# Need Advice on Newborn Boas!



## Reptilequeen82 (3 mo ago)

We got a Male Solomon Isabel Island Ground Boa 2 days ago, he is in fact a she and surprised us with 4 babies this morning. We have separated them from mom, she is okay, we’re gonna give her a couple days to adjust. We know to keep them together in a humid , heated enclosure until they shed but any other advice would be absolutely appreciated! Also noted, they look okay!


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## Malum Argenteum (5 mo ago)

Do you mean a Solomon/San Isabel Island Ground Boa (_Candoia carinata/paulsoni_)? If not, then what species?


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## LiasisUK (Sep 30, 2019)

Yes which species of boa?


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## Reptilequeen82 (3 mo ago)

LiasisUK said:


> Yes which species of boa?


Island Ground Boa


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## Reptilequeen82 (3 mo ago)

Malum Argenteum said:


> Do you mean a Solomon/San Isabel Island Ground Boa (_Candoia carinata/paulsoni_)? If not, then what species?


Yes my mistake


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## LiasisUK (Sep 30, 2019)

Reptilequeen82 said:


> Island Sand Boa


That isn't a thing, use a scientific name.


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## Reptilequeen82 (3 mo ago)

LiasisUK said:


> That isn't a thing, use a scientific name.


I edited it already.


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## ian14 (Jan 2, 2008)

In which case you are likely to struggle with these babies. They are very difficult to get feeding. They need high humidity as they are prone to dehydration. They will almost certainly refuse pinks as food. The normal food for babies are tiny lizards and frogs.
You will almost certainly be faced with having to assist feed mouse tail pieces to begin with.
Out of interest, was the boa wild caught??
They are rarely bred in captivity.
I'm also surprised that it was sold to you as male. Males are tiny compared to females!


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## Malum Argenteum (5 mo ago)

I agree with Ian14. Hopefully the adult is feeding on rodents; there are a lot of WC non-feeders sold in the US (UGR imports these regularly). 

There are some people here actually breeding them (and a lot of captive born from WC females), but a missexed pregnant animal was certainly WC, and sold by someone who shouldn't be selling them.

I presume there are some folks here who can give specific advice. But, just in the interest of getting as much info to you as possible, here's a recent thread on BP.net about trying to get these guys started.

As a likely WC animal, I'd recommend getting it in to see a qualified herp vet to give it a look over and a clean up. You can search for a qualified vet here:

ARAV vet search.


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## ian14 (Jan 2, 2008)

My concern is that this will be a WC animal. WC from Indonesia commonly carry high parasite loads and are very hard to get feeding unless you get them from an import that was shipped almost as soon as captured and then bought almost on landing in the importing country. They tend, though, to be kept for long periods of time without food or water in poor conditions before export. So by the time they arrive they already dehydrated and in poor condition. Add to that a species that is notoriously hard to feed and you have a recipe for disaster.
I doubt it's a San Isabel, more likely to be a mainland animal.
It would be nice to see photos of the adult, as San Isobel are very distinctive compared to normal _Candoia carinata_.


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## Malum Argenteum (5 mo ago)

UGR actually has more wholesale selection in San Isabels (imperfects, normals, and high white -- $60, $75, $100) than Solomon Islands (one grade, two sizes, $30 for any) right now. Most are discounted, so likely an older shipment that is going down, or they imported too many.

Please don't anyone take this as a recommendation to buy one, because it isn't.


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## ian14 (Jan 2, 2008)

Malum Argenteum said:


> UGR actually has more wholesale selection in San Isabels (imperfects, normals, and high white -- $60, $75, $100) than Solomon Islands (one grade, two sizes, $30 for any) right now. Most are discounted, so likely an older shipment that is going down, or they imported too many.
> 
> Please don't anyone take this as a recommendation to buy one, because it isn't.


Frightening.
I know that the entire hobby is based on wild caught, however there is really little need, now, for such huge imports of animals that, let's all be honest, will mostly die due to appalling care by the trappers, then the exporters, and even the importers?
I vividly remember visiting what was, at the time then of not still now, one of the biggest UK wholesalers. They sold both WC and cb. A friend of mine knew the owners and invited me along.
I was horrified.
Row upon row upon row of tiny boxes on shelves. The attitude was "if they feed, they live. If they don't, they die." No effort made to getbthem feeding, just pinks chucked in and hope for the best, irrespective of whether theybwere CB or WC.
I spotted a _Candoia aspera _looking very sorry for itself. These are still hard to find in the UK. Back then they were like unicorns. He was sold to me for just £20, such is the cheapness of these animals. And even then, they would have made profit.
I kept it very damp, it shed over 4 layers of retained skin and amazingly took a small defrost mouse.
It survived for about a year, probably 360 days more than it would have had it been left stuck at the back of a shelf of snakes in their warehouse.
And yet these practices still persist.


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## LiasisUK (Sep 30, 2019)

A friend of mine has had good success breeding Candoia paulsoni, he assist/force feeds all the babies pinkies or pinkie heads for the smaller ones. Some need this weekly for 6 to 12 months before they will eat on their own, some will drop feed immediately but this is rare. Scenting with chicks or lizards works sometimes. Survival rate from a litter is usually 60 to 80%


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