Shedding Cycle Questions.

[LuckyStomp]

My boa doesn't shed that often. It seems like 2-3 months before it sheds. It's about 40" long, but sure isn't underweight, when I got it last october it was 33 or 34 inches long. I'm not that concerned, just because it's so healthy looking, but I thought younger snakes are supposed to shed more often.

Oh yeah, I have a vision cage, that I keep around 80-85 degrees, and I have a heck of a time trying to keep the humidity at above 50%. I have a 150w Black Light running 24/7, and run a full spectrum 50w bulb during the day that the snake seems to like. I've tried warming the cage with a personal warming pad but it didn't show any change in temp. It just seemed like it was heating the wood stand instead of the vision cage. I have a water dish right under the 150w bulb, and wood subtrate, but those to don't do the trick. I have to periodically mist the cage throughout the day to keep it the right humidity. Any better Ideas?

[rainbowsnrosys]

restrict ventalation, i have a custom built enclosure that holds 100% humid at ALL times, is it that he doesnt shed often, or does it take him a LONG time to shed, there are many factors that go into a boas growth rate, sometimes improper conditions can stunt the growth

[LuckyStomp]

I was trying to keep the humidity around 55-60%, but was I wasn't exactly sure what to keep it at. All I know is that it seems like when I overmist the cage and the humidity raises to 75-80%, it looks like my boa doesn't like it and always goes over to the areas of the cage that are vented, where the humidity would be less. Do you know humidity level I should try to maintain?

[rainbowsnrosys]

Alot of different keeper argue this point to the death, some keepers keep their snakes on newspaper, keep humidity low and provide a large bowl for soaking for when the snake wants humidity and for shedding. My problem with that is that most boas, LOVE to soak, which can cause MANY skin conditions. But from all my knowledge keeping red-tails (BTW I dont keep red tails) you should keep them at 75-80% relative humidity, and keep a smaller water bowl, so they cannot soak so much, ill take some pics of my BRB enclosures and show you my setup, but what you will find, if you keep the relative humidity high enough, the snake will not have a desire to soak (unless we talk about anacondas) when I first got into BRBs I used newspaper and a large bowl. My rainbows constantly soaked which in some of them led to skin conditions. I have changed my approach, I now use cypress mulch because it hold humidty SO well, but you have to be careful, I have a large oven pot that I put my mulch in, I bake the mulch in the oven for ten minutes at 350 degrees to ensure any parasites are killed before I use it. I still use a large water bowl, but it is VERY shallow, Wal-Mart has em, they are metal feeding trays for dogs, made by a company called blitz. I mist my enclosures once every two weeks and they hold 100% humidity. My raimbows rarely soak, and they shed PERFECTLY every time. If you use cypress mulch with your red tail make sure you cure it first so you wont get parasites ( believe me there have been MANY horror stories) and mist it once a week but dont restrict ventalation and you should sit dead at 75 % humidity, a handy tool if you dont have one, again Wal-mart (which btw is my favorite place to pick up reptile stuff) its in the hardware section but its a digital thermometer, which has a probe and base, it also has a hygrometer, so you can put this unit in your enclosure on the cool side, put the probe on the hot side, and at all times you will have a 99.6% accurate reading of cool side/hot side and humidity. OH sorry forgot to mention, the bowls are like .79 cents each, and the thermometer/hygrometer unit is like 5 bucks. Hope this helps.

[LuckyStomp]

Thanks for the info, I'll have to pick up some of that stuff next time I'm at walmart. As for keeping the subtrate too moist I was worried about fungus and bacteria growth. I'm going to give baking it a try. Oh yeah, I'd like to see pictures of your setup, this is my first snake so I just set the cage up the best I thought fit. Thanks again. ;D

[rainbowsnrosys]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v649/7mgtemk3/enc.jpg
this is the basic layout of the enclosure, each enclosure measures 36x24x24 and is heated by a 20w halogen puck light, also has 1 18" striplight per enclosure, Substrate is 4" deep and is misted once every two weeks, the inside of the enclosures you saw in my pics on the boa pic forum. Whole setup cost me $250

[LuckyStomp]

Wow, nice setup, way bigger than mine. I have a single Vision Cage on top of my entertainment center.

[rainbowsnrosys]

I have a room dedicated to my reps....per my girls request.

[jonebe]

Try taping over some of the rear vents to decrease moisture loss. Vision cages are way over-vented. Also try using aspen bedding; It will hold moisture and evaporate within 24 hours. You may later want to replace the vision cage with one available fron the Boaphile. I did. They are far superior to vision cages, and hold heat/ humidity extremely well. They also take much less energy to heat!!