If your Red Tail Boa has retained skin after shedding you can place the snake in a plastic container lined with warm, wet paper towels with the container lid on or soak the snake in warm water. If unshed skin is not removed promptly serious health issues can form. You need to check your snake after it has shed to make sure it was able to peel all the skin off, especially around the eyes.
Use moistened Big Apple Imported Premium Grade Sphagnum Moss or Zoo Med Forest Floor Cypress inside your snake’s hide. Providing a moist shelter is another way to ensure necessary humidity during shedding. This is especially true around shedding time. For this reason, it is important to maintain a decent amount of humidity in the cage by misting a couple times a day. Snakes normally shed their skin easily but sometimes they have issues if they do not have the proper humidity while shedding.
You'll note shedding time when your snake's eyes turn a shade of blue and become cloudy. Babies shed more often than adults because as babies they outgrow their skin faster. Like all reptiles and amphibians, Red Tail Boas shed their entire skin all at once. If you choose to make a hiding place yourself, please make sure it is sturdy enough that there is no potential for collapsing and crushing your snake. It is always a good idea to have one shelter on the warm side and one on the cool side. The shelter can be anything from a Big Apple Basic Reptile Hide Box to a decorative reptile shelter, hiding hut or cave. It is essential to the well-being of your Red Tail Boas to have hiding places in their enclosure. If you choose to add a basking bulb to add more light to your cage make sure that you maintain proper heat levels but not go over 92° F as this could be detrimental to your snake's health Red Tail Boas, like all snakes do not require a light or UV bulb. We recommend controlling the ceramic emitter with a thermostat, such as the BAH-500 or BAH-1000DC, and monitoring the temperatures with a thermometer. The heat mat and ceramic heat emitter should be located on one side while the other side should not have any heat source. We recommend the Intellitemp Heat Mat and Big Apple Black Heat Infrared Ceramic Heat Emitter. The best way to heat your Red Tail Boa's enclosure is with a combination of a heat mat and ceramic heat emitter. Baby Red Tail Boas can also be kept on paper towels or similar product until they become juveniles.Īs with all reptiles, Red Tail Boas need a thermal gradient consisting of a warm side (90° F) and a cool side (80° F). If you use commercial brands of Aspen or Cypress bedding please be careful as they may contain a high amount of dust or other contaminants that can be harmful. It is recommended to stick to well-known substrates that are designed for use with reptiles. Zoo Med Aspen Snake Bedding is another possible substrate for Red Tail Boas and many enjoy using it. We particularly like the Zoo Med Forest Floor Cypress Bedding or Zoo Med Eco Earth for use with Red Tail Boas. Since like most snakes, Red Tail Boas are escape artists, a secure screen top is absolutely critical to keep your snake from escaping the enclosure. There is no such thing as a cage too big for a Red Tail Boa so larger is always better especially if you provide some climbing room since Red Tail Boas are very happy to climb and hang out off of the ground. Adults will end up needing an enclosure that is either 6' x 2' x 2'H or 4' x 2' x 4'H. Wild caught Red Tail Boas typically carry parasites and can be much more aggressive than captive bred.īaby and Juvenile Red Tail Boas can be set up in an enclosure as small as a 20 gallon (30" x 12" x 12"H) but within a year will require much larger housing. At Big Apple Pet Supply, we carry only Captive Bred Red Tail Boas to maintain strict quality control.
Red Tail Boas typically live a long time and while captive bred Red Tails are docile snakes that adapt to handling well you need to consistently handle your snake to keep it that way. After the second year growth rate slows significantly and an adult size of 6 to 10 feet will take place. By the end of the second year the Red Tail Boa will typically reach 6 to 10 feet total. Red Tail Boas are truly magnificent snakes, but the cute, 3-ounce, 20-inch hatchling will grow to a whopping 4-to-5 feet within a year. Red Tail Boas have been a favorite of snake keepers for many years, but as responsible boa breeders we want to give you all the facts you'll need to make a proper decision on owning these wonderful animals.
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