If it is a tiny baby, I would go with the 8 gallon with some paper towels down as substrate for the first couple months to monitor its health. It needs to be quarantined like any other reptile and using aspen won’t make monitoring it easy, or really even possible. I would recommend going to the pet store to get the smallest UTH they have as well. I wouldn’t really trust a used UTH. They don’t need a 20 gallon until they are an adult, and even an adult generally has plenty of space in a 10 gallon.
As it turns out, I threw away that UTH, so I will definitely be making a stop there.
So, sickness. I know mites are. I know parasite loads are a thing. I know poop is important (structure, color, ect.). What else? What should I be looking for? Feeding for the first time should be done by when? Someone (who said they used to own rosys) told me to feed on Monday, and then once every 12 days. I don’t feel like this is correct…? It feels wrong to me.
Also, what illnesses/ diseases can be passed to my geckos? The snake will be in a different room and handled last, but I know with mites, it doesn’t really take much to spread.
A feeding schedule like that for their whole life would make them very fat and shorten their lifespan. For rosy boas you want a feeding schedule of once every 14 days, maybe once every 10-12 days if they are really tiny and haven’t been well started. They have slow metabolisms (like most boas) so you need to give them time to digest their meal. Once they are sub adult/adults you can switch to once every month given they don’t grow as quickly or need as much food to grow.
Give it 2 weeks to settle in with no handling and then try to feed it a pinky mouse. Frozen thawed and warmed up in some water should work, as rosy boas are usually eating machines (mine used to try and eat my fingers a lot). Make sure to use tongs when feeding as well.
Mites will be the main concern, and make sure whatever you use for your rosy is only used for them, and use sanitizer after handling once they settled in. I don’t know if RIs from snakes can transfer to lizards, but you still want to air on the side of caution. For an RI you are going to be listening for any whistling or wheezing. Hard to hear with a tiny snake though, so you are also going to be looking for yawning and open mouthed breathing. So long as this is from a good breeder, an RI is unlikely though. Especially if kept with low stress and allowed to settle in for a while.
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Ok, thank you.
Is there anything else I should know? Maybe something subtle that one might not immediately think about?
Well, there is IBD but that (to my knowledge) only effects boas and pythons so your lizards should be safe. No idea what symptoms animals have when it effects them, but many that have it are passive carriers.
Vet visits!
Well, my first one. Should I take the snake after the settling period or sooner? I mean, obviously sooner if something is clearly wrong. But let’s say she’s looking good for the two weeks, should I then schedule her for a check.up or should that be done sooner?
If they aren’t showing signs of being sick, I wouldn’t take such a small snake to the vet. I don’t know if you can test for IBD with anything other than blood tests, and a test like that on such a small snake would be very difficult. So long as they seem completely healthy, no need to put them through anything. Now if she obviously has something wrong, then take them asap as well as keep the seller informed so you can get compensated for them giving you an unhealthy snake.
Ok. I’m so nervous, she (I have decided it’s a girl, idk the gender) is coming home today!
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Wow, that’s gorgeous. Been a long time since I’ve seen a snow rosy, very beautiful.
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Thank you! I’m so excited! I can’t wait to actually hold her. This was our introduction before placing her in her new home.
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With that species, what I used to do when I got a new one in was to get them to take 2-3 meals while they settle in. I’d space my meals 2 weeks apart so you won’t handle her for a bit longer, but once they start eating regularly it’s usually safe to start handling. It won’t hurt them at all not being interacted with for that time either, they are a pretty docile species from the start.
Well, sadness. But sensible. Should I try her first feeding Monday or sooner?
I forgot, Ashley said wait the full two weeks, then feed.
You could wait if you like, everyone has their own methods. Personally for me, I try and feed a new snake the day I get them. I’ve done that for every species with most of them accepting the meal that night. But it can also stress them out to offer that prey right when you get them, but that’s mostly ball pythons.
The breeder told us to try in the next few days, so tomorrow night.
Also, I have the UTH on and set to 90. It’s supposed to keep the side of the tank that it’s on at 90, right? The tank is only measuring at 82. I turned on the ceramic heater too, so it’ll warm up, but I am concerned.
Where do you have the probe located? You don’t want it set any higher than 86°F, if it goes over 89°F you could face feeding issues and she won’t be as active. Which tank are you using? You don’t need the ceramic heater on, especially if you don’t have something to regulate it as it will make it too hot. The hot spot is for belly heat for the most part, meaning the bottom of the tank is what needs to be warm so the snake can digest food.
The probe is on the side of the tank next to to the hide, but close to the floor of the tank. I’'ll adjust the control now.
You need the UTH on top of the probe, so the probe is sandwiched between the UTH and the tank. The UTH is plugged into the thermostat, right? Not having the probe in the proper place will lead to burns and possibly the death of your snake. Make sure the UTH is actually under the tank as well, not on the side.
Well, shit, I was following the directions on the package. Fixing that right now.
Make sure all of the wires are outside of the tank too. I have seen some people have their UTH inside the tank before.