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I have heard many statements from friends that weren't "snake people" expressing that they considered the standard boa enclosure to be to small for the inhabitant. Whether sharing online photographs, or discussing/displaying my own animals it has certainly been a reoccurring statement. Recently a friend had her six and eight year old over, and the kids mentioned right away "She needs a bigger cage" (referring to my nine foot boa, in an 8x2). Are they correct? Have we boa keepers as a community become so accustomed to maintaining our animals in minimally spaced enclosures that we need to be enlightened by children with no knowledge of reptile keeping?
After nearly thirty consecutive years of keeping boids, it appears that the minimal recommended enclosure size for keeping boas has decreased over the years. The commonly used standard today is LxW>SNAKE. When I first got involved in keeping boas in the 1980's the minimal standard was essentially L+W>SNAKE. One publicized example of such is this quote from Philippe de Vosjoli (reference The General Care and Maintenance of Red-Tailed Boas, page 24, 1990) which reads in part "By two years an enclosure at least 48 inches long and 24 inches wide will be required and preferably an enclosure 60-84 inches long (the size enclosure a large female will eventually require)." In summary, he was recommending a 7x2 for a large female.
If that adds relevance to the point, it would only be appropriate to examine the reasons for a decrease in the minimal recommended cage size.
One reason certainly could be an increase in the size of personal reptile collections from the 1980's to today. Without any factual evidence or reputable studies, I can only theorize that personal collections are larger today, yet it could be difficult to argue otherwise.
In the late 1980's there simply weren't as many reptiles available to collect. Morphs were essentially non-existent or too expensive for the general public. If you had a ball, a boa, and a burm you essentially had them all (as far as boids were concerned)... Retics had an unsavory reputation back then, and were rarely available. Less was known about breeding, so personal herp keepers were likely less willing to even attempt to breed. At that time, many available animals were often wild caught, or farm bred. Having a smaller collection seems to correlate with providing larger enclosures.
The stackable cages available today offer the availability to keep a larger collection of animals, and the hundreds of available colors and morphs keep us all interested, and buying.
Cost is always a factor in enclosure size, and as the norm has switched from custom built enclosures to commercially constructed ones (due to the former lack of availability), that variable appears to hold even more relevance. Those that have done the math, and done the builds will likely concur that building a 4x2 (as opposed to buying a commercially built enclosure) isn't really cost effective... But due to the high cost of shipping cages larger than four feet in length, the tables are reversed when considering an 8x2. Thus, as fewer of us build, larger cages become increasingly expensive.
So what if we DO have larger collections? And who cares if our cages are a little smaller if our snakes are healthy, and breeding? Let me share some personal observations of the behavior of my own animals.
I had noticed that my larger boa was consistently coiled tightly on the cool side of her 5x2 enclosure. She has always been a "cool side snake", but she never would coil when out of her enclosure.... Even if she decided to take a nap.
When I upgraded my larger boa's enclosure from a 5x2 to an 8x2 I noticed that she no longer remained coiled tightly, yet was consistently stretched out on the cool side. I had used the same model RHP as in her prior cage, so essentially my basking spot was the same as her old cage, but now there was more square footage of cool side floor space in the new enclosure. She was clearly coiled in the 5x2 attempting to thermo regulate, and was constantly coiled due to a lack of available cool side floor space. In short, the 5x2 was too small for the eight foot boa to comfortably thermo regulate.
There is a direct correlation with success of keeping and especially breeding boas and the ability to replicate their natural climate and environment. Are we really doing this to best of our ability using minimal sized enclosures?
Consider the common 4x2 plastic, front opening boa enclosure with a cool side surface floor temp of 78 and a hot spot of 92 (the heating source would most commonly be a RHP or UTH). Lets say for argument sake that if you ran your temp across the bottom of the cage you would get a reading of 78 up to four inches from one end, and hit the center of the hot spot at 92 eight inches from the opposite side of the enclosure. That give you a fluctuation in surface temp of 14 degrees over a space of 36 inches. That equates to more than a full degree temperature change every three inches. Now imagine a three foot boa in that same enclosure (which would be fairly spacious accommodations by most standards). That three foot snake would be experiencing 92 degree surface temperatures at it's head, and 78 degree surface temperatures at it's tail when full stretched out across the length of the enclosure. Even if coiled in a ball (assuming the three foot snake has a nine inch diameter while coiled) the snake would be experiencing more than a three degree surface temperature change from one side of it's coiled body to the opposite side. Now imagine an eight foot boa in that same enclosure. Assuming the eight foot boa has a coiled up diameter of 21 inches the snake would be experiencing more than a seven degree surface temperature change from one side of it's coiled body to the opposite side. Now imagine the snake stretched out a little experiencing up to 14 degree fluctuations over it's body. That temperature variation for the eight foot snake (in a 4x2) holds true for most size animals using the LxW=SNAKE equation. It certainly seems less than ideal for an animal that is cold blooded, and it seems to poorly represent temperatures that may be encountered in the wild. Sure surface temps outside are not consistent, but the jungle floor doesn't constantly vary 14 degrees every 36 inches. This scenario gets even more exaggerated if using a glass enclosure with a heat lamp or CHE as the temp changes would be in both the surface and ambient temperatures.
Captive kept boas generally have a higher percentage of body fat than their wild cousins. This is likely due to a variable of factors. Exceptionally kept animals are often well fed, have veterinary care, expend little energy searching for food or a mate, encounter no predators or parasites, experience no drastic temperature changes and generally have less overall stress. All that being said, most rarely (if ever) get the chance to climb or swim and have almost no opportunity to exercise in enclosures that are most often shorter than the length of the snake.
Often the claim is made that snakes get stressed out if the enclosure is too large. There may be some truth to snakes being stressed out by large open spaces. Have you ever seen a wild snake in the middle of a parking lot? Doubt it... One word, predators. However, the jungle clearly has no walls. I currently keep a 2015 boa in a 5X2, and the snake is thriving, demonstrating no signs of stress whatsoever. Multiple hides and cover are provided throughout the enclosure to mimic the jungle floor and provide a sense of security. One can only ponder if the aforementioned claim is made for the benefit of the animal, or the convenience of it's keeper.
When I was a child, I can remember the norm in my town/neighborhood for dogs owners was to chain them to a tree with a dog house and leave them outside year round. If you walk through that same neighborhood today, you will not see that as the norm has since evolved to a more ethical treatment of mans best friend. If you left your dog penned up too long it would vocalize it's displeasure, as would your cat. Snakes do not have that ability, but I have never owned a snake that didn't attempt escape when being reintroduced to it's enclosure. Maybe we collectively need to evaluate and recreate the norms and caging standards for our slithering cohorts.
Think about it.
After nearly thirty consecutive years of keeping boids, it appears that the minimal recommended enclosure size for keeping boas has decreased over the years. The commonly used standard today is LxW>SNAKE. When I first got involved in keeping boas in the 1980's the minimal standard was essentially L+W>SNAKE. One publicized example of such is this quote from Philippe de Vosjoli (reference The General Care and Maintenance of Red-Tailed Boas, page 24, 1990) which reads in part "By two years an enclosure at least 48 inches long and 24 inches wide will be required and preferably an enclosure 60-84 inches long (the size enclosure a large female will eventually require)." In summary, he was recommending a 7x2 for a large female.
If that adds relevance to the point, it would only be appropriate to examine the reasons for a decrease in the minimal recommended cage size.
One reason certainly could be an increase in the size of personal reptile collections from the 1980's to today. Without any factual evidence or reputable studies, I can only theorize that personal collections are larger today, yet it could be difficult to argue otherwise.
In the late 1980's there simply weren't as many reptiles available to collect. Morphs were essentially non-existent or too expensive for the general public. If you had a ball, a boa, and a burm you essentially had them all (as far as boids were concerned)... Retics had an unsavory reputation back then, and were rarely available. Less was known about breeding, so personal herp keepers were likely less willing to even attempt to breed. At that time, many available animals were often wild caught, or farm bred. Having a smaller collection seems to correlate with providing larger enclosures.
The stackable cages available today offer the availability to keep a larger collection of animals, and the hundreds of available colors and morphs keep us all interested, and buying.
Cost is always a factor in enclosure size, and as the norm has switched from custom built enclosures to commercially constructed ones (due to the former lack of availability), that variable appears to hold even more relevance. Those that have done the math, and done the builds will likely concur that building a 4x2 (as opposed to buying a commercially built enclosure) isn't really cost effective... But due to the high cost of shipping cages larger than four feet in length, the tables are reversed when considering an 8x2. Thus, as fewer of us build, larger cages become increasingly expensive.
So what if we DO have larger collections? And who cares if our cages are a little smaller if our snakes are healthy, and breeding? Let me share some personal observations of the behavior of my own animals.
I had noticed that my larger boa was consistently coiled tightly on the cool side of her 5x2 enclosure. She has always been a "cool side snake", but she never would coil when out of her enclosure.... Even if she decided to take a nap.
When I upgraded my larger boa's enclosure from a 5x2 to an 8x2 I noticed that she no longer remained coiled tightly, yet was consistently stretched out on the cool side. I had used the same model RHP as in her prior cage, so essentially my basking spot was the same as her old cage, but now there was more square footage of cool side floor space in the new enclosure. She was clearly coiled in the 5x2 attempting to thermo regulate, and was constantly coiled due to a lack of available cool side floor space. In short, the 5x2 was too small for the eight foot boa to comfortably thermo regulate.
There is a direct correlation with success of keeping and especially breeding boas and the ability to replicate their natural climate and environment. Are we really doing this to best of our ability using minimal sized enclosures?
Consider the common 4x2 plastic, front opening boa enclosure with a cool side surface floor temp of 78 and a hot spot of 92 (the heating source would most commonly be a RHP or UTH). Lets say for argument sake that if you ran your temp across the bottom of the cage you would get a reading of 78 up to four inches from one end, and hit the center of the hot spot at 92 eight inches from the opposite side of the enclosure. That give you a fluctuation in surface temp of 14 degrees over a space of 36 inches. That equates to more than a full degree temperature change every three inches. Now imagine a three foot boa in that same enclosure (which would be fairly spacious accommodations by most standards). That three foot snake would be experiencing 92 degree surface temperatures at it's head, and 78 degree surface temperatures at it's tail when full stretched out across the length of the enclosure. Even if coiled in a ball (assuming the three foot snake has a nine inch diameter while coiled) the snake would be experiencing more than a three degree surface temperature change from one side of it's coiled body to the opposite side. Now imagine an eight foot boa in that same enclosure. Assuming the eight foot boa has a coiled up diameter of 21 inches the snake would be experiencing more than a seven degree surface temperature change from one side of it's coiled body to the opposite side. Now imagine the snake stretched out a little experiencing up to 14 degree fluctuations over it's body. That temperature variation for the eight foot snake (in a 4x2) holds true for most size animals using the LxW=SNAKE equation. It certainly seems less than ideal for an animal that is cold blooded, and it seems to poorly represent temperatures that may be encountered in the wild. Sure surface temps outside are not consistent, but the jungle floor doesn't constantly vary 14 degrees every 36 inches. This scenario gets even more exaggerated if using a glass enclosure with a heat lamp or CHE as the temp changes would be in both the surface and ambient temperatures.
Captive kept boas generally have a higher percentage of body fat than their wild cousins. This is likely due to a variable of factors. Exceptionally kept animals are often well fed, have veterinary care, expend little energy searching for food or a mate, encounter no predators or parasites, experience no drastic temperature changes and generally have less overall stress. All that being said, most rarely (if ever) get the chance to climb or swim and have almost no opportunity to exercise in enclosures that are most often shorter than the length of the snake.
Often the claim is made that snakes get stressed out if the enclosure is too large. There may be some truth to snakes being stressed out by large open spaces. Have you ever seen a wild snake in the middle of a parking lot? Doubt it... One word, predators. However, the jungle clearly has no walls. I currently keep a 2015 boa in a 5X2, and the snake is thriving, demonstrating no signs of stress whatsoever. Multiple hides and cover are provided throughout the enclosure to mimic the jungle floor and provide a sense of security. One can only ponder if the aforementioned claim is made for the benefit of the animal, or the convenience of it's keeper.
When I was a child, I can remember the norm in my town/neighborhood for dogs owners was to chain them to a tree with a dog house and leave them outside year round. If you walk through that same neighborhood today, you will not see that as the norm has since evolved to a more ethical treatment of mans best friend. If you left your dog penned up too long it would vocalize it's displeasure, as would your cat. Snakes do not have that ability, but I have never owned a snake that didn't attempt escape when being reintroduced to it's enclosure. Maybe we collectively need to evaluate and recreate the norms and caging standards for our slithering cohorts.
Think about it.
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