Enclosure Transition?

[BMoore]

Hello everyone.......
Well my Dad just finished the new cage for Ezzie (the 6 1/2 footer RTB). I have it all set up except for her. She is still in her old cage. She just finished shedding and I think I am ready to put her in. Temps and humidity all look great. She's upgrading from a 4x1 1/2 x 1 1/2 to a 6x3x3. It's awesome, I am soooooooooo excited. But what I would like to know....... Is there anything else I should do? Is it stressful on a snake to make a transition like this? Anything i may have over looked or need to double check? Thanks for any advice. ;D

[eViL_KaRoT]

Re:Enclosure Transition?

When you place her in the new cage, be sure to just leave her alone for a week or two, to just let her adjust. The initial move will stress her out a bit, but after a week or so, she should be fine.

[BMoore]

Re:Enclosure Transition?

What about feeding her? She is due to eat. Should I keep her in her old cage a couple days after I feed her, then move her? :-\

[sclark]

Re:Enclosure Transition?

Hi BMoore,

Like Evil said a week of leaving her alone to readjust just be fine. I guage the snakes actions on how much time they need. If they become too different from the way they normally are, I give more time. I mean if the snake normally would hide until night and then come out and lay on the heat, and not he is doing nothing but surfing the tank, leave him abit longer.

As for things to check.. Make sure the floor, hot side, cool side, humidity, etc are correct. After that he should be ready to move in..

As for feeding, wait a week. If he is stressed you may cause a regurge. try to advoid that. unless he is under weight, no big deal missing a feeding or two..

Great luck with his new home.
Steve

[Gun Lover]

Re:Enclosure Transition?

bmoore. seems to me that your boa after a period of time would be alot happier in a bigger cage. might take some time but its well worth it. seems to me that the move is better to do. and hold of the feeding till ya snake gets used to its new home..

[BMoore]

Re:Enclosure Transition?

Well we moved Ezzie into her new home on Saturday. We woke her up out of hiding and put her in at around 1:00 pm. She immediatly started scoping things out. She stayed awake for most of the day. I will definetley post a picture when I develop my film! There is a low shelf that she's been sleeping under. Well actually its about a foot off the bottom. I have not put her hide in her new cage. Does anyone think I should? Since it looks like she is acting fine, should I go ahead and feed her? It's been 3 weeks since she's eaten, I did not feed her during a shed. I know Steve said that missing a meal isn't a big deal, but I don't want her to get an attitude with me!
I also had another question about feeding......
Why is it reccommended not to feed them inside of their enclosure????? I was just wondering......
Since I've had her, I have been feeding her in her cage. As substrate I use this light gray indoor outdoor carpet. And I pre-kill her prey. She never srtikes it, just hunts it down and starts swallowing......
So any shared knowledge will be greatly appreciated. :P

[sclark]

Re:Enclosure Transition?

Hey BMoore,

Glad the move went well.. And glad she is adjusting for you. I would hold off another day or two. Honest it won't hurt her as long as she is not thin to begin with.. If its killing you, just wait till tomorrow and feed her..

OK, about the hide.. Put it back it. This way she settles in her new home even faster. It will help to provide that extra security for her. Even if she doesn't use it, it will allow her a place to hide if she ever feels threatened.

OK.. Feeding in her house. It is not great to have your boa think that when the doors open food may be coming in. My boas, at every size know that if they are going to eat, they come out first, get held for 20 mins or more, then get put in their feed tank to eat. The other reason really doesn't apply to you, but for people like me who use wood chip substraight, they can ingest the wood chips and thats not a great thing. Even though the bad says safe to ingest. Really the main reason I do it is because I never want my snakes thinking when the doors open food is coming..

Keep us posted on how she does..

Good Luck
Steve

[BMoore]

Re:Enclosure Transition?

I will wait on feeding her then. I just put her hide box back in and I totally see what you mean about the feeding in her enclosure topic! Good way to look at it. What does eveyone feed their Boa's in then? Tupperware, extra tank? Do you put lids on and all that good stuff? Oh, and another question for you Steve, what method do you use to feed your Boa's? Pre-killed, thawed, or live? Just wondering. :P

[Josh]

Re:Enclosure Transition?

the reason it not advised to feed in the enclosure is because over time your boa might think that its feeding time when your just going to handle him.

it best to get u a plastic tub to feed him in and leave him in there for a hour or so then put him back in his cage

josh

[sclark]

Re:Enclosure Transition?

Hi BMoore,

I feed the boas in plastic boxes.. Here is one I feed the small snakes in, I have bigger ones for the big snakes.. I do put the lids on while they are feeding. The lids all have little holes in them I made..

I feed both pre-killed and frozen thawed. Since I breed my own mice and rats, it is easier for me to go whack a big rat that thaw it. With the rat pups and pinks, when they get to the size I need, I prekill them and then freeze them. This way I never run out..

Hope that helps..

Steve

[BMoore]

Re:Enclosure Transition?

Hey Steve, I am going to start feeding in a seperate enclosure starting next feeding I hope. Two questions for ya. #1 Can I use the same tub for both snakes? (Of course I will feed them at different times)
#2 Do you "dump" your snake back into the enclosure or actually pick them up and place them? I don't want my hand mistaken as a juice rat! Remember my recent tag? Hehehehe :P

[sclark]

Re:Enclosure Transition?

Hi BMoore,

Glad your gonna start with the feed tank.. Good questions you asked..

I pickup the boas about 10 mins after the finish their meal. Now I have had some snakes that had very agressive feeding respoces and would go after anything the popped down into the feed tank. This is what i did. After the ten mins were up, I would take the top of the feed tank off and about 35% of the time the snake would start crawling out of the feed box and I would just pick him up and gentaly put him back into his cage. The times they would just lay their I would take this 2 foot smooth stick I had and pick the boas head up and above the tank so i could take him gently just behind his head. Doing this I never got tagged. The one time I did get tagged I reached straight in after he finished and he just did a light tag. I approached him from the front of his face. My fault. Another possible way would be to tip the feed tank on its side and let him crawl out and just pick him up gently and put him back home..

I use 4 different tanks for all my snakes. I just do a quick clean in between each feed. Just a spray of windex, a water rinse and paper towel dry.. Never had any problem..

Hope that helps..

Steve

[Fonzy]

Re:Enclosure Transition?

I also use the same plastic tote to feed all my snakes in, and just like Steve said, I do a quick clean between feedings. I do one thing a little different though, after my snake has eaten, I generally wait 30 minutes until I take it out. This gives him some time to adjust its prey all the way down and into it's stomach so that there is less of a chance for irritation or regurgitation. It also gives him some time to realize that there won't be any more food so that there is less of a chance to be tagged. I'd say almost every time I open the lid, my snakes are already starting to climb out. It makes it easier for me to pick them up and place them back into their cage. Good luck with whatever method you go with!!

Jeff

[XzyluM]

Re:Enclosure Transition?

I personally like to wait 30 or more minutes before moving the snake back into it's enclosure. I would advise against the windex method, as it can be quite harmful to snakes.

[sclark]

Re:Enclosure Transition?

Hi XzyluM, Fonzy,

Waiting 30 mins is not a bad idea. I can't wait that long between feedings. Thats what happens when you have to feed 16 snakes..LOL

As for the Windex issue. Remeber I said that I give it a quick water rince after cleaning it with Windex. I have done this for years and have never had one problem. Straight amonia can be bad if you do not let it air out and dry right. The little amount of Amonia in Windex doesn't pose much of a risk, especially if you water wash it after. I use Windex on all my rodent tanks weekly, and I never do the water wash thing. No problems..

Steve