Looking for help on boas?

Question

OK well i just bought a Central American Red-Tail Boa from the local
pet store. its not to bigid say maybe a foot and a half or maybe
more. i got it for $45 if that even matters but right now i only
have it in a 8 gallon tank. it seems plenty big enough i mean he
dosent seemed cramped and can move fairly easy. I used just bark off
the tree and a little branch for it to climb on. i have a piece of
bark set so it can hide from the light. and a water dish. i got
regular sand from the pet store for the bottom of the tank and the
light is a 30 watt daylight heat lamp from ESU Reptiles it says its
meant for reptiles. and thats all thats heating the cage right now.
also the cage is in the window seal so sunlight can hit it. the
light i got is one that sits on the screen and lights it like that.
thats pretty much how i have my snake set up for now. If anyone has
any suggestions on how to make the cage better or anything i
shouldnt be doing plz tell me.

i took the snake in public today and
at first it seemed skittish but calmed down alot and just wraped its
self on my hand and just hung there why we watched my bro pratice.
but i did just get it from the store today. also the pet store owner
threw in a baby "pink" or mouse and said it should eat that. its
been about a week since it ate from what the guy told me at the pet
store. I threw the "pink" in with the snake is that ok? so i really
only know a little on snakes but it seemed like such a good price
and if i didnt get it today it would of gone tommrow and ive always
wanted a snake so now i just need to know how to take care of it and
what i may be doing wrong. anyone with any information plz help or
email me or add me to yahoo messanger or my msn messanger (
andy_bob_21@...) i would be more than willing to chat with
anyone who knows about snakes and am usally online. THANKS FOR
WHOEVER HELPS OR ATLEAST READS THIS.

Answer 1

First off, you definitely need a larger tank, snakes are cold blooded and need a decent teperature gradient, and that is really hard to accomplish in anything smaller than a 20 gallon aquarium... I'd also advise against keeping him in direct sunlight, it's too easy to fry him.

Check out these websites:
http://www.anapsid.org/boa.html
http://exoticpets.about.com/cs/snakes/a/boaconstrictors_2.htm
http://www.repticzone.com/caresheets/776.html

Answer 2

Boas are nocturnal, that means that they only come out in the dark. Lighting is not ok for the heat source. Undertank heat is the only way to go. They are also from a neo tropical region meaning that they like it moist and humid. The sand is a poor substrate unless it is a desert dwelling species. Bark is bad because it harbors papasites that the animal is not used to from its original habitat. Also putting it by a window is bad because it can cause the rank to overheat the animal. And a Central american is NOT a redtail it is a common boa, "Boa Constrictor Imperator". Redtail boas are "BOa Constrictor Constrictor the nominate form within the genus. And finally a pinky is far too small for a neonate boa, it would be fine for a colubrid ie, kingsnake, milksnake cornsnake. A hopper or small adult mouse is optimum.

Answer 3

Visit this website... It should provide you with all the information you need.
VVV

http://www.redtailboas.com/general_care/general_care.html

If there is anything else you wanna know concerning your snake, or, well- pretty much anything at all... just go to Ask.com, or Google.com and type in the topic of what you want to know. Those sites should give you a whole list of websites that can help you out.

Answer 4

heres a suggession:do a google or yahoo or ask jeeves search