Emerald Tree Boas

Emerald Neonates do not require a large, roomy, habitat unlike many of the larger species of boas. Our Neonates are kept in a 2.5 gal terrarium or even a plastic quart container with screen on top secured by a rubber band. Either small cage is ideal for a high humidity species in that it will hold water, is lightweight and has just the right amount of ventilation. Two separate pieces of pvc pipe are in place to provide perches for the neonates.

For Live plants, we use a common houseplant called the porthos with our habitats. These plants will grow free standing in the 1-3 inches of water you will fill the bottom of the habitat with. Live plants are important in that they help keep the air fresh and with the high humidity inside, this is very important. Plants also provide cover which helps reduce stress in any young animal. A young animal naturally looks for cover since everything is looking to eat it (so it thinks).

This is where most beginners fail and some beginners succeed to become an experienced Herper. The neonates have a specialized and slow digestive system. I offer a single, small to medium sized, mouse fuzzy, rat pup, or popcorn mouse every 10 days. Every litter is comprised of easy, difficult or stubborn feeders. Each animal eats on its own schedule . These reasons are why a neonate Emerald is not for a beginner.

These animals DO NOT eat like a ground boa or python. The adults are fat and sexually active on an appropriate size meal every 2-4 weeks. Neonates also don't eat much since they have a low activity level (they sit in one spot for the most part unless they are hungry and looking for food) which results in the neonates eating about once every 2-3 weeks. I offer food twice a week. Once using example A then a few days later using example B but example E has been working the best currently. Every neonate is different which is what drives a beginner crazy and an experienced keeper to consider why he produces a litter every year to go through this. I have had neonates eat one food item a week from the first week to an animal that that took 3 months to eat its first meal. Sometimes a good size meal will tide over a neonate for a month or you might have a neonate that eats two fuzzes every 20 days like clockwork. One thing is for sure, just as every litter is unpredictable with what colors and sizes are produced you can count on every neonate having a different attitude and eating habits that WILL change as the animal grows.

As with any Reptile, these factors are very important. The neonates are kept at a daytime temperature ranging from 75-85F. Nighttime temps normally drop 5-10 degrees with the lowest being 65F. Personally, I keep the neonates around 74-81F during the day and around 70-75F at night. We use a "four paws" brand under the tank heater made for a 5-10 gallon tank to keep the temp up when its cold. During the summer our home gets somewhat warm and we turn it off completely. Humidity is directly effected by Temperature! A high temp will result in a high humidity. The humidity for these neonates should be kept between 60-90%. The humidity will go down at night as the Temp does. Proper humidity and temperature is ESSENTIAL for arboreal species. Without it the animals will not digest their food properly or keep it down. Sometimes they won't eat at all! A second factor that CANNOT be ignored is that high humidity combined with a high temperature and low air circulation (a Warm room with the doors closed and no air circulation for example) is known to cause upper respiratory infections. A healthy neonate can die in as little as a week under these conditions. You can control the cage environment but if the environment in the room changes throughout the day while you are away then the cage environment is NOT controlled. A common mistake with many keepers of high humidity species is that they don’t watch the air circulation. We place a fan inside the Reptile room which, when combined with the plants and ventilation openings on the cage, tends to help out during the warmer months.

Don't handle it until after it has eaten for you at least Three times and passed the waste. Double check that the environment requirements are what you want them to be before the animal arrives and after. A new Habitat can cause problems even for an older animal. Don't try and feed a new animal for at least 48 hours and if it won't eat it that day wait at least another 48 before trying again. The animal might just be too scared to eat.

For any animal having experienced a problematic shed. Soak a terrycloth towel and put it inside a cotton muslin snake bag, which has also been soaked with warm water. Place the snake in the bag with the wet towel, and put the whole thing into a plastic tub. Mist the interior of the tub with warm water, place the cover on the tub and put it in a warm place (85°F). Loosening a dried on shed may take as long as a day or two and may still require that you manually peel the skin off. Problem sheds treated in this manner can generally be removed easily provided that the animal has be bagged long enough to fully saturate the un-shed, dried on skin. Periodically check to assure the animal is remaining both damp and warm.

Caution : Under NO circumstances should the bag be placed in water. ANY depth, even as little as a half an inch, could result in accidental drowning.

For or use with mature ETBs during any period designed to help induce mating. Humidity levels should be maintained between a Day Time High of 65-90% and a Night Time Low of 50-65%. These Day/Night fluctuations in the humidity level should be coupled with 3 daytime and 1 nighttime misting periods. The DTH & NTH readings should be brief in duration and are essentially linked to misting times and designed to enhance the effects of thermal cycling in an effort to trigger mating behaviors in sexually mature animals. During this period special care must be taken to insure that the Night Time Low Humidity period is of an adequate duration as to allow habitats to dry out completely. This is vitally important in order to minimize any possibility of fungal and bacterial contamination to substrate materials, branches and/or the animal itself.

8. Lighting As with all Neotropical snakes, it is best to provide a 12/12 photoperiod for your emerald tree boa. In the Neotropics, there really isn’t a significant change in photoperiod that coincides with the seasons, so you can pretty much keep this schedule all year round. Now comes the real question: Fluorescent? Incandescent? Or None?

As far as fluorescents go, they make the animals look absolutely great. They bring out an incredible iridescence and will not drastically affect cage temperature as it doesn’t emit any heat (ballast aside). A full spectrum light will also aid plant maintenance for those naturalistic buffs out there. Now, the downside. Any type of bright lighting causes noticeable stress in my experience. Emeralds do not tolerate bright lights very well, often opting to stay as far away from the light as possible or spending the daylight hours with their heads tucked tightly in their coils. In a well established emerald, lighting may be tolerated but it is my belief that this can be detrimental when trying to establish a fairly recent import or an animal that just isn’t well established yet. The best thing to do is to reach a comfortable balance between the two. It is often best to avoid a florescent light in order to ensure you animals health, remember, the emerald should always come first.

9.Conclusion In general, emerald tree boa’s are amazing animals, although difficult to keep they are well worth the extra effort. It’s amazingly gratifying to look into a cage and see this massive head staring out at you trailed by huge emerald coils and topped with bright white triangles that play on the light. They are truly magnificent animals that deserve nothing but the best as our guests. If you are not ready to spend a significant amount of time and money on the proper husbandry techniques and necessary equipment then an emerald is not for you. Why would you buy a brand new Lamborghini and park it out on the street? The same goes for this snake. Don’t buy an emerald if you expect to place an adult in a 10 or 15 gallon tank with a screen lid and a spotlight. If you’re looking for something cool to hang around your arm and show of to your friends, get a corn snake, or a Burmese python, not an emerald. In other words, this snake is a display animal, it is not in the nature of this snake to be handled and prodded. In the wild, an emerald is only seized seconds before its skull is pierced by a hawk, falcon, cat, or even monkey. They as a rule are not handle able animals. I know that tons of you out there are getting ready to write me and tell me that I’m wrong, you’re right. The point I’m trying to make is that although there are tons of exceptions, this is an animal that best benefits from being left alone. Treat them like the gems that they are and I guarantee that you won’t be disappointed.