[Health-General] Dehydration or Worried Mom?

[OxMaiden]

I am not new to reptiles however I am in my first three months as a snake owner. I currently have a beautiful 11.5 month old female "red tail" boa (BCI). She is around 4ft in length and eating two small rats every other week. She is in a 30 gallon bin set on aspen bedding with a small water dish and a heater plugged into a thermostat, keeping her warm side in the high 90's according to my probe. Sometimes when I take her out for her baths or just to handle her I notice her skin is wrinkly. Is this a sign of dehydration or am I just worried about my baby girl? Her water dish isn't large enough to climb into so I bathe her in our tub - preheated with the shower then filled with lukewarm water only deep enough to cover 1/2 to 2/3 of her - once a week. I never see her drink in the tub so I assume she drinks from her dish but I'm worried about her. She hasn't pooped in 2 feedings now, either and I planned on waiting until she does to feed her again. She sheds about once every month to month and a half and completed a good, solid shed the Friday before last. She ate her last meal that following Monday.

Any and all advice is appreciated! She is by far one of the sweetest snakes I've met and "likes" to watch tv with me and get head rubs.
A concerned owner,
Ox

[natieb]

Re: Dehydration or Worried Mom?

Do you have any pictures? As long as your humidity is right, she has access to fresh water, and isn't having any shedding issues, I wouldn't worry about dehydration. Welcome to the forum!

[acephantom903]

Re: Dehydration or Worried Mom?

High 90's is a bit high. Low 90's should be the surface temp of the hot spot. I keep the air temp in the mid 80's on the warm side. About not pooping, if you put her into lukewarm water and keep it it in a safe temp (I put the tub into the cage), the snake should poop within 30 minutes. I had to do that recently with my guy because his back end was getting a bit solid and couldn't mold into my keyboard like normal.

4' at a year old is a bit long. I would probably feed 1 small rat (or appropriately size food) and wait for her to poop on her own and then feed again. You don't want to feed too much because it will make the snake grow faster, but also shorten it's life span.

A boa will always have wrinkles when it curls up. They become more noticeable if it is about to go into shed as well as scales getting rougher and snagging on fabric. It could be a sign of dehydration, but 50% humidity and a water bowl should be plenty to stop dehydration.

[OxMaiden]

Re: Dehydration or Worried Mom?

I made a newbie mistake and didn't read through the forum before posting this, guys! I did find my answer elsewhere but thank you for the additional advice!

Thank you for the poop soak idea, though. Her baths are usually only around 10 minutes so I may make the water a little warmer and try to keep her there longer. As for her size, she was getting a medium rat a week but these are small mediums/large smalls so I upped it to two because she wasn't getting a bulge after eating one. I've always been told if there isn't a small bulge it isn't big enough. Is that wrong? I don't want to hurt her. I think she was getting pretty large live prey before me, I'm just thankful she isn't worse off for that. She does have creases in some of her scales, though, is that from the live food or something else? I can get some photos if it will help.

Thank you all again!

[OxMaiden]

Re: Dehydration or Worried Mom?

Do new threads not count as the first two approved posts? I am still not seeing my posts.

ETA - Now that posted but my response to the thread didn't. Hmm..

[Noelle7206]

Re: Dehydration or Worried Mom?

Re bathing your snake: some like it, some hate it, & some only soak for relief of mites, which hopefully yours doesn't have. Baths aren't necessary, but make sure you don't get the water too hot...take the temp.!
Because what feels 'luke warm' to us (at our body temp. of 98.6*) is much warmer to your boa than you may think. I suspect that many of the snakes that "hate bathing" are responding to excessively warm water.
That, and the lack of traction when they are suddenly put into deeper water by their well-meaning owners.

The BCI I had for many years liked to "watch tv" snuggled with me too so I LOL'd whenI read your post. Keep up the good work, most snakes really are sweet, when we communicate that they are safe with us.
BTW, mine preferred a range of about 75* (cool end) to about 88-90* (warmest-max.), & I agree that "high 90's" is too much for this & most snakes. Observing your snake may help you see where they are most
comfortable.

Most snakes drink water infrequently & often at night (when we don't see them). A larger water bowl (with greater area of evaporation from the surface) as well as reducing the airflow in the cage will help you reach
the more optimal humidity (65%+).

As for feeding a 4' yearling boa: I'd not feed once a week, that's too often at this stage & results in a fat, unhealthy "power-fed" boa. Feed about every 10+ days, only one item, preferably a small rat, for best results.
And of course, only pre-killed prey, never live, as you seem to know already. Creased scales can be more common & pronounced in a snake that's over-fed, but it's hard to tell without seeing her. (post pix?)

And welcome to the forum!

[natieb]

Re: Dehydration or Worried Mom?

Do new threads not count as the first two approved posts? I am still not seeing my posts.

Posts to the New Members section do not count toward the minimum post count, and since I relocated your thread it didn't count as you posting in the general area. You should be over the hump now though, post away!

[OxMaiden]

Re: Dehydration or Worried Mom?

I took her out to get pics of the scales in question and measured her with a flexible tape measure while I was at it. She's a little shorter than my estimate, she came out at 43", 5.5ft. Here are the scales in question -

[Noelle7206]

Re: Dehydration or Worried Mom?

You mean a little over 3.5' in length? Her scales look normal to me...the creases are really no different than the crease on our elbows.

[OxMaiden]

Re: Dehydration or Worried Mom?

Some of the scales are creased at almost 90* angles so I was a little worried but I'm glad to hear that's normal. Yes, she is a little over 3.5' in length. My daughter is hitting the terrible twos a little early and I was distracted when typing that, haha!

[acephantom903]

Re: Dehydration or Worried Mom?

3.5' is a little longer than most yearlings but not too bad. And those creases are just from the boa coiling up for long periods of time like Noelle said. I can't think of any ways to not have them coil up for long periods of time just because of the nature of the snakes they are. I give my guy all the climbing equipment he could possibly want and he spends maybe a third of the time coiled in a cool hide, another third half coiled and half S'ed across the floor soaking up warmth, and the last third doing anything other than that.

And making the water around 85°F and putting it in the cage should keep it a safe temp for long enough. As for the traction thing in the water which Noelle brought up, if you can get something slightly heavy, but you are able to clean really good, you can put that in to comfort your snake that way. I usually leave my hand in the tub with Buddy so he can hold my hand until he feels comfortable enough to let go... He also will drink while holding onto me when I try to put him back into his cage. I think he is just too trusting. lol

[OxMaiden]

Re: Dehydration or Worried Mom?

Maybe I'll throw a towel in the bottom of the tub tomorrow when I bathe her. Our tub is textured, though. I am not against getting in with her but I know she'd just climb up me to get out, unless me holding her helps a little.. I'll figure something out! Dolly seems to always be snaked around in her bin, never coiled. She has no hides in it but buries herself under the aspen with her head poking out lol.

ETA - What's the best way to choose prey size? I am worried I'm overfeeding her now.

[acephantom903]

Re: Dehydration or Worried Mom?

The best way is to feed 1 prey item about the same thickness as the thickest part of the body and wait until it is fully digested (poop) before feeding another. But it isn't easy for everyone to do that which is why there are differing ideas on how often to feed like every 5-10 days as babies, 7-14 days as yearlings, 14-30 days as adults, etc. Every animal is different -- both the snake and the prey item -- so it isn't an exact science on how long it takes to digest. For example: Buddy is currently digesting his food in about 9 days, so I'm feeding him every 11 or so days because he is a little rounder than he should be because of how regularly I was feeding him his food. Boas should be shaped roughly like this : []

EDIT: I should add that in the wild, boas will eat as few as 10 times a year or possibly less. Eating every 2 weeks would be 28 times which is almost 3 times more than in the wild which is why captive boas tend to be fat or shaped like this: O

[OxMaiden]

Re: Dehydration or Worried Mom?

My rats are 2/3 of her size at its widest, maybe a little less. Is it okay to be feeding 2 every defication or should I stick to 1?

[Noelle7206]

Re: Dehydration or Worried Mom?

I'd feed only one, every 10 days. Snakes are not "designed" to eat often like other pets (& us!).