Rubber Boas

[Toby_H]

Last year my girl fell in love with a Rubber Boa at a reptile show...

We've recently been discussing a couple animals I'm interested in getting and she's gotten all googley-eyed over the idea of getting a Rubber Boa. Unfortunately I suck at telling her no so now I am on a quest to find one.

I've searched the typical places, kingsnake.com, fauna classifieds, many google searches... all resulting in nothing...

Repticon is coming to my town (Charlotte, NC) in October this year so if I don't find one before then I'll check there.

Does anyone know of a respectable source for Rubber Boas?

Now that I've seen how difficult they are to find, I'm quite interested in getting an unrelated pair to potentially breed. I'm not so interested in 'breeding for profit', but I'd love to help others get their hands on these hard to come by cute little snakes.

Lastly... I hear they are very abundant in the wild... and are very easy to find in quite a few places in the US. I do want to respect and follow laws in this regard, but if there is a way to legally collect one male and one female and ship them to me, I'd love to have that conversation with someone who could go find them

~Toby

PS - when my girl and I discuss Rubber Boas this is what she looks like... :app but with longer hair

 

[Pikey]

well my friend lives in WA where rubber boas are found & it is quite rare to come across one in the wild.


But here you go
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[slideaboot]

They're tough to come by, so you have to be patient. They're really fun to keep though--AND EASY. If you google Richard Hoyer you'll find out pretty much all you need to know about them.

 

[Toby_H]

Pikey, thanks for the link, I don't know how we missed that one...

We have secured a 'pair' of Rubber Boas! I'll be sure to post pics of them when they get here and their enclosure when it gets decorated

My girl is very excited for them. I'm very happy that I am corrupting her passions for reptiles.

 

[Pikey]

no problem, i just seem to be good @ finding things..

I even found some real Orange Tegus, but they only sell to Zoos

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It's the wrong Scientific name, but the right lizard (farmed in Caribean)
But they also have all the other tegus (Colom, argen, red, dwarf, & Tegu Monitor all listed in S. America)

 

[Toby_H]

I just noticed I never updated this

I bought the Ã?¢ââ??¬Ã?â??unrelated pairÃ?¢ââ??¬Ã? of Rubber Boas in the ad Pikey found aboveÃ?¢ââ??¬Ã?¦

At first they went into a 10 gal I threw together for themÃ?¢ââ??¬Ã?¦ while I put together a 30 gal w/ custom Styrofoam/Drylok/silicone/(pulverized)coco-fiber/(crushed)walnut-shells backgroundÃ?¢ââ??¬Ã?¦

Both ate for me within the first month of receiving them and IÃ?¢ââ??‰â??¢ve been very happy with them from the startÃ?¢ââ??¬Ã?¦

The tank sits at Ã?¢ââ??¬Ã?â??room temperatureÃ?¢ââ??¬Ã? (low 70s in winter) but otherwise isnÃ?¢ââ??‰â??¢t being Ã?¢ââ??¬Ã?â??winteredÃ?¢ââ??¬Ã?Â. I have an outdoor/attached storage room stays 50*~70*F through the winter I may move them into until spring. Although I doubt the female will be mature enough to breed this coming summer, so I may just keep them in the house.

These arenÃ?¢ââ??‰â??¢t particularly Ã?¢ââ??¬Ã?â??prettyÃ?¢ââ??¬Ã? snakes but they are soooo soft to the touch. They feel closer to velvet than rubberÃ?¢ââ??¬Ã?¦ They are also marvelous for handling. They donÃ?¢ââ??‰â??¢t stress easily and are perfectly content to wrap around a warm finger/arm for hours. They have absolutely no bite response.

They are quite active both day and night despite being Ã?¢ââ??¬Ã?Å?nocturnalÃ?¢ââ??‰â??¢. IÃ?¢ââ??‰â??¢ve seen them drink water but never swim or soak in their dish. The pulverized coco fiber mulch allows them to borrow extensively though IÃ?¢ââ??‰â??¢m surprised by how much they climb.

As nest robbers they will be happy to eat pinkie mice/rats for life. Mine took to frozen/thawed pinkies immediately. They eat a couple pinkies (each) every two weeks or so in the summer and wonÃ?¢ââ??‰â??¢t eat again until spring (though IÃ?¢ââ??‰â??¢ll offer monthly).

No UVBÃ?¢ââ??¬Ã?¦

They are super easy to care for and so easy to handle I think they would be a great first snake or snake for a child. Though due to being protected/restricted in their native areas (Rocky Mountain foothills from Mexico to Canada) and not being very prolific in captivity, they remain scarceÃ?¢ââ??¬Ã?¦

 

[Beazer]

Awesome little guys and thats a pretty cool set up. I love the way they feel too lol.

-Jon DeLong

 

[Guest]

Wonderful setup ! I find those wild from time to time they are very interesting animals .. Smooth as silk totally docile.. They seem to have two speeds slow and very slow .. Just pick them up and put them in your pocket ... The story is that they can eat one a year and do well .. I usually find them in the spring stretched out across a trail .. I would bring them home and keep them for a week or so before putting them back where I found them . I never tried keeping them long term as the story is they are difficult to keep .. Good job Toby It will be interesting to see if they breed in captivity ... Keep us up dated !!

 

[JohnMatthew]

I love how their small size allows one to do a naturalistic setup without having to break the bank and house building some massive enclosure. Very cool snakes and sweet enclosure you've given them.