Okay so first I want to say hi I just joined this forum because I have a quick question.
I have a male red tail boa whom I've owned for 6 years with zero health problems aside from mites when I first got him but those were dealt with immediately.
He's in a 3 feet x 3 feet x 2 feet enclosure. Temp on warm side is maintained around 85F and cool side around 80F he has a basking spot which is warmer around 90F. The humidity varies slightly depending on how recently I've misted but I usually maintain around 53% sometimes a bit higher sometimes a bit lower.
He has a large water dish which he can fit in fully if he wants but he never does. He has a hide on the warm side and a hide on the cool side. He has some fake plants and java wood. He has a UV light on 12 hours on 12 hours off on an automatic timer- I've read uv isn't super necessary but use it mainly for the day/night cycle as in my country the daylight changes drastically with seasons.
I spot clean when necessary and fully clean everything every 8-14 days when I feed him. I use this recipe for my cleaner: 2c water 1.5c vinegar 1c 70% alcohol and a few drops of organic dish soap.
I take him out and feed him frozen/thawed rats in a large/dark tote in a separate/quiet room while I clean his enclosure. I take everything out and soak the decor, spray down the enclosure and let it sit before rinsing and drying everything then reassemble.
Today was a feeding day and prior to feeding him I usually handle for a bit first since I don't handle him for a day or two after feeding. He seemed 100% fine while I was playing with him today. Then I put him in the feeding tote for 15 mins before feeding, then I fed him and cleaned all the stuff and when I put him back in. Maybe 5-10 minutes later I was in the room again (usually I leave him fully alone after eating but I needed something from the closet in there so I checked on him while I was there) and he did this weird thing I have never seen him do before.
He was on the cold side near the water and the temp at the time was ~75F since I had just reassembled it and hadn't had time to warm up fully but he chose to go on that side over the warm side which was 90F.
Anyway, his throat puffed out like a bull frog. It isn't swollen or anything. It like seemed to fill with air and then go down again. He did this twice. The second time I was watching closely as I was concerned. His mouth/nose seemed totally fine no bubbles or saliva or anything looking like mouth rot or a RI. I have NEVER seen him do this in my 6 years owning him (he was a juvenile when I got him - maybe a few months old).
Like I said I was handling him earlier today and he seemed totally healthy as well. Then I fed him a frozen/thawed rat from my usual source and put him in his cleaned enclosure and that happened.
SO, is it something I should be really concerned about?
I will obviously keep my eye on him for the next little while. But I have never seen this behaviour before in him so I'm a bit worried.
Thank you in advance for your help!
I tried to be thorough but let me know if I left something out!
I have a male red tail boa whom I've owned for 6 years with zero health problems aside from mites when I first got him but those were dealt with immediately.
He's in a 3 feet x 3 feet x 2 feet enclosure. Temp on warm side is maintained around 85F and cool side around 80F he has a basking spot which is warmer around 90F. The humidity varies slightly depending on how recently I've misted but I usually maintain around 53% sometimes a bit higher sometimes a bit lower.
He has a large water dish which he can fit in fully if he wants but he never does. He has a hide on the warm side and a hide on the cool side. He has some fake plants and java wood. He has a UV light on 12 hours on 12 hours off on an automatic timer- I've read uv isn't super necessary but use it mainly for the day/night cycle as in my country the daylight changes drastically with seasons.
I spot clean when necessary and fully clean everything every 8-14 days when I feed him. I use this recipe for my cleaner: 2c water 1.5c vinegar 1c 70% alcohol and a few drops of organic dish soap.
I take him out and feed him frozen/thawed rats in a large/dark tote in a separate/quiet room while I clean his enclosure. I take everything out and soak the decor, spray down the enclosure and let it sit before rinsing and drying everything then reassemble.
Today was a feeding day and prior to feeding him I usually handle for a bit first since I don't handle him for a day or two after feeding. He seemed 100% fine while I was playing with him today. Then I put him in the feeding tote for 15 mins before feeding, then I fed him and cleaned all the stuff and when I put him back in. Maybe 5-10 minutes later I was in the room again (usually I leave him fully alone after eating but I needed something from the closet in there so I checked on him while I was there) and he did this weird thing I have never seen him do before.
He was on the cold side near the water and the temp at the time was ~75F since I had just reassembled it and hadn't had time to warm up fully but he chose to go on that side over the warm side which was 90F.
Anyway, his throat puffed out like a bull frog. It isn't swollen or anything. It like seemed to fill with air and then go down again. He did this twice. The second time I was watching closely as I was concerned. His mouth/nose seemed totally fine no bubbles or saliva or anything looking like mouth rot or a RI. I have NEVER seen him do this in my 6 years owning him (he was a juvenile when I got him - maybe a few months old).
Like I said I was handling him earlier today and he seemed totally healthy as well. Then I fed him a frozen/thawed rat from my usual source and put him in his cleaned enclosure and that happened.
SO, is it something I should be really concerned about?
I will obviously keep my eye on him for the next little while. But I have never seen this behaviour before in him so I'm a bit worried.
Thank you in advance for your help!
I tried to be thorough but let me know if I left something out!
Last edited: