boa's behavior

[Brandyleer]

I have a columbian red tail that is about 3' long (Maynard). He eats regularly and very well. Mostly he hides, but I have noticed recently that he is out in the open, resting with his head raised. I don't know that I would call it "star gazing" and I have read about the symptoms of IBD, none of which he is exhibiting... His enclosure is a 55 gallon glass terrarium with a screen on top. The daytime temperature reaches about 90-95 degrees, and I mist the cage regularly... The cage itself is on a stand that raises it about 8 inches off the ground. I have noticed that my black cat has taken a fascination with Maynard lately, and hangs out by his cage alot. Could his "stance" with his head raised be an aggresive reaction to the cat? If so, should I be concerned about his (Maynard's) psychological well being? The cat doesn't jump up on the cage or anything, but I imagine his constant staring at Maynard could be irritating him to some extent... Anyone had a similar experience or any suggestions for this (besides feeding the cat to the snake) THANKS

[musicmaker2476]

have yuo tried observing him with the cat not around with a day, and does he look around when he is sitting there, my snake will do this she will sit there and stare out the cage(not always at me) but she also does move her head, if its not a clear case of IBD then dont be extremely concerned im sure he is fine

[reptileguy3]

Welcome to the forum Brandyleer. I hope that all of your questions and concerns can be cleared away.
I agree with what Musicmaker was saying. Try observing the snake without the cat around. The cat may be stressing the snake out a little if it feels that it can never get away from the cat.
Also, is 90-95 the ambient temperatures or the basking temperatures?
The ambient temperature should be closer to about 85 degrees.

[Brandyleer]

Thank you! After checking him out some more, I've concluded that he's just super alert lately, which leads me to believe he is hungrier as he's growing. I feed him one hopper mouse a week, but I'm going to move him up to 6 per month, see if that chills him out. His basking area is the 90-95 degree range... But I understand the head raising is also a sign of too high a temperature, so I will play with that a little too. His movements are very controlled and precise, not spastic like that of the infected snakes. Looks like the cats are giving him a break to stalk the dove :P

[musicmaker2476]

you could always move him to 2 hoppers a week thats what i did my lil girl is growing so fast

[reptileguy3]

The rule of thumb for feeding a snake is to feed it a prey item that is the same thickness as the snake's thickest body section. A hopper mouse sounds like it would be too small for a snake of that size.
Raising the head is NOT a sign of too much heat. They raise there head because they want too.
What is the ambient air temperature of the cage?

[Brandyleer]

Yep. I see that he's growing like a weed (or like a snake) and that the "fattest" part of his body would probably accomodate a full grown mouse. Guess I'll try to move him up a size. Just makes me a little nervous at first :dry: The ambient temp is about 85, I have "bushy" artificial plants & lots of shade on that side of the cage. His 2 story hide area is over by where the heaters and heat lamp are, so he goes back & forth between the zones. I observed him in the dark last night when he didn't think I was looking, and saw that he's starting to figure out how to slide up the corner of the cage. Won't be long til he pushes the screen off the top, so I'm going to have to modify that also. For now Shakespeare is keeping Maynard safely contained :lol: Thanks again everyone

[musicmaker2476]

feeding something that may be a little bit bigger than the biggest section of its body is not a huge deal. as long as its not way bigger, but dont worry about micve even if you feed live, they dont have teeth that can seriously damage a snake

[reptileguy3]

Sounds like a good idea. Yes, red tails grow very fast in their first couple of years. They go from being about a 14inch long baby to a five to six foot long snake in just their first year and then in the second year they go from the five to six feet to being around seven to eight feet. The third year of growth isn't nearly as rapid as the first two, but they will continue to grow. Males will typically get to be about eight to ten feet long while females tend to get closer to ten to twelve feet long.

[reptileguy3]

Musicmaker, mice DO have the teeth to harm a snake. They have teeth that they use to chew through just about everything and anything they want to and a snake's scales aren't mouse proof.