r/boas

Got this little lady not long ago but shes too pretty not to share! We also got a baby male called drogo to fit the house of dragon/ Game of thrones theme for the two😁

(Photo taken @ the Shedd Aquarium)

Been looking to get one of these ever since I saw this guy at the Shedd. The most stunning animal I think I’ve ever seen. Only issue is that they don’t seem to be as common as other snakes I’ve owned in the past. I’ve gone to a couple reptile expos and I’ve only very rarely seen northerns for $500-600 (probably wild caught). I’ve watched a couple videos and read up on some things and it seems like the basin’s are almost 100% captive bred, and usually more docile. I’ve seen prices from people say 3-7k for one. If I’m going to spend that, I’d like to buy it from a breeder that I know I can 100% trust tho. If anyone knows some trusted breeders I’d be greatly appreciative if you’d let me know.

Both female. Excuse the dirty floor, messing with substrate.

When handling my boy, he does great until he slips even a little or even if I try to reposition to keep him from falling. He panic zooms and “hisses” until he feels secure and settles again into slo-mo (but was never falling to begin with). I put the hiss in quotes because it’s more like a short whistle huff or squeak that only happens once or twice. He’s still a youngster- 2 years old. As his confidence grows, will he panic less? I always hold him close to my body with lots of contact points. I’m hoping he will just start to learn which parts of me are slippery ex. the top of my head when my hair is down or down my side instead of around my waist. I’m making sure to handle for a time after he panics that so he goes home calmer but any feedback is helpful.

I never see longicaudas and they are very beautiful :) photo of Rem for tax

I kept running into the same problem, forgetting feeding dates, not being sure about the last shed, losing notes, etc.

I asked about it here before and tried things like spreadsheets, notes, even a notebook by the enclosure. They work, but get messy over time and it’s hard to actually see patterns.

So I built something simple for myself, mainly for tracking the feeding, weight, shedding, daily briefing etc. I also tried a few existing apps, but they felt a bit overcomplicated, so I kept this one very straightforward.

Planning to put it on the App Store soon in case it’s useful to others too. Might also add a small AI feature for quick questions later on.

If there’s any feature you’d want in something like this (especially for snakes), I’d love to hear it. I want to give promo code for premium subscription to people who want to try the app and give feedback, it would be super useful for me.

It was wide enough to go through, but he decided to scrunch up and got absolutely stuck. that was my longest and best cork round 🫠

My 4 year old Hog Island boa started to rub his nose last month on the side of his glass, after a growth spurt. He’s about 5ft long now but is in a 4 x 2 x 2 viv with lots to climb, but I need to upgrade him due to this quick and recent growth. Due to unfortunate financial circumstances in the last month I have not been able to upgrade him just yet.

He had a slight bump where he had been rubbing his nose, no open skin, but regardless I used some reptile-safe antiseptic each day for a week, and the bumb seems to remain the same. He has just shed and now has a piece of stuck shed at the tip of his nose, it’s attached even after soaking. I have tried to ease it off him but it is stuck and I don’t want to risk causing a worse wound by pulling it. I managed to tear the stuck shed so it is not as large.

The skin immediately around it is grey. and that makes me very worried about his health/the tissue integrity.

I have just sprayed more antiseptic and he has been incredibly tolerant, but please can someone advise me if they know what I should do. If the answer is just go to the vet then of course I’ll go immediately.

There is also no evidence of pus, or discharge. there is no foul odour, and the mark was dry before I sprayed antiseptic on it. It is wet in the photos due to that antiseptic.

Won this girl in an auction Sunday but she's coming the 29th due to my work schedule.

All my snakes are named after god/dess so trying to find the right name for her. I do have a sunglow Nic boa named Amaterasu so I've considered naming this girl Mikaboshi (Japanese goddess she opposes the sun goddess Amaterasu)

Names I've used - Asteria, Nephthys, Kebechet, Scylla, Charybdis, Ixchel, Khione and Lakshmi.

I do NOT like common ones (12 Olympians or famous Norse like Freya)

My friend has a Gaia so she's out too.

Hoping this girl will age dark so prefer death/chaos/darkness goddesses 🫶

Hope you guys enjoy

She a Honduran Tpos Het Snow

Hi, our Brazilian Rainbow Boa has a bloated body, her scales are very wrinkly, and she’s very slow moving. She also has a bulge at her stomach. There’s no exotic vet near us, we’d appreciate any helpful info.

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for experienced opinions regarding one of my boas, “Vlad”. I’ll try to keep this clear and structured.

Background:

- Species: Dwarf boa (was told this when I got him)

- Age: approx. 5 years

- Length: ~110 cm

- Owned for: ~2 years

- Feeding: frozen/thawed only (never live)

I rescued Vlad from a previous owner who seemed very neglectful and eager to “get rid” of him. The situation felt urgent, so I took him in along with the vivarium.

Initial condition & behaviour:

- Extremely defensive (striking even through glass)

- Very loud hissing, highly stressed

- Fear response to handling tools (hook)

- Refused food for ~1 month after arrival

Over time, with patience, he became much calmer:

- No longer defensive

- Never bitten me

- Now actively comes out and initiates contact

- Will climb onto my arm voluntarily

Current concern:

I’m worried he may be underweight or not developing properly.

- He gained some weight initially, but hasn’t improved much since

- Compared to my other boa, he feels very light

- His grip strength is noticeably weak

- When coiling, he doesn’t apply much pressure

For comparison:

- My younger boa (~2 years) is significantly stronger and more robust

- Under similar care conditions

Feeding:

- Eats, but not eagerly

- Takes time to strike/engage

- No long-term refusals recently

Environment:

- Standard vivarium setup (currently simple due to financial constraints, but functional)

- Proper temps maintained

- Humidity:

- Seems to prefer lower humidity (50–55%)

- Actively avoids higher humidity zones (even ~70–75%)

- Never uses humid hide

Shedding:

- Always complete sheds (no issues)

Behaviour:

- Very active when enclosure opens, tries to come out frequently

- Doesn’t seem particularly engaged with enrichment or enclosure setup -> never

- Much more “escape-focused” than my other boa

Vet visit (last year):

- Exotic vet said he appeared healthy

- Suggested behaviour could be due to past mistreatment

- No specific concerns identified

Limitations:

- I don’t currently have an accurate weight measurement

- I no longer have vet documentation

My main questions:

1. Does this sound like an underweight boa, or possibly just a naturally slender individual?

2. Could past stress/neglect affect long-term muscle development or behaviour like this?

3. Is low grip strength a red flag, or can it vary significantly between individuals?

4. Any signs here that would justify prioritising another vet visit?

I care deeply about this animal and want to make sure I’m not missing something subtle.

Any insight would be really appreciated especially from those with experience in dwarf/locality boas or rescues.

Thank you!

Some of you may have seen my prior post asking about stunting in boas since I obtained an underweight boa. He’s been gaining weight steadily since December and doing great. Tonight I went to change his water and found this… I can’t figure out if it’s regurgitation or just a weird poop. He did eat Sunday night. It’s quite red tinged which makes me think regurgitation, but there are spots that look more like feces. However, I put on gloves and went through all of it, and it was just fur. No pieces of rat/tissue that I could find. Further info relating to husbandry: 4yo male Suriname BCC, habitat is a 6x2x2 enclosure heated with an RHP. Hot side is ~88° ambient temp controlled with a VE thermostat, with a drop to low-mid 80s overnight. Cool side mid-upper 70s. Humidity is 60-70%. He has 3 hides, large water dish, plenty of clutter. I did recently move his prey size up slightly from small rats to small/mediums (60-90g) since he’s gaining weight well.. and when I say it was a slight increase, I mean he was eating 50-75g rats before. His last weight on 4/12 was 633g so they’re ~10-14% of his current weight. He eats biweekly since he is still underweight, and he’s been doing great on that schedule since December. I only handle him once, maybe twice a week for about 5 minutes at a time to minimize stress, and I always wait 3+ days after feeding. Any thoughts appreciated.

You can look on my profile and previous post for context

Hey, over the past month I’ve been consistently improving my enclosure based on your advice. First of all, I replaced the substrate as soon as possible and partially covered the ventilation.

Humidity now stays around 60% during the day and rises to about 70% at night. I regularly mist the enclosure and mix the substrate to maintain it. During shedding I even increased humidity up to 80%. I plan to replace the substrate every 2 months for cleanliness and my own peace of mind.

I removed the analog thermometer that everyone warned me about and added more digital thermometers with probes.

Then I added more artificial plants to improve the look of the enclosure and to give her more shade and hiding spots.

I also added a hanging coconut hide closer to the heat source and a hammock in the cool zone so she has more access to elevated areas. I included a moss-covered branch for climbing and exercise so she has more opportunities to move around vertically.

I’m attaching photos of both the old setup and the current one for comparison. Temperatures seem appropriate to me: in the center under the DHP it’s about 33°C on top of the warm hide, inside the hanging coconut it’s around 30°C, and in the cool zone it’s about 26°C during the day and drops to 24°C at night.

She had a perfect shed (came off in one piece), and all feedings have gone without any issues. She currently weighs 168g and is eating 10–15g rats (I bought a batch of 10 to start with, but I’ll run out soon, and the next batch I have is 20–30g, so I’m wondering if it’s safe to move up to that size).

Now for my concerns. Ever since I gave her access to elevated areas, she uses them constantly. She spends about 90% of her time either in the warm hanging coconut or on the cool hammock. Since adding these decorations, I haven’t seen her on the ground even once. I assume she drinks from the water bowl when I’m asleep, but I’ve never actually seen it, which worries me a bit.

After feeding, she usually moves to the warm area, but after digestion she sits on the hammock with her head pointed straight down (like in the photo). This is the position I see her in most often. Sometimes she looks like she is smelling the top of hide but backs slowly onto the hammock never gets fully down. Sometimes she stays like that for an entire day without visible movement. What’s interesting is that there’s an LED light above the hammock that runs 12h on / 12h off, and because she spends so much time there, I get to observe her more often. Still, I’m wondering if this behavior is normal or if something might be wrong.

She has never hissed at me or struck. When I take her out, she may pull back slightly at first, but once she’s in my hands she calmly explores and doesn’t seem overly stressed. I don’t notice any other concerning symptoms, but I’m including photos so you can judge her overall condition and whether I’m providing proper care.

My main concerns are that I never see her on the ground, as mentioned, and that head-down position (which seems to be her favorite).

Thanks in advance for any responses. I’m really looking for as much information as possible and will definitely try to apply your advice. I want the best for her. In the future I’d also like to get a Brazilian boa, but for now I want to focus on her and make sure I’m doing everything right.