So excited - finally getting snakes!

[Alyxx]

I am finally getting one of my dream pets! When I was in my LPS a couple days ago picking up some food for my new oscar, I met a couple who came in with their m/f pair of albino red tailed boas. They had brought them in because they are looking to sell them and wanted to show them to the store. We got to talking and I held one for a while and absolutely fell in love. They are asking a pretty low price for both because they are expecting a baby and just need to get them sold, although they hate to have to rehome them. I told them if I had my own place I would have bought them in a heartbeat but I'm living with my mom right now and ahe would have a heart attack then murder me if I brought even one snake home. Or if I even asked. I told my snake hating boyfriend about it, and then when I came up to see him last night he actually offered to keep them until I move out. Because even though he is terrified of snakes he knows its a great deal that I will probably never find again, and he loves me. So I contacted the guy today and will soon figure out when I can go get them. I'm so excited. These are the most beautiful snakes I have ever seen, and very docile and friendly. $500 for both plus all the accessories. Any tips from snake owners out there? I know the basics, I've been researching snake care since I was like 6 and first fell in love with snakes. But hands on experience is usually better than anything you can learn out of a book.

 

[Hondatek]

Best advice I have is don't skimp on a thermostat.

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[Alyxx]

Thanks. Gotta see what the guy has, then I'm going to look into upgrading what needs to be upgraded. Any recommendations for a good reptile forum? I know CHEs are better than heat lights and I'm getting one of those and an under tank heater if he doesn't have those. And two thermometers, one for the cool side and one for the warmer side. Two soaking bowls as well. Any good brands you can recommend? I'm thinking newspaper as substrate for now. I want it to be as low maintenance as possible since until I get my own place they will be staying with my snake phobic boyfriend. I want to make things extra simple for him on the days I'm not there.

 

[jwh0818]

Pm is full and I'm definetly following this. I can't wait to see em!!!!


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[Hondatek]

Not sure on the forums for red tails. The best things for snakes is belly heat so I would recommend trying to set it up with mostly undertank heaters . My setup is 2 reptitherm under tank heaters with a two channel herpstat. It makes it super easy and reliable. I have one channel per heater and the temps are always spot on . The newspaper is good for ease but if you wind up with humidity issues coconut husk based substrate is the best.

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[toddnbecka]

Red tail boas are great snakes, easy to care for, no big requirements for humidity like some species. I had one back in college, then a burmese python some years ago. I've been debating between a male red tail or a spotted python, mainly because of the smaller size and mellow disposition. Love the looks of the Brazilian rainbow boas, but not maintaining the high humidity.

 

[Alyxx]

Thanks guys! I'm so excited. Expect tons of pictures. I went and window shopped supplies at petco today since I don't know what exactly the current owner has. Definitely going with an undertank heater. I'm putting them in my 40 breeder for now, they are young and currently living together so I'll keep them together for now. I want a better screen top than what petco has though. Since my boyfriend is so snake phobic I want to be sure its secure. Something with a lock.

I love that red tails are so docile. I was planning on a ball as my first snake because they don't get quite as big, but I think the temperament of the red tails is well worth the bigger size. BTW, I plan on calling them Spike and Drusilla. Yes, I'm a nerd.

And my pm box is cleared now

 

[toddnbecka]

Keeping them together is fine, but separate them for feeding. I've never been a fan of ball pythons, heard too much (customer's experiences) about them from a friend who ran then owned a pet store. That was way back, before PC's and the internet, chances are those weren't CB snakes.
I'd jump all over that deal too, great price for a pair of young albinos with the setup. How big are they now? The red tail I had shed regularly about once a month, and grew one inch each time. She wasn't a tiny new baby when I got her, was already big enough to eat adult white mice. Had a bad experience with a gerbil once (couldn't get any mice for feeders) that actually attacked her (bit the end of her tail) as soon as it was placed in the tank with her. Ended up selling her to a friend a couple years after that. He fed her gerbils a couple times, said she would kill them all then pull back and watch them for some time before eating them. Never had any issues with white mice or rats of any size before I heard about feeding frozen/thawed rodents.

 

[Alyxx]

These are both about 2 feet long at my best guess. Hard to really tell when they are curling around your arm. Eating hopper mice right now. He feeds live so for a while at least I will too. Would like to get them on frozen eventually for the sake of convenience. And yes, definitely need to separate them for feeding. Probably going to get a couple large "critter keeper" type cages for feeding. The thing about the gerbils is pretty funny. Guess she remembered what that first one did!

 

[toddnbecka]

At 2 feet they're still babies. I actually found it easier to measure the length of freshly shed skins than to try to use a cloth tape measure on the snake to get an accurate length.
White mice never seemed to have a clue, they'd walk up to the snake and sniff at her nose, same with rats when she was bigger. Almost like they've lost their natural instincts from being domesticated.
That gerbil didn't want to let go of her tail, actually held on when I lifted it out of the cage by its tail. My friend rapped it across the top of the head several times with a pair of scissors, then it let go.

 

[Alyxx]

Yup. I'm happy to be getting them fairly young. I'm excited to watch them grow. And to have a little time for my boyfriend to get used to them as little snakes before they become huge snakes. Kind of funny, he lives with his brother who is also afraid of snakes, and his brother's girlfriend who likes them. Something our relationships have in common apparently. And good to know about the mice. One worry I have about live food is the fact that they can on occasion hurt the snakes. I also worry a bit about parasites and the like but I do trust the lps where I will be getting my feeders. I do have a coupon for 20% off arctic mice from petsmart so I will get some to try them with soon. Kind of funny... a day or so before I was offered the snakes I went to petsmart to get some fish food and cat stuff and that coupon printed with my receipt. The cashier said it was too bad I didn't have a snake and I said I wish I did. I got a receipt coupon for half off a reptile earlier this summer from petco, too. Im kind of happy I couldn't use it then. Two albino red tails is better than anything petco has had in stock since the spider ball python I kind of fell in love with a few months ago. I've been wanting a snake since I moved out in November but needed to move out of my mom's house first (or so I thought... never imagined my boyfriend would keep them for me) and I knew I wanted something a little out of the ordinary. Not the usual color morph. And lo and behold it fell right into my hands. Guess good things do come to those who wait.

I can't wait to post pictures. These are some incredible snakes. Prettiest things I've ever seen.

Thinking of live food... that is the one thing my boyfriend is kind of interested in seeing. So maybe that can help him come around to seeing them as something cool. Or at least interesting enough to maybe help overcome his phobia.

And I think I'm going to do what a friend does and keep a kind of scrapbook box of shed skins. For measurements and memories.

 

[toddnbecka]

I had a box of shed skins for years, then found some sort of little bugs (similar to the ones that infest flour or cornmeal) had pretty well destroyed them. Never had a problem with parasites on mice or rats, did have snake mites on the burmese python. Came up with the idea of greasing the snake down with Crisco vegetable shortening, worked great. The parasites were suffocated in a matter of hours, and a warm bath quickly ungreased the snake afterward. Much better than chemicals IMO, though cleaning the Crisco smears off the glass was a bit of a nuisance.

 

[Alyxx]

Woo! I'm getting them Thursday instead of Friday. Seriously can't wait. A couple friends of mine are coming with me to pick them up because they want to get to see them in person before I take them off to stay with my boyfriend. So tomorrow I get to go looking for a good screen top for my 40B and other stuff I may need.

 

[toddnbecka]

Sweet, can't wait to see pics. After days of looking, reading, and considering options I've finally decided on a one year old pair of Dominican red mountain boas.

 

[Alyxx]

Very cool. I don't think I've ever seen those. Less than 12 hours til I have snakes... after nearly 20 years of waiting. I'm considering them as my early birthday gift to myself. It's exactly a month until my birthday. Expect tons of pictures tomorrow!

 

[Alyxx]

I've got them! Pictures soon to come.

 

[Alyxx]

 

[toddnbecka]

They look well fed and healthy, about the same size my red tail boa was when I got her.

 

[Alyxx]

That's good. I mean they looked healthy to me (wouldn't have bought them if they didn't) but its good to hear someone with snake experience say that. Dru ate on Saturday night, Spike didn't. He was still in hide mode from the move and wouldn't go into his feeding tank so he will have to wait a few days til I'm back up there. His poor mouse gets to be tormented by my boyfriends cat for a few more days. Ever tried to hide a mouse cage from a cat? It doesn't work.

That was the first time I saw a snake eat live prey close up. It was pretty amazing.

Oh, and my project of the week is to make a collage of pictures from the diving magazine my boyfriend somehow ended up with a subscription to to sort of screen the tank from view so he doesn't have to look at the snakes all the time. So lots of cool pictures of marine life to glue together. Haven't made a collage since high school.

I decided to keep them in the 20 long they came with for now since it is a reptile cage with a locking screen top. I'm going to go get upgraded equipment for them later this week, probably friday since I work in the daytime instead of a night shift. Under tank heater, CHE, aspen shreds for substrate, climbing branches, bigger soaking bowls. Maybe some frozen mice to try them on. Feeding tongs. A snake stick in case my boyfriend has to move or feed them. Extra thermometer and humidity gauges.

 

[toddnbecka]

All I ever used for substrate was newspaper. Never used a snake stick on caged critters, just on wild ones when I caught them in the field. Very unusual for a boa to strike at people IME. Even when mine was about to shed and had milky eyes she didn't mind being approached or handled.
Had a wild-caught water snake that was blind in one eye, he was a bit touchy about being approached from the blind side, but even with their rep for being nasty buggers in general I didn't have any problems handling him or the smaller one (with 2 good eyes) unless they had milky eyes.
If you feed frozen mice thaw/warm them up in hot water first.