Swazi the Boa

[Cornelius]

Hi all

Just an update on Swazi. I won her in the Swazi fund raffle at the SOS expo. I collected her on the Sunday and had to set her up ASAP. I put her in a 900 x 450 x 450 wooden cage with soft fine bark, a large heating pad between 2 x tiles, a water bowl on the heating pad and an extra water bowl on the cooler side, a few solid branches and a nice big hide.
She settled in nicely and I could handle her on Monday night and Tuesday night. The thing is I have only ever kept corns and on Wednesday night when I tried taking her out, she striked at me without any warning...needless to say I almost %^$ myself.
Thursday I went out to by her a rat and could not find any so I got a small mouse, I took her out with a lot of hissing and striking and fed her in a separate tub. On Friday I made a hook and has since used this to remove her from her cage, when she is out I can handle her no problem. Sunday she took a rat pup and has calmed down since then. So this is my story on my first ever real snake. I will take some pics and post them, will also keep you updated on our progress.

BB/BV can you confirm her age please.

[Bushbaby]

She was born in December (not sure of the exact date, but defenitly the correct month).

It is normal for young Boas to hiss and bite. I don't handle mine till they are a meter and tend to calm down from there on.

I was going to say you should feed her and that could be why she was hissy, but luckily you did. lol

[Cornelius]

Thank you for the info.
Does my setup sound correct to you? Any other suggestions will be welcome

Thanks

[swazi]

Wow, didn't even know there was a raffle! Your Boa sounds a bit like me...hissy as the moment - also hungry

Good luck with your new addition.

[Bushbaby]

Your setup sounds fine. If she is eating, it means she's happy.

[Cornelius]

Thanks BB

@Swazi, hope you don't mind that i named her Swazi, i thought i would name her this to be a constant reminder of the cause she promoted.

@BB 1 more question, how often do they do a nr2 as she has not since i got her.

[swazi]

No objection! A good cause indeed.

[Bushbaby]

Cornelius, they should defecate about every 7 - 14 days. It also depends on meal size, temps, how often you feed them, etc.

[Cornelius]

Hi BB

It has been 3 weeks since i got her and she has taken 3 x Rat pups in this time. She shed in 1 complete piece last week and seems happy, but still no nr 2!!!
I tried soaking her in luke warm water and still nothing. Should i take her to a vet?

Thanks

[Corwil]

Cornelius I have my boa's for quite some time now and mine only does number2 about once maybe twice a month. I would say you have no need to worry.. But when they do their thing man oh man it gets nasty.....

[Cornelius]

Thanks for the advise and heads up man. I soaked her again tonight and she seemed to have enjoyed it.
She is a real sweat heart and i never thought that i would grow so fond of her. I use to be a lizards only person and snakes never really got my attention that much, but now it is a different story altogether. As soon as i have my Snake handling course under the belt i would like to start of with my first hot. Still trying to decide which to go for, a white lip or a cobra of some sorts. My ultimate would be a gaboon though.

[Cornelius]

It eventually happened last night; she did a nr 2 in her cage. Holy damn but it was just nasty, I am pretty sure that a St Bernard would have done it more civilised. LOL. Now I can relax and enjoy her without worries.
Thanks for all the advise.

[Corwil]

Cornelius I told you they do not poop that often. But when they do it is nasty

[sachak]

hmmm, I have never come across a boa that is hissy and bites alot at a young age, I have been bitten once by a hissy boa, but it happened once and after I held it once it never bit me again...I would just handle it more and it will eventually calm down.

with regards to nr2, my boa went a month and a half the last time without a nr 2, but when she did it was massive, I didn't think such a large thing could come from such a small snake.

I guess if its taking a long time to do a nr2 it means the boa is soaking up as many nutrients as possible from the rat. I don't know if that's true but to me its the only logical explanation lol.

I also have a belief that the longer it takes the poop the more nutrients it soaks up and the more it grows, as my baby boa is growing at an exponential rate and I don't over feed her at all. well that's what I think anyway lol I have no evidence to support this other than what I have seen on my own boa.

please post some pics on this little boa you won

[Bushviper]

Sachak I have a few boas that you are welcome to try and pick up. They hiss worse than my puff adders and will lunge as soon as you are in range. Usually as they get bigger they slow down. I do have a hissy 2 meter girl but she has not tagged me "yet".