, the RB is the ONLY one to have bitten me. Granted, it was feeding time and I forgot to wash to rat-juice off my hands, but I have never been struck at by my other adult snakes. My RB is very strong-willed, not as docile as the rest. Mine 'tolerates' my handling, and makes that fact well known. They are very curious and adventurous too, so make sure not to take your eyes off them when they are out of their tanks.