Things You'll Need:
- Enclosure
- Substrate
- Heat source/lighting
- Water dish
- Feeder rodents
- Common Boa Constrictor
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Step 1
Purchase a secure and well ventilated enclosure for the snake. A new born can be kept in a 10 gallon glass aquarium or similarly sized enclosure. Young adults boas will require a cage size of 3’ x 2’. The largest females will need about 12 square feet of floor space. Many breeders and collectors use homemade or commercial rack systems to house their boas.
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Step 2
Cover the floor of the enclosure with a suitable substrate. Newspaper, butcher's paper, paper towels and corrugated cardboard make a good cheap cage liner. Aspen shavings or cypress mulch also make good substrates, be sure to never use a substrate containing cedar as the oils in cedar can be fatal to snakes.
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Step 3
Provide your snake with a hot spot around 90 degrees Fahrenheit and a background temperature of 78 to 82 degrees Fahrenheit. This can be achieved using an under tank heat pad/heat tape, a heat lamp or ceramic heat emitter. Arrange the hot spot on one side of the cage so the snake has access to a the full range of temperatures. Never expose your snake to temperatures below 75 degrees Fahrenheit for long periods of time.
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Step 4
Keep the enclosure at a moderate humidity level of around 50% - 60% relative humidity. You can also provide a humidity hide box large enough for your snake to completely crawl inside of. Fill the box with damp cypress mulch and/or sphagnum moss. Always provide your snake with fresh clean water for drinking.
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Step 5
Providing these snakes with extra lighting is not necessary. Make sure that you do not expose your snake to bright lights for long periods of time. Also be sure any supplemental lighting runs on a 12 hour on/12 hour off schedule.
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Step 6
Newborn Common Boa Constrictors can start feeding on weaned mice or pink rats every 7 to 10 days. An adult Common Boa will require large rats and the biggest specimens may move up to rabbits. A good rule is to feed a prey item about the same size as the snake's thickest point. Prey can be purchased frozen and then thawed or live. It is always best to offer pre-killed prey to your snake. If it will not accept a pre-killed prey item you can try live prey. Never leave a live prey item with your snake over night, prey can injure or even kill your snake. Common Boa Constrictors are far less tolerant of being fed prey that is too large. This can lead to regurgitation problems, so always feed your Boa and appropriate sized meal.
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Step 7
You can also provide a hide spot on one or both sides of the cage. This should be large enough for the snake to completely hide in/under. Clay flowerpots, plastic flowerpot trays, plastic tubs with a hole cut out and commercially available hide boxes all work quite well.
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Step 8
Maintain your snakes enclosure by spot cleaning feces, urates and sheds whenever present. The water bowl should be cleaned and disinfected at least twice a week. Once every 45 to 60 days you should remove and disinfect all cage items and the cage itself using either a 5% bleach and water solution or a commercially available reptile safe cleaner such as Nolvasan.
