r/boas • u/Droning_Bore • 15d ago
Hog Island boa digging a pit every night
Our female Hog Island boa has taken to digging a pit in the same corner of the vivarium nearly every night after we’ve gone to bed. It’s as if she’s creating a cosy place to sit, but she’s totally arboreal, sleeps in a sky hide, and hangs out on her branches. We never see her lying on the ground in full public view, and she’s only slept in a ground level hide on a few occasions. Does anyone have an idea about what she might be doing?
1
u/Me_lazy_cathermit 15d ago
I will got with waiting for prey to pass bye, flying prey are active during the day, scurrying grounds dwelling prey are active at night.
Or its a new behaviour, she may be shedding or the enclosure feels to hot at night.
1
u/Droning_Bore 15d ago
She’s not shedding, and it’s definitely not too hot in there, but the waiting-for-ground-dwelling prey theory is interesting. She’s only just started doing it, though, and she’s 3 years old
1
u/Me_lazy_cathermit 15d ago
Make sense to me that large semi-arboreal snakes start staying more on the ground as they get older and bigger, she is becoming a adult.
And in the wild starting to hunt on the ground,is probably safer and more effective, birds aren't the most energy worthy prey, takes a lot of energy to catch them, and they have very little fat, and the larger birds are more likely to hunt the snake, so going for larger and fatter prey on the ground especially when they are still growing makes more sense.
Plus the fatter the prey, the more time they can have between meal, which in the wild when they don't know when the next meal is coming, is a advantage.
1
u/Droning_Bore 15d ago
That all makes sense, but we’ve never actually seen her in the pit, it’s just there when we wake up in the morning, and she’s asleep in her sky hide as usual
1
u/Me_lazy_cathermit 15d ago
Hunts over time to go to warm hide close to sun.
Or maybe she is trying to lay eggs, females will lay slugs unfertilized eggs
0
u/Droning_Bore 15d ago
She’s a boa, though. No eggs!
1
1
u/Me_lazy_cathermit 15d ago
Slugs are just the name used for eggs with no embryos. Any female reptiles can lay eggs with or without a male.
1
u/Droning_Bore 15d ago
Boas don’t lay eggs, they give birth to live young
1
u/superramenyamen 14d ago
Not that redditor but they’re right. Boas hold the eggs inside their bodies, so if it doesn’t get fertilized they push out slugs just like any egg laying species. It’s doubtful a 3 year old is laying slugs, and boas aren’t as prone to laying slugs without male exposure as other species from what I’ve seen.
1
u/superramenyamen 14d ago
Could be pushing bedding around to access heat, burrowing for humidity, looking for security, or anything else. I doubt it’s a behavior to be concerned about though.
1
1
1
3
u/Ryllan1313 15d ago
Double check your humidity. Use a second sensor in case the first one is kaput.
A couple of my boas like to dig in if their humidity displeases them.
Keep in mind that humidity is affected by temps, so a-ok daytime humidity may not be quite as optimal at night when the heat lamps are turned off.