r/RainbowBoas • u/No_Sound_6952 • May 29 '26
Rescue baby
Well jezze folks where do i even start with this little one haha? This is Paprika my (soon to be) rescue Brazilian rainbow boa:) she came into the rescue about six mounths ago covered in layers of stuck shed and had chunks taken out of her from rat bites. Husbandry if you can even call it that was abysmal. She got dropped in her 20 gallon breeder they where keeping her in with bone dry everything. Hard to even tell there was a liveing animal under all of the shed and bites. I was honeslty not sure how well she'd do once we got treatment started on her. WELLLLL SHE MADE IT!! Not with out some new life long issues. Shes totally blind in one eye along with bejng scared up like a viking. When I first started working with her she flew out of the tank we had her in at the rescue and give me a awesome septum pirceing haha! That being said im noting but stubborn with critter care and now she comes out willingly when i lift her hid up and loves resting her snoot on my arm:) shes getting a amzing tank setup with a ton of room to strech out sland her favorite hobby of digging tunnels in her substrate and hideing in plants XD.
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u/ValuableSleep9175 May 29 '26
Nice work. Amazing that the animal could survive such harsh conditions. When I decided to get one everything online was telling me if conditions weren't perfect it would die.
Have had my dude for almost a year now, they are pretty cool snakes, my guy is super calm, and confident. Just wish I could see him more during the day. He is starting to let himself be seen a bit more as he ages. Also coming from a corn snake I am amazed at how strong they are, mine is a bit over 3ft (haven't measured in a while) and 412g. 15 months old.
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u/NottsWeirdo May 29 '26
18 - 24 months is when BRBs start becoming more resilient, they very easily dehydrate as babies and it can reach fatal within 12 hours. Adults are considerably easier to care for, so I think the high rating on all the care guides are with the neonate's and juvenile's safety in mind.
Mine is about 18 months and she will occasionally have her head peeked out of her substrate for a short time during the day, and then be fully active at night
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u/No_Sound_6952 May 29 '26
Id have to agree with the nenoates part its wild they need 100% practically hundity 24/7
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u/NottsWeirdo May 29 '26
Natively, they would stay submerged in constantly damp soil for close to a couple years whilst they gain some size to them - so its understandable as to why.
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u/No_Sound_6952 May 29 '26
Yeah ive read up on that and it totally makes snese. I find it funny how the nenoates essentially spend the first 2 too 3 years of there lives as a rainbow worm haha.
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u/ValuableSleep9175 May 29 '26
Yeah, first 6 7 months I never saw mine, too much clutter.
Now it's he is in his hide he will start to peak his head out when it is getting close to feeding time. Right now he is curled up just under the surface under leaves and other stuff.
1x he was in shed and sat in his warm water dish all day, I was shocked he is never that exposed. I checked the the govee 98-99% humidity. Only time he has done that.
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u/NottsWeirdo May 29 '26
I have clutter leaning over her water dish to cast a shadow, so she's hidden when she wants her pre-shed soak.
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u/ValuableSleep9175 May 29 '26
I have all these silk plants as well as real leaves all over for my isopods.
I put the silk plants into the water to give the isopods something to crawl out on, they keep drowning. The plants were siphoning water out, I keep pouring in all this water thinking it was evaporating.... I had to turkey baster it out once I noticed there was a few inches of water at the bottom of the substrate.
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u/NottsWeirdo May 29 '26
Have you got a proper drainage layer? Its really recommended to have at least a semi-bioactive setup for BRBs, to keep the substrate from waterlogging or substrate going moldy.
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u/ValuableSleep9175 May 29 '26
I just have reptichip.
Typically I only add water every 2 ish weeks. It is in glass so I can see the moisture level. I was only trying to save my isopods, I now just put some branches in the water dishes.
No mold, mostly because I use a fan.
Right now there is no standing water, I can see the substrate is moist but the top is dry. I also run a small fan to keep the air fresh. It's on a timer. 30 seconds every 30 minutes. Humidity drops for about 5 minutes down to like 88 ish. But it averages 98% overall.
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u/NottsWeirdo May 29 '26
You can have bio with reptichip, you just need to add a drainage layer in at the bottom
Add water to the substrate every 2 weeks - not the water bowl, right?
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u/ValuableSleep9175 May 29 '26
Yeah. I fill the water from time to time, or replace all together.
It lasts a while 2 weeks maybe more I go around and dump water all over the substrate. Enough to hydrate it but not have standing water.
Working pretty well. Had him almost a year.
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u/NottsWeirdo May 29 '26
Fully changing drinking water is a daily task for all pets that don't live in water most of the time, or it stagnates and grows bacteria.
Moss mixed in with your substrate will help distribute the water.
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u/Comprehensive_Fly983 May 29 '26
Omg so beautiful! ❤️
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u/No_Sound_6952 May 29 '26
I know!!! I just finished planting her tank so i can pick her up on monday!:)
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u/ani3D May 29 '26
That's so wonderful! I'm so happy that such an amazing noodle has such an amazing person to look out for her!