Boa constrictor

Boa constrictor (Imperator)

One of the most common and popular snakes in the private collections of terrariumists in the world. And the fondness could not have arisen from nothing: this snake species is worth mentioning in every blog or any piece of literature, that describes the most well liked reptiles.
They have the perfect size, the ideal calm temperament, a catchy bright and contrasting skin colour. All in all, these snakes lack imperfection and can be recommended both to terrariumist beginners and to experienced reptile-keepers.

There is so much to say about this snake, that I could never really collect all of my ideas and post them before. But I think I will only mention the most important things :)

Background information

These snakes do not grow as big as Indian rock pythons, however, they do have a solid, muscular and heavy body shape with a extensive variety of colour variations with bright, changing colour tones from the head to the tip of their tails.
Normally, the pythons, held in captivity, tend not to grow larger than 2 m long (considering the fact, that in the nature the Boa constrictor's sizes vary from 1 to 6 metres). The size depends on the area, where it has originally been found, and only then transported for breeding to a different location.
The main body-colour of these Boas is usually light-beige. However, it is the patterns on the back of the snake, which make it stand out among any other reptiles. The head and the upper part of their bodies tends to be more or less monotonous, while from around the 5/7th part of their body, the patterns become more visually distinct, ending with a very bright ornament on the tail of the snake. Considering the fact, that these snakes are "big", their heads are relatively small, making their body proportions seem quiet elegant, compared to some other snakes (Boiga cyanea, Eryx miliaris and etc). The colour varies from light-grey or pastel-green to dark-brown and dark-burgundy. Also, these snakes are well known for the great amount of morphs present. I, personally, have a female 'Albino Boa constrictor - Kahl line'. Her name is Honey and she is one of my favourites of the many reptile and amphibians I have ever kept in my personal collection.

Boa constrictors inhabit a wide range of places: from North Mexico to South Argentina, including most islands of the Gulf of Mexico and some islands on the equator region of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. And even though the place of origin of each species may vary greatly, one of the greatest aspects of keeping them at home is the ability of most Boa constrictors to adapt to the environment the are introduced to in very short time. So, all of the rules and recommendations of keeping the Boa constrictor, which I will write about below, can be applied to most specimen of this species.
They tend to occupy not only the lower areas of the plant community of the rainforest but are also locating themselves in open woodlands with rich bush and shrub vegetation, rocky mountains, the sandy ground, the top of the kapok trees (the tallest trees of the Amazon) and etc.

Though, the colour variation of this species cannot be the only reason why these snakes are so popular. The ease of keeping them in their vivariums, the methods of feeding and their character make up a great reptile for showing off to your friends and family.

Terrarium

If you decided to purchase and keep a Boa constrictor at home, the only factor you might consider problematic is the size of the tank, needed for keeping this species. As  I already mentioned, these snakes can grow up to 2 m (and sometimes 3 m long, if female). Therefore, the minimum size for one grown Boa constrictor must not be smaller than 100*50*50 (Width*Height*Depth) cm. However, that is the size for an average Boa c.. If you have seen the parents of your snake specimen, you should expect your snake to grow as big as them and therefore you should pick a terrarium, suitable for the size of your snake. It is obviously recommended to pick a bigger version of the tank if you are choosing between a bigger and a smaller version. Remember, the width of the tank should not be smaller than half the length of the snake. And the depth, therefore, at least half the measure of the width.

For a specimen that has not yet reached the length of 1 m a tank with the dimensions of 60*40*40 (W*H*D) cm will suit the snake perfectly. Later, though, you will have to switch to a new and bigger terrarium.

Even though most of the Boa c.s tend to inhabit the less humid areas of their original environment, they are still most often located near some kind of water source, which could be a slow-flowing river, a pond, lake, puddle or even an inland sea. Therefore you should place a water-basin, big enough for the whole snake to fit in it, as it would have a greater surface area, increasing the water evaporation rate, easing your job of keeping the humidity level at a certain level.

I would also be a good idea to place some branches, twigs and rocks in the tank, as most Boa c.s are arboreal animals, meaning that they live in the trees. The presence of such objects will also help the moulting of the reptile.

Light and Temperature

You should consider to create a clear temperature gradient in your snake's tank. During the day the terrarium should have a 'cold corner' with the temperature of 19-23 ºC and a 'Hot corner' of approximately 30-40 ºC. The average daytime tank temperature should not fall below 26-27 ºC.

Make sure that the temperature at night is not lower than 19-10 ºC. I would also recommend to place a heating pad, a heating cable or a heat rock in the hot corner for the times, when the temperature is too cold for the snake at night.

In order to keep the temperature stable, you should have a heating lamp in the Hot corner of the terrarium. The lamp can be both a ceramic heat emitter or an actual heating light-bulb. If you choose to provide the heat with a ceramic bulb, make sure you have an external light source above the High-temperature area for the snake's control over the day and night times (that provides a sharp difference between day and night, helping the metabolism of the snake). 

Many people have asked me if a source of ultraviolet light is needed. It is true, that The lack of Vitamin D can cause serious problems (suck as Rickets) and even a lethal outcome, but personally, I do not have a UV light. However, my snake's terrarium is located under direct sunlight (of Denmark...) and that is enough for it. During the summer I take Honey outside (during a warm summer day) to increase the rate of the melanin hormone flow in her body. If you keep your snakes in an area, where no natural sunlight is available, I would recommend to irradiate your snake with an hour of artificial UV light every month. This procedure is not that complex and is often applied to other reptiles as well: place your animal in a separate container with no light obstructions on top (glass, plastic), place the UV light 35-50 cm away from the top of the container and, preferably, leave the room (you don't want to risk your chances of getting skin cancer, do you?).

Humidity

Try to keep the humidity within the bounds of 45-60%. Spray the cold corner with lukewarm water from a sprayer every 3-4th day.

Feeding

Feeding Boa constrictors is normally no difficulty for the keeper, as the snake will gladly accept any prey of appropriate size. The food could be any rodent (mice, rats, hamsters, gerbils, rabbits are most common for feeding) or some birds (chicks, button quails). 

As a general rule, teaching the snake to take frozen prey is no problem, making the feeding a LOT easier. 

Try not to feed your snake prey of too big size, as it may cause the reptile to vomit. When vomiting, internal organs, blood vessels and bones might be damaged by the food. 

Breeding

Again, I do not know a lot, but I do know the basics of how to breed Boa constrictors. Please ask me in the comments, if you want a description of this wonderful process :)

Extra information

Yes, I did say that these snakes are most often very calm and rarely attack people. However, each snake, no matter which species, can have it's own temperament. Also, juvenile Boa c.s may be aggressive.

Yes, it does hurt when they bite.

No, my Boa constrictor has not bitten me (yet).

Here is a gif of Honey's strike

Feeding Honey (7 month old)

Snails

Keeping snails at home

For some people snails are the prime choice as pets. But what makes them so popular? Well, this animal does not require everyday walks, it doesn't make any noises, it does not smell, it does not cause any allergies, they are very easy to take care of, especially in terms of feeding, it does not require much space, it doesn't bite, it doesn't scratch, you can take this pet with you on the holiday or leave it at home  for a very long time without feeding. Today I will describe the conditions of keeping two snail species: Limicolaria flammea and Achatina fulica albino.

Limicolaria flammea

These snails are very common in the collections on snail keepers. They are very common, easy to breed and give a good understanding of how to keep snails at home. They originate from the tropical island of Singapore and are the easiest snails to keep at home.Background InformationThe main colours are light-beige to pale yellow with light-brown to brown helical lines on the shell. The snail itself usually differs in colours as well: the colours may vary from dark-brown to paper-white. The unicolour morph is usually light-beige to paper white without any patterns on the shell.The size of a grown species is up to 8 cm. These snail are considered full-grown at 9 month and are already ready to reproduce at that stage. *Will talk about breeding later on.

Achatina fulica (albino)

This species of snails is known as one of the largest snails on our planet. The length of the shell can exceed 25 cm and the overall length can get up to 35-40 cm. These snails originate from the middle areas of the African continent.Background InformationThe colours of the shells vary from light maroon to dark-nut brown. The body colour does not vary greatly from grey-beige. Albino morphs are common as well. The colours vary from light-yellow lemon to paper-white and the body colour usually matches the colour of the shell (unicolour).

Terrarium & Light

The tank for keeping a couple of grown snails of this species should not be smaller than 30*30*15 (width*depth*height). The tank does not to be a terrarium. It could as well be any plastic box from your local hardware store. But try not to use a tank too big, as you might lose your gastropod pet and it would become difficult to maintain the needed humidity on a larger area. However, make sure (THIS is very important!) that you provide good ventilation in the tank in order to prevent stagnation. If you ignore my tip, your snails will die because of the bacteria and parasites, growing in the food because of the high humidity.For a pair of larger snails, such as the Achatina fulica, I would recommend a tank of 45*45*30.The snails do not require any special light and can live in complete darkness. However, they still need a heat-source. I would recommend to use a thermal cable or a heating pad in one part of the tank. The other part should stay more humid and chill. And do not use heating stones, as they will harm your snails. You do not have to use a water bowl in the tank, though, if you do, you will need to refresh the water at least once per 3 days.

Substrate & Feeding

I combined these two aspects as for snails (almost) everything in their living area they consider food, even the substrate. As for the substrate I would strongly recommend to use coconut flakes, which are usually sold in compact bricks, as it is affordable, easy to clean and for some snails even works as a secondary/tertiary food source. If you decide to use coconut-flakes, the snails will use it for laying their eggs when breeding or hibernation. The recommended layer of substrate should be approximately 8-10 cm deep, so it would completely cover the snails when they are hiding. You could also consider using polished gravel with a thin layer of water covering the surface of the stones. If that is your choice, you will have two install a water filter for aquariums or refresh the water every second day. The water level should not exceed 1-1.5 cm in depth, otherwise your snails might drown. Other options for substrate include coconut-chips and sphagnum-moss. The negative aspects of these two variants, as well as the gravel option, are that snails will not be able to go “under the ground” and would feel unprotected.You will of course need to feed your snails and their diet varies greatly. However, I prefer to feed my snails mostly fruits and vegetables. Salads, apples, cabbages, grapes, tomatoes (the favourite meal of my snails), cucumbers, basically anything cut and chopped into smaller bits. However, there is one detail you should consider about their feeding. Snails must have source of calcium. The way you can provide calcium is to buy calcium powder in your local pet store or go the “natural” way, crushing the egg-shells into tiny pieces of 0.5-1 mm. You can either add the calcium to the food or place a separate bowl. As an alternative secondary feeding source, especially relevant when leaving the snail without feeding for over a month, you could place a piece of wood (cork, branch) in the tank. But make sure you disinfect the item before adding it to your snail by either placing it in the oven for 20 minutes at 220ºC or boiling it in hot water for 8-10 minutes. And, please, never use alcohol or other disinfecting substances in this situation.You could also try growing oat sprouts by changing the substrate to 60-70% soil for decorative plants and 30-40% (respectively) of the current substrate. Usually the plant shoots disappear as soon as they appear on the surface of the ground. Snails love it and it is completely natural as well.

Temperature & Humidity

These two factors you should be careful with. I have made several mistakes with keeping the right levels of temperature and humidity which did not always end well. As for the temperature I have already mentioned the fact, that an alternate heating source would help keep the level constant. In the ‘warm’ corner the temperature should not exceed 30ºC. The humidity in that corner would thereafter be lower, than in the ‘cold’ corner, where the humidity should be 70-90% and temperature of minimum 19ºC. The normal temperatures vary, however I keep my snails at 21ºC(‘cold’ corner)–26ºC(‘warm’ corner). You can maintain the temperature by spraying lukewarm water mostly in the ‘cold’ corner.However, going back to the part, where I discussed good ventilation, if that is not provided mold could start growing and your naive hungry snails would start eating it. That could not only cause various diseases, but stagnation of the humid air could be lethal for your mollusks.What would happen if the humidity is too low? Usually substrate takes long to dry out completely and this process forces the snails to prepare for hibernation. Snails can hibernate without any food source up to 1.5 year, however, I would not risk it and would just allow them to hibernate no longer than 2-3 month if needed. 

Breeding

If you follow all of the instructions above and you have a pleasant environment for your snails you might start seeing random egg clutches popping up in different areas of your snail terrarium. As most snails are hermaphrodites, including the species Limicolaria flammea and Achatina fulica albino, they are able to reproduce no matter what sex they are. Limicolaria flammea are able of reproduction at the age of 9 month, Achatina fulica albino– 11-13 month.Although, you might be thinking that you will not have eggs as you only have your one snail, you are wrong by all means. If the conditions are good, the snail can reproduce without the presence of another specimen.But be careful with breeding as reproduction of snails of same brood and crossing over of alleles might cause severe mutation problems of the offspring.If we go back to the subject of feeding snails calcium, parent snails might start eating their own offspring, as it is a great source of calcium and the parent snails have a deficiency of calcium in their bodies after giving birth to 20-40 eggs. Extra informationEven though snails are very easy to keep, some basic rules should be followed as they are still live creatures and are sensitive to such factors, as humidity and temperature.I hope I have covered everything and I do not have anything to add. If you have any questions, please write me on my email or post your response in the comment section below. 

Ceratophrys cranwelli (Albino)

Cranwell's Horned Frog

Since the very beginning of my amphibian collection, this little aggressive chubby frog has immediately caught my attention. I have often taken it to various museums and reptile exhibitions and the bright colours have always attracted visitors.

Background information

One of the several species of mountainous tropical rain forest. They inhabit northern Argentina, Uruguay, Rio de Janeiro and Brazil. These frogs are terrestrial have are very similar to mix up with the Argentive horned frog, by their looks.
These frogs are more popular in the collections of terrariumists, than the Budget frogs. Grown Cranwell's horned frogs are 15-20 cm in length.
Due to the high production of somatropin, the growth hormone, in their bodies, there are often cases of gigantism. Frogs with this defect grow up to 30-35 cm.
The colours of this frog vary greatly as well and that is one of the main reasons why keepers choose the Cranwell's frog for their collections. The colour of the back of the frog varies from light-olive to dark-gray brown. The spots on the back also vary from pale pink to fulvous-brown. Albino mutations are common as well. In this case the frog's colour varies from pale-beige to neon-yellow with red or orange spots on the back.

Terrarium

If you chose to keep one of these frogs, you will require a tank with good ventilation and the dimensions of 30㎤. As these frogs are terrestrial, I would recommend to focus on a larger tank bottom, rather than height.

Substrate

As for substrate each keeper has his or her own preferences. You can chose between sphagnum moss, coconut flakes, coarse polished gravel with no sharp edges, soft sponges or paper towels with 1cm of water over it, as the frogs tend to inhabit swamps and marshes. However, I would recommend you to use the sphagnum.

Temperature

The temperature in the tank should be kept at 23-27ºC. It is desirable to use a heating pad or a thermal cable in one of the corners of the bottom of tank.

Light

These frogs do not require any special sources of light.
When keeping an albino Cranwell's frog you might want to consider keeping the brightness of the light low, as bright light may affect their hypersensitive eyes.

Feeding

The Cranwelli frogs ear basically the same food, as Argentine horned frogs and Budget frogs: crickets, roaches, mealworms and rainworms, mice and small rats, goldfish and small frogs. An interesting fact is  that these frog species is that they lack certain muscles in their throat, the pharynx, so when hunting, the frogs strangle their prey with their powerful jaws and then swallow it not with swallowing muscles, but with the bottom of their eyeballs.
Pet stores usually sell special powders, which are the necessary minerals and vitamins for amphibians and reptiles. Frogs should be regularly fed these triturations in order to provide a better metabolism and growth.

And some information from myself

The substrate is supposed to hold the moisture, but at the same time prevent the stagnation of the water, which is supposed to hold the humidity at 80-90%. The humidity can also be kept contant by spraying the tank 2 times a day or installing a special frog humidifier. You should also place a bowl with water. It should be big enough for the frog to fit in and even for hunting when feeding the frog fish.
An interesting fact is that the Ceratophrys and Lepidobatrachus frog species lack certain muscles in their throat, the pharynx, so when hunting, the frogs first strangle their prey with their powerful jaws and then swallow it, not with swallowing muscles, but with the bottom of their eyeballs.
The Cranwell's horned frogs should be kept alone in the tank, as cannibalism is very common. Like most frogs, Cranwell's frogs sleep with open eyes.
When buying a Cranwell's frog you should look at the colour of it's skin and purchase the one with brighter colours. The colour determines the well-being of the frog. Also a good method of testing the health of the frog before buying is to check it's reflexes by moving your hand in front of it's head: the frog will either bury itself in the substrate, or attack the hand. Either result shows that the animal is healthy.

Feeding a cricket to my Cranwell's albino frog