If you are in to snakes than you must know how good these pets are for new as wells as experienced keepers. They are ideal choice for any new enthusiast because of their simple care needs and small size. Taking care of these snakes is straightforward but there are some pitfalls that you have to avoid if you to keep your Rosy Ba happy and healthy. This blog contains all the detail of care requirements and how to improve the life of Rosy Boa. The guideline will help you in keeping your Rosy Boa healthy year after year.
Snake Enclosure
Snake enclosure requirements of rosy boa re very simple and even simple cages are great for start. The only requirement for their cages is that they must be escape proof because they are always trying to find a way to escape from enclosure. When purchasing an enclosure always buy one that is escape proof. Furthermore, make sure that the enclosure should not have any screening on the top otherwise your snake can suffer from rostral abrasion. This happens because rosy boa rub their nose on the surface in order to find an escape space from enclosure.
If you got a hatchling rosy boa than you can keep them in a small container or deli cups. You can keep the container well ventilated by punching a hole in the lid or side of the cup or container. Make sure that the hole should be of small size so that rosy boa can stick their nose in it. Put these small enclosure in an incubator or a heat tape. If you have a small glass terrarium than use a heat pad to maintain the temperature. It is important to provide the right temperature in the earl part of life so make sure the temperature do not get too high or too low.
As the rosy boa ages you need to increase the size of enclosure. When they reach the medium size a shoe box size enclosure is best for them. But some people uses a 10 gallon reptile tanks to get the best result for juvenile rosy boa. In case of adult 20 gallon tank is used for better results.
Reptile Substrate
Rosy boa love to burrow in the reptile substrate and they even do this during the day time. If you are using a reptile carpet or a newspaper it is important to use a shredding new paper to promote the burrowing behavior of these snakes and to prevent stress. You can also use aspen in the substrate but you need to agitate it daily and change it on weekly basis. Try not to use any kind of shaving that has aromatic oils because they can irritate your snakes.
Lighting
Rosy boas are nocturnal by nature so the lightning system for them might not be necessary unless you need it to keep an eye on your pet. You can use a UVB bulb during the day time cycle, usually the rosy boas get all of their calcium from their prey but UVB light will offer health benefits and also improve calcium absorption. The most important thing in the rosy boa cage is the thermal gradient, as it will help your snake to choose different range of temperatures.
Heating
We humans have a natural ability to regulate our body temperature that’s why we are warm blooded. On the other hand rosy boas are warm blooded this means that they have to move in the areas of different temperature to regulate their body temperature. In the enclosure you can use halogen heat bulbs to create warmth just as they get through sunlight in the wild. The rosy boas need two different temperature gradients the basking area should be maintained around 85-90°F and the cooler area should be round 75-80°F. They don’t need heating at night time so its better to turn it off.
Generally you can use a 50w halogen flood bulb to get the desired basking temperature. The basking rock is always present on top of the hide box and I you feel that it is getting too warm you can turn down the heat with a dimmer. If you are unable to achieve the basking temperature than you need high voltage bulbs. You can use multiple bulbs to create evenly heated area so the snake whole body gets the proper heat. To measure the temperature of the basking area, you can use infrared thermometer.
Décor
You need different cage accessories for rosy boa enclosure. The first thing you need is two hide boxes, that can be placed one in the middle and one on the side of enclosure or both hide boxes on present on each side of the enclosure. The shape of the hide box can be simple a half log, or a half flower pot.
Mostly the rosy boa are very shy and they like an area where nobody can see them. Its best for your snake to create a natural habitat for them. The rosy boa are always ready to use the hiding space whether it’s a cardboard container, plastic container or a store bought hide cave. The hide boxes usually provide security so there will be fewer chances that they will rub their snouts and attempt to escape.
You can also add branches in the enclosure as they provide a lot of enrichment. Rocks can also be added as they replicate natural habitat. If you are using rocks, make sure to place them on the heat source to give them warm basking area. A cold rock will absorb all the heat from the body of snake.
Humidity
These snakes are used to live in ambient environment so any kind of excessive humidity will be dangerous for them. Try to keep the humidity lower them 60% and use a digital hygrometer to measure the humidity level, the best practice is to place it in the center of enclosure. If the humidity levels are continuously high for long time it can make your snake unwell. Although, the humidity level in the cool end of the enclosure is high as compared to the other, similarly the humidity levels are higher at night. If you are living in high humidity area than its important to use a dehumidifier to maintain the optimum levels.
Rosy Boa Food
Feeding rosy boa involved little tips and tricks. Most people are concerned that whenever they try to feed their snake there is a chance that the snake will get a mouth full of substrate. To overcome this problem use rubber tipped tongs. By using these tongs your snake will strike upward an away from substrate. Some owner feed their snake in the separate container to prevent this problem but if you are too worried about them eating substrate you can place paper towel under your snake when eating the food.
Another problem in rosy boa is that they usually get food aggressive, so make sure you handle them regularly and not just only on the day of feeding. If you are not opening the enclosure other than the feeding day than your snake will always remain the feeding mode. The best feeding option for the rosy boa is the mice. The size of the mice offered depends on the size of snake. However make sure to feed them the mice that will cause a slight bulge in the body.
The juvenile rosy boa should be feed after 5 to 7 days and adults need to be fed after 2 weeks. You can also add variety to your boa diet like feeding them young hamster, young quail, young gerbils, chicks and quail eggs. Always feed them a froen thaw prey as compared to live as it the most humane way to feed them.
Rosy Boa Water
Rosy boa grow well when they are not provided with a continuous source of water. If you are feeding them regularly they need very limited amount of water. Usually the water is given only once in a month. If you give them water immediately after feeding they will regurgitate their food. The best protocol is to offer water one day, than remove the source and wait for a day and then feed the snake. For young ones a small plastic container stapled to the inside will work as water source. For young ones water availability after every three weeks is important for their health.
Handling
If you want to start handling than you have to wait a little while before bringing your pet home. They usually settle within two weeks but its important that you should not start handling until they start eating food regularly. Once you feel that your snake is ready for handling than state brief session that should not be longer than 5 minutes and return the snake before they get anxious. In the start usually a five minute session is good for handling. This will help your rosy boa learn how to behave during handling.
Once this has been accomplished, you can work up to longer sessions. Handling should occur at least weekly, but no more than once daily.
While handling your snake, be gentle. Rather than grabbing it, let it crawl onto your hand. Lift it from below rather than above, and support as much of its body as possible. Use slow movements and don’t walk around too much. Rosy boas usually tolerate handling well and very rarely bite.
Sex Determination:
Rosy boas can easily be sexed by looking for the presence of spurs. Rosy boas should
not be “popped” (method to invert hemipenes in males). Some keepers will probe their Rosy boas, but this is
unnecessary. The presence of spurs to each side of the vent (cloaca) indicates a male Rosy boa, no spurs
indicate female. In very rare instances a female may have a spur(s). I have never encountered a male snake
with no spurs. Depending on your eyesight, you may want to employ the use of a magnifying glass or
dissecting microscope to enlarge the view of the vent area. It can be challenging for beginners to sex baby
Rosy boas without the use of magnification. In some cases, pigmentation in the area can confuse keepers so
be careful not to mistake pigmentation for spurs. Adult Rosy boas are very easy to sex as the spurs or absence
of them is incredibly obvious.
Quarantining and Mites: Any new snake that you bring into your home should be quarantined for a period of
90 days before introducing it to any area near other reptiles. It is good practice to quarantine every snake
regardless of how trusted the source you obtained it from is. If you always follow this rule, you won’t be sorry.
When quarantining a snake, you should keep it in a separate room from the rest of your reptiles and have a
separate set of tongs, water bowls, and hides that are only used with the snake in quarantine. If you handle a
quarantined snake, you must wash your hands well before handling any other snakes. It is also a good idea to
keep quarantined snakes on paper towels to help identify the presence of mites. Allowing snake mites into your
collection can be very costly, both in time and treatment.
Shedding Issues: If the husbandry of your snake’s enclosure is properly maintained you will likely avoid all
issues with shedding. If your snake fails to properly shed, put it in a deli container or Tupperware container
(with air holes) surrounded by crumpled up and dampened paper towels. Leave the snake in the container for
at least an hour and then check on it. Crawling in and around the damp paper towels helps the snake remove
the stuck shed by moistening it and giving the snake something to rub against. Some keepers will also provide
a humid hide box when the snake goes into shed, but these should not be necessary if your husbandry is
correct.
Rosy Boa Availability
Rosy boas are common at reptile specialty stores, herp shows and on the Internet from private online reptile shops. One can be purchased for as little as $25 (usually for non-locality rosy boas), and prices can go up from there. In general, locality-specific rosy boas cost more because a breeder has taken the time to breed rosy boas found in the same locale. Some rosy boa locality types include the Coastal California, Desert Phase and Mexican rosy boas (the latter including the San Matias Pass and Bay of Los Angeles rosy boas, to name a couple).