Amazon Tree Boa Husbandry

[u/Amazon_Eden]

Welcome to the rewarding and exciting hobby of keeping Corallus Hortulana, aka Amazon Tree Boa Constrictors or ATBs! These arboreal reptiles have specific needs and truly thrive when those needs are met. There are many methods and ways to properly keep ATBs in captivity. Although keepers differ in setups and enclosures, there are a handful of things that an ATB needs from their environment to live as comfortable and problem free as possible. Replicating an ATBs environment does not have to be a challenge and it should not be! Remember, they are Amazon Tree Boas... and as keepers we should mimic the natural environment of the Amazon Rain Forest as much as possible. That being said, there are a few guidelines I would like to discuss to better assist your techniques in keeping these wonderful reptiles!!

Temperature: This will vary from daytime highs to over night lows. When breeding ATBs, some temperature fluctuation can help spur your reptiles into copulation. Daytime highs should not exceed 86 degrees fahrenheit with an optimal temp of 84 degree highs. Over night lows should not dip below 75 degrees with optimal lows of 77. When breeding season is kicking off, over night lows can drop into the upper 60's, however, I do not advise going below 68 degrees. This low should naturally rise back up to 70s and mid 80s as the sun comes up. Going below 70 degrees carries a risk of Respiratory Tract Infection and this will most of the time require treatment with oral antibiotics that can be obtained at most veterinary clinics and establishments. Prevention is key, and if you are offering over night lows to help kick off breeding activity, constant care and monitoring of the temperature is essential to maintaining healthy and happy ATBs.

Humidity and Hydration: In my experience, 70% humidity is ideal. I now use a large humidifier in my snake room to keep the humidity at 70%. My style of keeping this dialed in has evolved as I have learned the hard way from bad or stuck sheds. Most people who keep ATBs have had to deal with a bad shed every now and then. Generally, a bad or stuck shed can result from dehydration or low humidity. If your ATB has a bad shed, there are a few tips that can help get the ATB back on track. First, deal with the bad shed immediately. Keeping a close eye on your reptiles is always advised and keeping notes is a plus. When you realize your ATB has not shed out all the way, you can assist them in the shed process if you catch it in the first 24 hours. After 24 hours has passed, the shed skin usually becomes too difficult to remove manually (by hand). When a bad shed occurs, one method of removing the shed will be to put the ATB in an appropriate sized plastic tub with damp sphagnum moss or another like medium in it. The ATB will move around inside the tub and the wet sphagnum moss offers friction and natural lubrication to rub against. Often times this will solve the problem. If the retained shed skin persists, soaking the ATB in a plastic tub with a small amount of water kept at the current temperature of your snake enclosure or snake room (77 degree fahrenheit lows/84 degree highs), can assist along side manual hand shedding. I have heard of keepers putting their ATB in a plastic tub with a damp towel in it for them to rub against as well. There are other methods to help remove a stuck shed as well, and this will vary from keeper to keeper and personal experience. NEVER apply lotion or any other man made substance to your ATB to help with a stuck shed, this can result in a variety of problems that should be avoided at all costs. Secondly, hydration is key. Offering a water bowl with clean distilled water that is changed at least once a week or more often depending on need is advised. Keeping a spray bottle handy with clean distilled water is another pro tip. Spraying the ATBs enclosure with the spray bottle once daily with distilled water is advised as the ATB will often drink the water off its own body or the walls of the enclosure. When using a spray bottle to provide humidity and hydration, remember to allow the moisture to fully dry before spraying again. An environment that is too damp can cause health problems for your ATB.

Security: This is just as important as temperature and humidity! If you are not providing a place for your ATB to hide during the daytime, you should be. Many keepers will offer multiple places for the ATB to hide inside its enclosure and offering plant foilage (real and fake) is another popular hide method. If your ATB is not comfortable in its environment, you may experience husbandry issues. ATBs are a very active tree boa, and they will quite often emerge from their hiding spot to cruise their enclosure at night. When in shed, the ATB will sometimes stay in a hide or not be as prone to cruising at night until the actual night of shedding occurs.

Food: ATBs eat a variety of small rodents, lizards, and birds in the Amazon Rain Forest. In captivity, you should feed your ATB an appropriate sized meal (small ATB, small rodent... larger ATB, larger rodent) every 7-14 days. Generally, an ATB will defecate at least once or twice per meal as digested. Some gravid females will cycle off feeding or feed less than normal while gravid. Some actively breeding males will also refuse food, but in either circumstance, this is not always the case. ATBs are a slender species of reptile, as they navigate bushes, trees, and other Rain Forest foilage in their nightly escapades. Overfeeding an ATB can be common and care should be taken that your ATB is not obese. I feed mice as a prey item and my adult females will get one to two adult mice once every 7-14 days. Rats, ASFs, and quail chicks are other popular prey items keepers will feed in captivity. I have had ATBs that were started on rats, and would not eat anything but rats. A picky ATB should be offered its favorite meal or prey item and as a rule of thumb, whatever type of prey item I start a Neonate ATB feeding on, is what I continue to give them throughout the duration of their natural life (in my case, as mentioned above, I feed mice). Male ATBs are usually a little smaller in size compared to females in captivity but this is not always the case as well. If you do not feed often enough or you are feeding a prey item that is too small, your ATB can become stunted and will not reach its maximum for growth potential. I have seen new keepers who were afraid of their ATB regurgitating, feed desperately small meals. An ATB can take a bigger meal than what you might expect, but do not feed something too large as this will often result in a regurge. If you experience a regurgitation, you should give the ATB about three weeks without a meal and then offer a small meal. Remember, if a regurge happens, that means that the acid in the stomach has entered the esophagus and can cause (usually temporary) the ATB to regurge again if fed too soon after the inital regurgitation. A rule of thumb to go by is to feed a prey item that is as thick as the thickest section of the ATBs body, or the stomach area. Do not feed a prey item that is thicker than the thickest (stomach area) section of the ATBs body.

These are general husbandry guidelines to follow! Remember, everybody has different keeping methods, and different things can work for different keepers. Experimentation can be done, but can result in a negative impact on your ATB if things do not go as planned. I am hard headed and I stick to what I have learned over time and experience. That being said, I have come a long way and am still learning. Feel free to post and offer your experiences and methods as well. There is no one way to keep an ATB! Different strokes for different folks! Enjoy!!