ROSY BOA CARESHEET
Overview: Many reptiles keepers consider the Rosy Boa the best pet snake. Their ease of care, amazing temperament, and overall adult size makes them a great starter pet. With all the different localities and mutations many other snake breeders are looking at adding Rosy Boas to their collections. Which is why I believe Rosy Boas are such a desirable snake! Snake breeders and pet keepers alike both want them! Here at The Breeding Laboratory I breed many different localities, locale specific morphs, and regular morphs! It is almost impossible to have every single locale or morph, which makes it all the more fun. In this care sheet you will learn how to properly care for your pet rosy boa.
Temperature/Lighting/Humidity: Like most snakes Rosy Boas require a warm end and cool end of the enclosure. This can be achieved many different ways. Heat panels, heat tape, heat cable, heat pads, etc… All have their pros and cons, I believe your manner of heating the enclosure should reflect what type of enclosure you have. You are not going to use a heat panel for a rack system as it would not make sense, just as you would not use heat tape to warm up a Green Tree Python enclosure. So long as you are able to adequately warm one side of you enclosure it really does not matter. In the case for a Rosy Boa you are dealing with a terrestrial species, so belly heat is preferred but not mandatory. For all of my Rosy Boas I offer a temp gradient of 87-88F on the warm end and 72-75F on cool end. Typically my ambient room temperature fluctuates throughout the day and also depending on the time of year. I always give them access to a hotspot of 87-88F to digest their food. Sometimes during the winter months for snakes that are not put into a burmation cycle my ambient can drop into the 60s and that is totally fine.
Lighting is going to be more for you than it is going to be for the snake. These snakes do not require UV lighting. For the most part these snakes are underground or hidden most if the day in the wild. However, offering UV or normal LED lighting is fine on a 12hr/12hr on/off cycle. Just be sure that your lights are not giving off excess heat that can affect your overall temps of the enclosure. Sometimes it may be a slow gradual ramp up of heat throughout the day on some lower wattage light bulbs. For example, your temps may be fine the first few hours of the light being on, but by the last few hours it may be heating your whole enclosure up a lot. I have seen this time and time again and the snake has no escape from that heat. Remember, glass enclosure heat up quick!
As for humidity Rosy Boas inhabit very dry environments in the wild, thus not requiring very high humidity at all. It is best that they be kept dry and under 50% humidity. Achieving this can, at times, be difficult depending on where you live. However, this should not deter you from owning one if you live in a very humid area. A very small water bowl that dries out quickly and the correct substrate can help achieve this! If you follow these setup recommendations you should have no problem achieving these optimal temperatures and humidity percentages.
Enclosure Size: An adult enclosure can be something as simple as a 10 or 20 gallon tank with a sliding screen lid. These have become almost the standard as they offer the perfect amount of space and ventilation for a Rosy Boa. The dimensions of a 10 gallon for reference are 20.25L x 10.5W x 12.5H inches. For some of the larger locales such as Coastal Boas, a 24L x 12W x 12H inch enclosure would be recommended. Like mentioned in the “Heating/Lighting/Humidity” section I prefer to use belly heat on all of my Rosy Boas, but know lots of people that have had plenty of success keeping them with overhead heat as well. One thing to note about enclosure size is that more is not always necessarily better, especially when dealing with babies or juvenile Rosy Boas. It is easy to think, especially as new keeper, that giving your snake a very large enclosure is the best possible thing for them. I have seen countless times a new keeper putting their new Rosy Boa into a 40 gallon enclosure with one small hide box. Then two weeks later receiving a message saying “My snake won’t eat and my temps are perfect!” Not only will too large of an enclosure to quick cause feeding issue, but it can turn a snake that was once very docile to a snake that is defensive. You are probably going to read something on Reddit or some facebook group or something of that nature that disagrees, and someone with a loud voice saying I put my baby Rosy Boa is a 250 gallon Bioactive and it eats perfectly fine! The truth of the matter is I am not writing this care sheet with the experience of caring for 10 snakes my whole life, like most online. I have experience caring for, no exaggeration, tens of thousands of snakes. With that kind of experience you see a common theme with feeding issues across all species of snakes, not just Rosy Boas, and this is by far the most common. Too big of an enclosure too quick. What do I mean by too quick? Well short answer is if it eats in your 250 gallon bioactive great! That means it was not too quick. If it does not, that means it was not ready to be put in that large of an enclosure. When will my snake be ready for a large enclosure? Simple answer. When it eats in it! Adult snakes can be put in as large of an enclosure as you like, but it is best to start babies and juveniles off small.
I am very happy to see where the reptile hobby is trending, truly! However, new keepers are quickly bombarded by lots of mixed information online on enclosure sizes. Start small especially if you are establishing a baby into your collection. Once your snake is eating regularly and you feel confident it will eat no matter what then go ahead and give it an upgrade. It is best to get a temporary setup for a baby before spending hundreds of dollars on a huge permanent setup that your snake may or may not even want to eat in! I keep all of my babies and juvenile Rosy Boas in 6qt sterilite shoe box tubs in a rack system. These seem to be the perfect sized enclosure for raising lots of different species of snake, especially Rosy Boas. But don’t be afraid to start even smaller. Sometimes putting them in a 6” deli cup with tons of substrate for a few weeks can be a great way to start them off. This will make them feel secure and will almost guarantee a feeding on your first attempt. For my adults I use two different setups. Either 10 gallon enclosures for males and 20 gallon enclosures for females, with a screen top or in my custom 28qt sterilite tub rack system with lots of ventilation screen put into the tubs. Yes i could put them in 500 gallon tanks, but really is not practical as a breeder and also completely unnecessary. What these animals do care about is food, shelter, heat and reproduction. Essentially just survival. What that means is you are not a bad keeper nor an animal abuser if you put your adult Rosy Boa in a 10 or 20 gallon enclosure or in a rack system. You can put a baby Rosy Boa in a 250 gallon enclosure with all “enrichment” you would like and it could be so stressed out that it never eats and dies. On the flip side you can have a 4ft boa in a 10 gallon with aspen and a paper towel roll that is stoked on eating weekly and breeds every year! These are extreme examples, but I say this to give you an idea of where I am coming from. I feel the need to state all this as it has been a topic of discussion lately in the industry and I hope that my perspective helps you new keepers find the most success when keeping Rosy Boas. Start small and if you want to move to a giant mansion of an enclosure that is great! Just make sure your snake is ready for a very large enclosure if you so choose.
I do not like the term “minimum requirements” as it implies you are doing the bare minimum. But there really is not another term. If these snakes are breeding in 10-20 gallon tanks that tells you that they are thriving. A snake simply will not breed if it is not happy. So if they are successfully and consistently breeding in these size enclosure that tell you a lot!
“MINIMUM” ENCLOSURE SIZES
Baby/Juvenile enclosure size:
-2.5 gallon screen lid tank (12.25” L x 6.25” W x 8.25” H)
-6qt sterilite shoe box tub (11.25"L x 6.125" W x 4.25" H)
Sub-Adult/Adult enclosure size:
-10 gallon screen lid tank (20.25” L x 10.5” W x 12.63” H)
-28qt sterilite tub (23" L x 16.25" W x 6" H)
Large Adults/ Adult Coastals:
- 20 gallon long screen lid tank (30" L x 12" W x 12" H)
-40 gallon breeder screen top tank (36"L x 18" Wx 16"H)
Substrate: There are a few different substrates that work great for Rosy Boas. Aspen is a great option as it absorbs moisture, and does not mold quickly. This would be my recommendation as it is what I prefer to use. It is easily accessible rather inexpensive and very easy to spot clean with. I have also used shredded newspaper as substrate and it basically does the same thing as aspen. Also Sani-Chips work great as well. You want about 1-2 inches of substrate as Rosy Boas like to burrow and stick their head out of the tunnels they have made. Because of this I prefer aspen, but again shredded newspaper and Sani-Chips work great! Some substrates to avoid would be anything that holds moisture. Shredded coco fibers, cypress mulch, sphagnum moss, etc… These will pose a number of potential health issues and should be avoided at all costs.
Feeding: Thankfully Rosy Boas are not picky snakes when it comes to eating. And most of the time they eat frozen thawed mice as their first meal! There are a few things that should be noted though. One thing is to not give your Rosy Boa access to drinking water for at least 24-48 hours after eating their meal. For a new and experienced snake keepers this can be quite a shock. If they have access to water after eating they will gorge themselves and more times than not this will cause regurgitation. Rosy Boas live in very harsh environments in the wild. There is little to no water. Because of this when there is rainfall or they find a small pool of water they will “load up” as they may not see any more water for weeks or even months! They are opportunistic and their body is not designed to hold excessive amounts of water.
Now in rare instances when your new snake still does not want to eat when you have followed all of these steps to ensure proper husbandry here are a few techniques to get your Rosy Boa to eat!
Try Live
If you haven’t already, try a live prey item. This usually will get any Rosy Boa to eat. These are not generally picky eaters. However, if you offer your new snake a frozen thawed rodent as its first meal it may be less inclined to eat, even if it was eating frozen thawed previously. If you do not have access to live, not a problem! There are still plenty of ways to ensure your snake will eat!
Try Frozen Thawed
Sometimes the scent of a frozen thawed can be more appetizing. Something important to note when feeding frozen thawed rodents to a snake, is the importance of properly thawing your rodent. A wet cold rodent is almost guaranteed to get rejected by even the best eating snake. So make sure you warm up your rodent WITHOUT cooking it. I have made this mistake a few times by using hot water to thaw frozen rodents faster, instead of using warm water. Also I like to dry the rodent off before offering. Another thing to note is where to grab the rodent with tongs. You will see lots of videos of people grabbing them by the tail and dangling it in front of the snake and the snake slams it. This is not the best way to get a picky snake to take a frozen thawed rodent. You want to use your tongs and grab the rodent by the scruff of the neck. Like if you have seen how a cat carries its kittens. A nice warm, dry, and properly held rodent will significantly increase your chance of success!
Larger Meal
This one is pretty self explanatory but seems counter intuitive. If my Rosy Boa did not eat a pinky why would it eat something bigger? Or my snake is way to small to eat a fuzzy! Well for one 99% of newborn Rosy Boas can be started right on fuzzy mice. They can take down meals much larger than you would expect. And the larger meal seems to get their interest a lot more than a small pinky mouse. I feed both pinkies and fuzzies to help with my feed bill. But in a world where fuzzies were not double the price of pinkies I would feed everything fuzzies. With this method you can try both live and frozen thawed.
Smaller Enclosure Size
Although a 5-10 gallon tank or 6qt tub enclosure is recommended, sometimes having a smaller enclosure is the key to getting your snake to eat. Even a 5 gallon or 6qt can be too big for a baby/juvenile. These snakes want to feel secure a will not eat if they feel there is a chance they are in danger. After shipping these snakes feel uneasy and unsure of what is happening. Sometimes for days or even weeks after being set up in their new home, they are still nervous. Especially if every few days you pick the snake up to hold it, without it having fed yet, you can be restarting that “clock” of when it will feel secure again. The best way to make these snakes feel secure is putting them into a small 4 or 6 inch deli cup, filled about 1/2 or 3/4 the way full of aspen. Also place them in an area where there is not a lot of foot traffic. Avoid an area that gets lots of sunlight as well.
Deli Cup Overnight
A technique that works well is the deli cup overnight. You can do this with either a live pinky or a frozen thawed. Just keep in mind that a frozen thawed pinky will get cold after about an hour without heat. You can place the deli cup with snake and rodent inside enclosure halfway on the heat, so that it does not get cold. overnight. I would also do this with a live pinky. Usually by the morning it is gone or you have a smelly cup.
Scenting
There is already lots of information online about how to scent. Personally I do not like doing this as it almost guarantees you will have to do it a few more times. I feel it is worth mentioning though as it can be very effective. Lizard scent or frog scent works well. If you do not have access to these, you can use chicken liver, canned tuna, or Vienna sausage water. Those are all great alternatives to the real deal and sometimes work better.
“Nest Raid”
With this technique I would recommend only using live. You can configure this many different ways, but you are essentially simulating a nest of live pinkies. I use a toilet paper roll, cover one end up and place the pinkies in there with some of the mouse bedding. You can ask your local pet shop and they are always happy to help. It helps to angle it up so those pinkie don’t just crawl out. Do this at dusk and leave overnight. You will likely find one missing. You can try 3-4 live pinkies for this. Full disclosure your snake can eat all of them so it is best to check before going to bed.
“Annoy Method”
This method works very well with Rosy Boas. Like many of the other techniques this can be done with live or frozen thawed. You are going to use a pair of tongs and agitate the snake to the point that it eats the rodent. This can take some time, 5 maybe 10 or even 20 minutes. Usually the snakes instinct is to flee, “fight or flight” mode. You are going to make the snake “fight” the rodent. You just keep annoying the snake, chasing it around the enclosure with the rodent bumping its nose until it decides to constrict it out of frustration.
Now with all of this being said your snake will likely only need to have eaten once for you and you never have a feeding issue again. The hardest part of establishing any snake is the first feeding, regardless if it is a great eater in the previous owners care. Your home has different smells, ambient temps, ambient humidity, different elevation, etc… These snakes are creatures of habit and once they establish a territory in the wild they will likely never move from that rock or log for the entirety of their life. Although these small differences may seem insignificant, these snakes are very in tune with the environmental differences and can definitely tell, even if you mimic the exact setup it was in before. If you moved the snake in its enclosure from California to the middle of Montana, even with the exact same enclosure, your snake can tell! But rest assured, your snake will eat! Eventually. Snakes not eating for 3-4 weeks after shipping or even longer is not uncommon and is like you skipping food for a day or two. These snakes are born with enough yolk to get through a harsh cold winter. And any ethical breeder won’t even sell you a snake that has not eaten at least 3 times in their care if not more. Shipping sometimes makes them feel uncomfortable and being put into a brand new enclosure can make them feel uneasy and cause them to not want to eat. Again your snake needs to learn that its’ new environment is its’ new territory. Larger enclosures can make it harder for that snake to establish its’ territory.
Use these techniques listed above. You can use them in any order. And try them over a period of a week or two. Some of them you can combine like trying live, then if it does not eat leave in a deli cup overnight. If you just try them all at once its not going to work out. Try one every other day. And avoid handling all together, until your snake eats. Also, always feed your snake inside its enclosure. You will see Rosy Boas stick their head out of little burrows they made in the bedding, this is a great sign your snake wants to eat, they will sit and wait for something enticing to walk by so they can eat it.
I will say that using live works best, and I would definitely try that first. Even though a snake was previously eating frozen thawed does not mean it will eat frozen thawed right away. Again once you snake eats once in your care you’re in great shape. The snake learns that it is “safe” to eat in its new territory. And you can continue with live or switch over to frozen thawed. I know not everyone has access to live, but if you do make sure to try it first as you will save yourself some time. If you have access to live and feel bad about feeding off a live rodent, well then you should consider getting a different pet reptile. Not trying to be harsh, but as an owner of a snake it is your responsibility to ensure that animals health, and sometimes that means feeding it a live rodent.
If you do not have access to live rodents, don’t worry! There are still plenty of ways to get your snake to take a frozen thawed meal. Most importantly get quality rodents! I will not talk down about any companies but rather just highly recommend Cold Blooded Cafe! I have found my success rate much higher with Cold Blooded Cafe rodents with all of my animals rather than others in the past. The smell is much fresher and the snakes can definitely tell! Ensure you thaw your rodents correctly. Don’t cook them with boiling hot water. Use warm water to thaw. Then dry them. Then you can use a heat pad or heat lamp to warm them up. Anytime you offer frozen thawed be sure to thaw them correctly! A nice warm fresh smelling rodent can work wonders and even get snakes that typically would only want a live rodent to eat a frozen thawed! On the flip side, a wet, cold, and smelly rodent is the least appetizing thing on earth, even to a snake.
Repeat these steps until your snake eats for you. In extremely rare cases you may need to assist feed, if you have never done this there are lots of educational videos on how to do this. This should be a last resort and only done if your snake is losing extreme amounts of weight. For a baby maybe after 3-4 months should this be considered, for an adult you should never assist feed. I left this at the very bottom as it should not be something you try right away. More times than not people assist feed when they shouldn’t have and can cause the snake to really never want to eat.
Market: For many years the leaders in the reptile industry almost turned a blind eye to scaling up a large collection of Rosy Boas, due to the fact they typically don’t have very high production. In those days it did not make sense to breed a Rosy Boa and get 4 babies that were worth the same as a California King Snake that would double clutch and give you over 30 babies a season! Im using California King Snakes as an example, but this was the case for most colubrids at that time. Thankfully that did not deter some of the OGs and they continued to with their passion and bred Rosy Boas! It was almost like they had the foresight to see where the market would go. And Rosy Boas and many colubrids could not be the same price forever. Not that they were looking to become multi millionaires breeding Rosy Boas, but they knew what they had. And the price reflects the value of the animal. They are all around a better pet for the pet trade as they are slow moving, friendly, hardy animals that have very simple care! Now with all the understanding of morphs from so many people breeding ball pythons, there is so much room for growth in this niche! Not only are there the morphs, but the vast differences in all the different localities! The future is so bright and I am very excited to be a part of it!
Health Issues: First off, full disclosure I am not a veterinarian and am not giving intending to give such advice. However, what I will be stating is not advice, but rather solutions to problems that can be easily avoided. Rosy Boas being such hardy snakes never really have health issues. Only two things you may run into are shedding issues and RIs (respiratory infections). Starting with shedding, you can put them into a deli cup with a warm wet paper towel overnight. This will loosen up that stuck shed and also not allow them to drink water overnight. As for the RIs, these are typically caused by giving too much water. If they have access to a giant water bowl and a large enclosure that the snake is still unfamiliar with, the snake may get lots of water and stay on the cool end. That is a recipe for disaster. A little bit of water is great, a lot of water can be bad. Again these snakes are opportunistic and don’t get heavy rainfall where they are found in the wild. Therefore, when there is water they will drink up until its gone! As it may be the last time they see water for months or even a whole year! When there is lots of water, they will gorge themselves and if they get cold and full of water for an extended period of time it is almost a guaranteed RI. Thankfully, these are 99% of the time bacterial or fungal and can be easily treated with the assistance of your local vet! If you notice bubbling at the mouth (signs of an RI) make sure to bump your temps up and keep dry! Warm and dry is good. Cold and wet is bad. Pretty simple, and get medication from your vet. Typically they will give you some Baytril and if that does not work they culture the infection to see which medication will combat the infection best. However, if you follow this care sheet you will likely never run into these issues.
Sexing: Sexing Rosy Boas is a bit different than sexing other snakes. Easy to sex, just different. Rather than other common methods, such as popping, probing, or “rubber banding”. You will be looking for the presence of spurs on the side of cloaca. If the snake has spurs it is male, if it does not it is female. This is true 99% of the time and personally have not seen this in person, but a female can have in rare cases spurs. Typically if they do it may just be one, or the two are smaller than normal ones on a male, or has one spur but not the other. If there are no spurs it is most definitely female!
Breeding: Rosy Boas are live bearing snakes, meaning they do not lay eggs. They give birth to live young. If you would like to attempt your hand at breeding Rosy Boas it can be a very rewarding experience! First off you will need a boy snake and girl snake. And you will need to put them together. Well how will I know if I have a boy or a girl snake? Simple you pull down the snakes pants and check!
Ok in all seriousness, Rosy Boas are relatively easy to breed. You will need to have sexually mature animals about 3-4 years old. You will need to do a burmation cycle. If you are unfamiliar check out “How To” tab at the top of the website to see how. After burmation you will start to feed your females heavy, every 2-3 days until she stops. After first feeding you will begin pairing them up. It is best to put males into females enclosure. Continue pairing your snakes every few days and leave male in overnight and take out next morning. Only stop once you are sure your female is pregnant. You will see halfway down her body begin to swell and continue to swell while she is not eating. She will stop eating for many weeks before giving birth. This is why it is essential to feed heavily right after brumation as she will need all those calories to give you a healthy litter of babies! She’s not eating during brumation which can last 2-3 months and not eating while she is pregnant another minimum 2 months. Some females eat through pregnancy but is rare. This is why it is essential your female has enough body weight to handle a breeding cycle. The last thing you want is to get a litter of slugs.
Final Notes: I know some of the things I listed above may contradict what many other care sheets say to do. I am not writing my care sheet based on what I have read online, but rather my experience. This is what has worked for me and I feel that sharing these things may help you with your Rosy Boa. This care sheet is not intended to argue against others who may keep theirs’ differently, but rather offer a new perspective on how to keep your Rosy Boa. And hey, maybe help troubleshoot a picky eater or help you have a more successful breeding season. I am always happy to chat with customers on the phone or through email, but I am one person and can’t always reply as quick as I would like. Phone calls are best if you have questions that this care sheet did not answer!