I’m going a bit nuts trying to discern what I’ve bought from a store. Some experiences after purchase have made me believe that they themselves don’t fully know what they’re selling/doing.
They were advertised as: Hypo 50% Het Albino & Anery (RDR) Nicaraguan Dwarf boa. I was told the RDR stands for Ralph Davis Reptiles who founded the morph, but didn’t breed this specific snake.
But! They’re said to be 14/15 months old, and are already only a few inches away from 3ft which seems way too big for a dwarf boa of this age.
I honestly can’t tell the difference with images online between CA and pure Nic locality, or even a mix of the two… all i notice, but i may be wrong, please tell me if i am! is that Nics have the more oval/saddle shaped markings, whilst CA have more butterfly shapes, creating diamonds in between, my boa has both of these patterns.
As far as I know (and I’m far from an expert), it’s virtually impossible to determine a boa’s locality accurately without knowing its lineage. Most boas sold in pet shops are mixed locality. In fact, most captive boas in general are mixed locality. The exceptions would be boas from breeders who specifically work to produce pure locality boas, and those breeders will typically have documentation tracing the ancestry of their breeding stock back to specimens collected from the wild from a specific location. Without that documentation, it’s hard to say which locality/ies went into any given boa.
This little dude looks a lot like one of my CA’s. I am pretty sure that in general most snakes grow out in length first and then fill in.
@flrt-dennis Dennis correct me if I am wrong. I am not saying that this guy is a CA but it could still turn out to be a “dwarf” boa in terms of length….
I would just call it a mixed common boa. Hypo and RDR Anery are both genes that were found in Nics but Albino is a Colombian boa mutation and if it’s 50% Het Albino that mean one grandparent had to be a visual albino.
I see, i guess much the same as a caucasian person could really be from any number of countries the same applies with snakes.
Given the Het which i had no idea was a columbian trait, I’ll treat them as a CA common mix
Thanks so much for the replies, husbandry is pretty much the same right?
60-80 humidity and cool end of 80f, 84-88f in the middle, around 90-95f on the warm side and a basking spot directly under the bulb of generally around 100f?
Nothing in a boas cage really needs to be over 86 or 88*. Running it hotter than that is going to pretty much ensure you have an annoyed boa all the time.
Good grief, a store told you that. Im glad you’re here seeking good information. @ballornothing is spot on with the temperatures. Just remember, no question is a dumb question
Yeah, a so called reptile store, with a whole selection of snakes reptiles amphibians and spiders… with 32 years of “experience” or at least 32 years in business.
They did advise a 10f drop at night time, which brings temps down to what they should be, so my next question i guess, is if i set my stat for the nighttime temperature which gives 70 cool 80 warm and 90f this would be the ideal 24/7 temp? Or would there still be a need to drop that down at night too?
From what I’ve read night drops only really come into play for breeding?
They have also been feeding weekly. Weaner rat 30-45g but i have increased this to 10-14 days as this would be more in keeping with what i read?
Night temp drop is unnecessary, I wouldn’t worry about it. I keep my girl’s hot spot around 88, warm end is about 85 ambient, middle of the enclosure is about 80, cool end is about 77-78. I feel like that offers a nice gradient without getting too warm or too cold.
There is a nighttime temp drop of a few degrees that just happens naturally because the room gets cooler at night, and it’s fine if that happens (so long as it doesn’t get TOO cool), but I wouldn’t worry about trying to program a specific temp drop.
Missed this part on my first read-through. 10-14 days sounds good, I believe that’s what’s generally recommended for young boas. Once a week is definitely too often.
I’ve turned the stat down, will adjust further if neccesary, and I’m happy to lose the night drop, its been quite the headache each day as its a manual dial dimmer, so has been taking a couple of minor adjustments each day.
I’m using a CHE 24/7, my room temps get down to the low 50s, which is why i switched to CHE for heat. and 7% uvb tube light on a timer. Both the light and CHE are caged.
I’d recommend getting a real thermostat instead of just a dimmer. Even a simple, inexpensive on/off thermostat is going to keep temps more stable and be less of a pain for you to manage.
I’m honestly not sure what is technically “too low,” but I try to avoid having my temps drop below 74 or so. I know boas are pretty hardy, but I’d be worried about potential RIs if it drops into the 60s.
When i say dimmer i mean a habistat dimming thermostat, sorry i should have been a bit more precise, but its not a digital one, rather one that has a dial to set the temp for the probe. By not doing the night drop i can pretty much set and forget, (obviously still monitor it to ensure functionality)
In case people couldnt tell, this is my first snake.
The good news is they’ve setlled with me quite well. No refused/regurged meals, no striking when handled, just a few hisses when first getting them out, (scooping underneath not clawed from above)
Thanks for all the input guys n gals! And I’m sorry for my noob self. At least no harm has been done, and i can easily correct their temps.
i mean they’re active and do thermoregulate around the vivarium, apart from feeding day, then they stay on the hot side but burrowed for a few days, from what you all have said this would probably be because its a little cooler under the orchid bark, as well as the normal hiding after feeding.
We all start somewhere, and unfortunately there’s a lot of bad information floating around. It’s really frustrating that pet shops tend to be such unreliable sources of info, since so many people get their first reptile from a pet shop and (understandably) assume the people who work there know what they’re talking about.
Sounds like you’ve gotten things sorted out now. Your boa is lovely, by the way. Does s/he have a name?
They do have a name, they’re called Nirvana, after going through tonnes of names with my daughter thats the one we agreed on XD
Unfortunately I have no idea if theyre male or female, once I’ve had them a bit longer (only been with me for 3 weeks) I’ll take them to the vet i have them registered at, i know that at least one of the team I’ve registered them with has some experience with snakes, for a general checkup, and see if they can find out for me, not something I’d be comfortable trying to do myself, as I have no idea what to do. Size wise I’m hoping male. But they’ll get as big as they get i guess. If that means an 8/9 foot monster so be it, I’ll just need to rearrange my lounge and get a bigger viv, they’re in a 5×2×2 atm.
