Things You'll Need:
- Enclosure
- Substrate
- Heat source/lighting
- Water dish
- Feeder rodents
- Island or Dwarf 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 10 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
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 4
Keep the enclosure at a moderately high humidity level of around 60% - 70% 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
Feed newborn Island and Dwarf Boa Constrictors one weaned mouse or pink rat every 7 to 10 days. An adult boa will require large rats. 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. The smaller size of these boas greatly reduces the prey size needed. Be sure not to feed your boa a prey item that is too large as this can lead to regurgitation.
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Step 7
You should 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.
