[SamiChan24]

My friend is buying a columbian rainbow boa next week and im helping him learn more about them so i was wonderin if anyone has them as pets and has and advice?
the one hes getting is a 1 1/2ft female from petco shes very sweet and friendly the girl that works there say shed handled her every day since she came into the store.
a friend is giving him a nice big tank (i forgot the size but it big enough that i could sit in it and have room if i wanted) and hes getting the heat lamps and so on for her when he picks her up friday. we know what to feed her and so on so yeah just looking for any advice on taking care of her and so on.

 

[Sasami]

I don't have one but that will be the next snake I get (well, a Brazilian Rainbow Boa, actually) so I've done a lot of research. Humidity is extremely important with them so regular glass tanks aren't appropriate. Do you know what the enclosure looks like? I'm also kind of surprised that he's getting heat lamps since those can dry out the enclosure (I know that one from experience). The people I know with rainbow boas use heating pads.

I don't think they're tricky animals to keep as long as you maintain high humidity (it sounds easier than it is, I have a ball python and it was a struggle at first for me to keep the humidity up in the winter).

I would also be cautious about buying a snake from PetCo. Was she captive-bred? Is she already eating frozen/thawed? Your friend will want to bring his vet a fecal sample either way.

 

[SamiChan24]

I cant find the specs for the tank but its a reptile one not a fish one and i told him about the heating pad so hes gonna do that insted but he still needs a light for the tank cuz the part of the room its going in is kind of dark so should he use a normal light or would a heat one help? hes gonna get some heave duity plastic for the top so its not all just open wire.
what would you suggest to do about the humidity? when i had lizards i just would spray the walls of the tank with a spray bottle and that helped but i wasnt sure if hed need to do more for the snake.
if i remember right the snake was camtive-bred and i know they feed her frozen ones my friend wanted to switch her to live ones but i told him that wouldnt be a good idea cuz my sisters snake got attacked by the mouse she tryed to feed it and refused to eat after x.x

 

[uMgaziRatRescue]

Yeah feeding frozen would be a much better choice for a lot more reasons that just running the risk of the snake getting attacked. If the snake is fed a rat/mouse that has lice/mites they can get internal parasites which cause all kinds of bad news... as far as tanks I would contact Jeff Ronne as he makes some AMAZING reptile enclosures that hold heat/humidity very well AND everything already comes assembled! He could probably also help you with various snake questions, spraying down the tank will probably only work for a couple of minutes so unless you are in there spraying down the tank every hour give or take etc you will probably never have the right humidity.

http://www.boaphileplastics.com/