# Dominican Mountain Boa



## JoeyL (Apr 18, 2016)

Today, I went to a reptile store and fell in love with a brown Dominican mountain boa. Be a month or 2 before I can go to buy him and hope he hasn't been sold in the passing time.

Spoke to the guys there and were friendly enough to let me handle both the hatch-ling [cb15] and his dad, both beautiful and fantastically curious, they gave me advice on set-up in terms of vivarium, large branch, hide, UVB lighting, and water bowel as well as some information about care.

It would be greatly appreciated for any care tips and information on the most ideal set-up as admittedly it would be my first snake... never had the chance until recently to finally be able to keep one!

Any advice or constructive-criticism [in case you disagree with my pick of first snake] welcome!


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## pk93 (Jan 26, 2010)

Are you from the UK? cant say ive had many dealings with them,never heard of a snake needing uv light (although there is a debate currently raging) or being advised to get one. 

http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/forums/snakes/348203-dominican-red-mountain-boa.html


an article from some time back.

Any snake can be a "starter snake"

hopefully someone with actual experience can help you with these if not PM someone off that thread.

PK : victory:


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## JoeyL (Apr 18, 2016)

*Info*



pk93 said:


> Are you from the UK? cant say ive had many dealings with them,never heard of a snake needing uv light (although there is a debate currently raging) or being advised to get one.
> 
> http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/forums/snakes/348203-dominican-red-mountain-boa.html
> 
> ...


Sorry forgot to post what I found if this is useful for people from a keeper in the US >>>

The species name is Chilabothrus striatus (formally Epicrates).
Dominican mountain boa, Dominican red mountain boa and Haitian boa are all common names people use for them which can get confusing. 

They have a fair amount of natural variation within the species, but some US keepers are now giving false morph names like 'pastel' to them, which makes it even more confusing... I've found their husbandry is similar to Rainbow boas, with a few differences which I'll go into. 

Neonates can be more tricky to get feeding than other commonly kept boids in the hobby. They're naturally lizard eaters as young, and are very insecure.

Temps - we maintain a hot side of around 30c, and allow for a decent gradient down into the mid-low 20s.

Humidity - we mist heavily several times a week, allow the vivs to dry a little before misting again. We provide a moist hide for them to always have a humid retreat. 

Substrate - we use a mix of eco-earth, cypress mulch and leaf litter. 

Water bowl - we use one large enough to allow the boa to soak. 

Decor - we provide plenty of hides/cover, they're very insecure as neonates and take a while to grow out of that. As adults they grow bolder but still like to have some secrecy.

Branches - ours tend to hide on the ground, but are more active than a lot of other boas we've kept and will actively climb on any opportunities provided. 

Feeding - we feed our neonates every 5-7 days, the adults are fed every 14 days. We prefer to feed multiple smaller items to them rather than one oversized prey item as they're rather slender bodied boas and the smaller meals more often encourages them to be more active and lean. 

UV - we don't use it for any of our Chilabothrus yet due to temperature issues in the California climate, but I have a friend in Scotland with a young brown phase striatus who says it's thriving under the added boost of UV. 

viv size - for 2014 animals we use 24x18x12", but our 5ft adults are currently in 48x24x18". I'd personally prefer to offer my adults more height in the future. They can grow up to 6-8ft in extreme cases, so a larger enclosure would be needed for those large individuals, but it'll take a 2014 boa 5+ years to reach that size.

They are a pretty hardy species once they're feeding strongly on rodents/chicks. Not as susceptible to humidity related issues as Rainbow boas are. The main catch with them is how difficult the youngsters can be to establish on conventional frozen feeder items.


Added random notes:
- they are a very strong snake for how slender they are, a 4-5ft striatus is not to be underestimated despite being much thinner than Boa constrictors or Rainbow boas. 

- the adults have very strong feeding responses, hook work is recommended to remove them from viv.

- their poo/urate is foul, VERY stinky. Be warned. 

- when they feel threatened youngsters especially musk readily, it's a particularly potent musk. They usually grow out of this habit. 

- if the neonate is brown, with no sign of red/orange/peach on their underside, they won't magically grow up to be a vibrant red boa despite what some shops/breeders will say to sell on the brown ones. 

- They can fire up and down depending on mood or time of day, much like a Crested or Gargoyle gecko can. I have an adult brown male, he's normally a dark dull brown with some minute orange freckling on his scales, Sometimes I'll walk in to see him be a bright silvery grey. My red animals also have dramatic colour changes.

I believe there is one keeper in the UK with a true red, but am unaware of any being bred. There's one or two people working with them in the EU though.


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## RoninUK (Aug 30, 2007)

Generally hardy when established as rodent feeders but they can have trouble shedding if humidity is low or they don't have a moist hide.

WC ones I kept many years ago would feed better if the tank was heavily misted before food was offered and always fed at night. The CB 15 I have now is also a night feeder but less concerned about the misting.

Beware if they musk you - they have the capacity to musk in a normal way or to fire a stream (almost like those tiny little tubes of eye cream) - which is absolutely foul - and I mean you have to leave the room and air it out before you can return. I have only experienced one WC caught specimen doing this when stressed - and once was enough.


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