Going on holiday...boa at home

[rico]

I was just wondering what the best thing to do would be if i had a boa and went on holiday for a couple of weeks. I know they are supposed to be handled at least 3 times per week, but wondered how the snake would react after being left without handling for that long.

P.S. I'm new here ;D

[John Pilling]

Welcome to the forum.

As to the snake, the handleing side of things will be fine, but the snake will need it's water changed every other day at least!!! preferabley every day but every other will be ok. Thats the main thing i bother about when i go away, food can be skipped for a week without problems so don't worry about the food and handleing side of things.

What sort of boa is it btw? or have you not got it yet?

[rico]

Thanks for that John . I havent got a boa yet...if my cousins boa is pregnant, which is very likely , the neonates will be due sometime in August. Im not entirely sure on what type it will be yet as i have not heard direct from my cousin but from my uncle. What i have been told is that the gravid boa is a mexican boa, they have a red tail and another boa which its type begins with an 's' (very helpul eh?lol ), and that their smallest boa is 4' long.

Other then this i have no details as of yet on whats what. My guess is that the boa beginning with an 's' is a Sororan but knowing very little about boas so far, this is an un-educated guess .

So the neonate will be a cross of either mexican/red tail or mexican/possible sororan. Will try to post when i find out more .

[John Pilling]

A sororan and mexican boa mix will be very nice,. Let me know when you find out more details, and boa's do make great pet snakes, but their are 1 or 2 i wouldn't recomend (mainley tree boa's due to their bad "temprament". Once a neonite has calmed down most won't have a prolem with handleing, tho their is always an accident usually somewhere down the line, like with all snakes.

If you have the space and don't mind feeding rabbits eventually, then a female is your best bet as i have found females to be the more even tempered, even tho they do grow bigger.

[rico]

Will let you know ASAP. As for space i am willing to give most if not all of one of my bedroom walls up for the boa (room is about 16-17' x 10-11') but i am going to do a lot of planning ahead to make sure everything goes smoother. My room is due for a change around and redocoration anyway lol.

I also dont mind feeding it rabbits even tho my sister has two that are currently at my house (wonder if she would notice them missing lol ;D - i would never live feed and my sister would kill me )

I would just have to make sure it stayed away from my cat

[John Pilling]

Cats have been known to be eaten by boa's and pythons in the past, as has some small dogs.

As to feeding bunnies, we have 1 aswell, and 2 cats, but luckiley the cats stay away from the snakes.

Let me know what else you need to know and i'll post again, it's always worth asking first to get as much info as possible.

[rico]

Will post again with more questions im sure . Thats one reason why i am having the snake in my room, the cat is in there rarely plus i dont think visitors would all appreciate a 7-14' boa in the same room when it gets big ;D.

Also as for a boas viv how thick should the wood and glass be compared to a viv for a small snake like a corn, or would that kind of thickness be solid enough to very unlikely be broken by a large boa? And as for a locking device for the glass would a standard viv lock be suitable?

[John Pilling]

I'll take some pic's of my big boa's viv to give you an idea of size ect. As to the wood for a boa's viv, it needs to be ideally about 20-25mm thich all round (no thin hardboard at the back as a boa CAN push it open, and the glass i use is 6.2mm toughened glass for my large viv and 4mm toughened for my smaller boa's and corns.

As to locks i use eather a 4mm or 6mm gap lock (normal lock from reptile shop) as well as a wedge on the same door (extra security and peace of mind, thats all), the wedges are very cheap and i think are around 4-5 quid for 6.

1 of my cats sleps on my big boa's viv sometimes, tho she doesn't know it's a snake viv and he's not bothered by her sleeping on their.

[rico]

Thanks John ;D.