Red-Tail Boa Housing, Substrate, Heating and Humidity
Red-Tail Boas come from South America, which is a tropical region. In order to
care for your Red-Tail Boa, you have to meet certain standards that are similar
to their natural habitat. If you just place them in a tank with no heat or
humidity, they will die due to lack of digestion and lack of water in the air
(humidity). This is where keeping a Boa can get a bit tricky...
What kind of tank should a Red-Tail Boa be kept in?
What size tank should I use?
What should I put in the tank?
What can I use for hides?
What should I use for a floor?
How should I set the tank up?
Do I need to keep a light on at all times?
How can I create a day/night cycle?
Should I drop the temperatures at night?
I heard that a snake will only grow if the tank is big enough. Is this true?
How should I introduce my Red-Tail Boa to his/her new home?
Can I house two snakes in the same enclosure?
Where should I put the tank?
What kind of tank should a Red-Tail Boa be kept in?
A Red-Tail Boa should be kept in any type of tank that will provide them
comfort, and the necessary elements (heat, humidity... etc.) to staying healthy
and happy. It should always be big enough to allow the snake to sit on either
end comfortably. Any pre-made or custom enclosure that is closed at all times,
and will allow sufficient light is okay.
What size tank should I use?
For a baby Red-Tail Boa, a 20Long (20 gallons, roughly
24"x10"x12") will do just fine. It's easier to keep Red-Tail Boas
in smaller enclosures while they are younger to assure proper heating and hot
spots for such a small snake. A good rule of thumb to use is to keep the length
of the tank about the same length as the snake, so they can stretch from one
side to the other without any problems. Once the Red-Tail Boa reaches about 3
feet, it's a good idea to move it into something around a 40-gallon tank, or a
4-foot Boaphile cage/tank would work. Once the Boa is around 4 or 5 feet, it's a
good idea to move it into a "breeder" size tank, which is something
about 6 feet long, 2 feet deep and 2 feet tall.
6-foot "Boaphile" tank
You should assure that you will have enough space in your house for your Boa
throughout it's entire life.
What should I put in the tank?
Every Red-Tail Boa should have a water dish, regularly supplied with fresh
water, that is big enough for them to coil their entire body into. They should
also have one hide on each side (cool and warm) and at least one item to crawl
up and perch on, for exercise sake.
Complete tank
What can I use for hides?
You can use pretty much whatever you want, and whatever your Red-Tail Boa will
fit into. I've seen anything from a pet store used (even fish aquarium stuff),
cardboard boxes, toilet paper roll tubes... pretty much anything, as long as
you're sure it's free of chemicals or other harmful materials. Sometimes the
snake will just hide in the substrate, and this is fine.
Box/Tube Hide
You should assure something in your tank is a little rigid or rock-like to help
the Red-Tail Boa shed. Usually reptile water dishes or hides will be just fine.
However, don't use anything that is really rough or sharp. Lots of fish/aquarium
equipment is like that. Your snake won't like it and he/she could get cut while
climbing on it.
What should I use for a floor?
The better term for this is "substrate", if you're unfamiliar with snakes. Any
of the following are okay to use: Newspaper, Aspen shavings, Cypress Mulch,
Paper Towels, Astroturf. Just as a quick warning; DO NOT USE CEDAR OR PINE
BARK!!! These two woods have a certain chemical in them that is harmful to a
snake's respiratory system and will eventually kill them! If you are using
cypress or aspen, spread it to about 1 inch in thickness across the tank, and
set your under-tank heater (UTH) to around "medium". Please, also do not use
sand, dirt, or any other substrate you might think of. Choose from one of the
appropriate substrates of Newspaper, Aspen, Cypress, Paper Towels or Astroturf.
I would personally recommend newspaper as it's usually free in the mail, makes
for very easy cleanup, and won't house little bugs called "mites" that are very
bad for your snake.
How should I set the tank up?
Every snake needs to thermo regulate (control their body temperature manually),
and every kind of Boa ABSOLUTELY needs heat in order for it to digest food...
otherwise, the snake will die from not eating or from undigested food becoming
toxic. Every snake should be able to set their own body temperature, as they are
cold-blooded, and their body temperature is the same as the temperature around
them. For a Red-Tail Boa, you should make one end of the tank a warm side, and
one end a cool side. The easiest way to do this is to find something that will
heat the warm side, and the cool side shouldn't need additional heating.
For heating, you should NEVER USE A HEAT ROCK! If you are using one, remove it
from the tank immediately. The reason behind this is heat rocks have imbalanced
and very poor heating distribution. On parts of the rock it could be 70F while
on another part it could be 130F. IF YOU USE A HEAT ROCK YOU WILL BURN AND
POSSIBLY KILL YOUR SNAKE. Please, do not use one.
One last tidbit before we get into what you need to heat your tank: ALWAYS make
sure you test the snake's environment thoroughly before you place him/her in
there! This is vital! You do not want to stress your Boa out as much as it
already will be from the move.
Note: If you have a tank that is already set up with proper, built-in heat, you
can disregard the rest of this question.
For proper heating, you should purchase each of the following:
- One heat lamp rated for 100 to 250 watts
- One Ceramic Heat Emitter (CHE) that is appropriately sized (100W for small
tanks, on up to 250W for larger tanks) -OR- One 60W Reptile light bulb. A CHE is
recommended as some Boas don't like much light on them.
- One Under-Tank Heater (UTH) that is appropriately sized for your tank (should
take up about 15% of the surface area)
- Two dimmers or rheostats (or a thermostat)
- Two digital, reptile thermometers (if you have a thermostat you don't need
these, although they are good to have)
- One Hygrometer (humidity monitor)
OPTIONAL
- One low-wattage light bulb (15W or less)
Believe it when it's said, ALL of these are necessary to properly monitor your
Red-Tail Boa's environment.
You should stick the Under-Tank Heater to the bottom of the tank. Make sure you
have the tank elevated by wood blocks, bricks, or other useful items around the
house. It should have at least an inch of clearance underneath to allow for
proper airflow, and so you don't burn your snake.
Take the CHE and put it into the heat lamp. Seems kind of obvious but some
people miss it!
Plug the two dimmers/rheostats into the wall but don't turn them on yet. Use the
plug from the UTH and the plug from the CHE and plug them each into their own
separate dimmers/rheostats. Labeling them would be a good idea. This way you can
control the temperatures for each and balance the environment properly. Put the
CHE above the same place on the tank as the UTH is stuck to, so they are both
heating the same side. You should not have to heat the cool side if you have
proper airflow. Now you can turn these on. An easy place to start is to set them
both on "low", and you should keep the dimmer for the UTH on "low" at all times,
if you are using newspaper or paper towels. A UTH setting of "medium" with Aspen
or Cypress Mulch is fine.
Using the digital thermometers and dimmers/rheostats, you should aim for a
temperature on the warm side (with the heating equipment) of 86-88F (88-90 if
you have a BCC), and try to get the cool side at 77-80F. Place the temperature
measuring component of the thermometer about 1 inch from the top of the
substrate, or 1 inch from the ground your Red-Tail Boa will be resting on. If
the temperatures are too low, only raise the dimmer that has the CHE (heat lamp)
plugged into it. Once you get these set, your temperature gradient is great!
Make sure it can hold that for at least 24 hours. A nighttime drop of 4-6
degrees is fine, and actually encouraged, just make sure it recovers the next
morning.
If you have a thermostat, it's basically like a thermometer and a dimmer put
together. You simply set the temperature it should turn on or off at, and place
the probe where you want to measure temperature. It's the same thing as a
dimmer/thermometer combination, except everything is automated.
The last thing you need to worry about is humidity. You should assure that it is
at about 55-60% at all times. The best place to put your hygrometer is an inch
above the substrate, in the middle of the tank. If you are using a
"Boaphile" cage/tank, or other type of completely enclosed tank, this
should take care of itself.
If you are using a screen-top tank, then you might need a little extra humidity
holding tricks to get the job done. If you are nowhere near that mark (if you
are at 25-30%) try using a clean towel and putting it over about 75% of the
screen, leaving only spaces where the lamp is, and a small bit of space on the
opposite end, to complete a good air-flow. Every morning, get the towel damp
with fresh water and always leave it covered. Your humidity should raise to
about 70% once you put it on there, then keep around 55% constantly throughout
the day.
Make sure you can hold both temperatures and humidity for at least 48 hours
before you put your Red-Tail Boa in the tank. If you've got it, good job! Your
tank is ready for the snake!
Do I need to keep a light on at all times?
No, you don't. In fact, you SHOULD run a day/night cycle of 12/12 (12 light
hours, 12 dark hours), or if you want to get more accurate, 15/9 during the
summer, 10/14 for the winter. You should DEFINITELY run a day/night cycle.
Otherwise your Red-Tail Boa is going to get very stressed and possibly sick
because of a lack of realistic cycling.
How can I create a day/night cycle?
Any way you think is necessary. Ambient light from outside is fine if you can
get direct light from a window. Many people leave their bedroom lights on or
just have a small lamp that they keep on. If you purchased a 15W reptile UV
light, you can mount that in the tank and it won't raise your temperatures more
than 1 degree.
Should I drop the temperatures at night?
Yes, you should. The reason why is because your Red-Tail Boa is used to
day/night cycles, and having nighttime means that it gets cooler. This also
forces your snake to thermo regulate and remain active. Otherwise your snake
will be out of shape and it could potentially shorten it's lifespan.
I heard that a snake will only grow if the tank is big enough. Is this true?
No, it's not. A snake will not grow according to it's surroundings. It will grow
just like any human, dog, cat, spider.. whatever. If you feed it and take care
of it appropriately, it will grow.
How should I introduce my Red-Tail Boa to his/her new home?
You should let the snake explore as it wants to. If you get the snake in a bag
or some kind of container, just open the container and set it inside the tank
somewhere. After this, leave it completely alone for at least 72 hours. The
snake should learn that this is a safe environment, and this is where it should
be living for the next long period of it's life. Do not disturb it if you want
to have a smooth start.
Can I house two snakes in the same enclosure?
You should NOT house two snakes in the same enclosure. There are multiple
reasons why and it's imperative to their health that you assure your snakes are
separated at all times.
For one, records are impossible to track accurately if you can't keep track of
who just shed, who needs to eat, who defecated and when... etc. Things like this
become very hard to track with two snakes living together.
Another is submission and domination for popular hide spots. Many people don't
realize that sheer stress can kill a snake. With two or more snakes battling for
good position or popular hide spots, at least one of them will most likely get
stressed out. The last thing you want is a stressed out reptile, because as far
as they are concerned, they cannot do anything about it. STRESS WILL KILL A
SNAKE. Please, do not risk it.
Finally, the most important reason is sickness. If one snake is sick, they all
get sick. One trip to the vet is bad enough. Two or three separate trips to the
vet, two or three doses of medication every time needed, and two or three
stressed, sick snakes is enough to make even the most experienced keepers worry
about their snakes' lives.
In rare occasions, Boas and other breed of snake kept in the same enclosure have
killed one or each other. Often times if a male and female Boa are housed
together, they will breed before the female is ready. It could kill or severely
deform the female for the rest of her life!
Please, just spend the extra dollars (which you should have handy, if you have
any type of snake), and get another setup for another snake.
Where should I put the tank?
This doesn't really matter. I find it's a bit harder to put tanks on the floor
as it gets cooler and can sometimes be tough to maintain temperatures. However,
nighttime temperature drops are much easier to do when your house temperature
drops a few degrees at night. If the tank is elevated it might be a little
harder, but it's still certainly possible.
