a few weeks ago i got a hog island boa delivered to my door,when the box was opened it didnt look good. she was dehydrated, skinny, had a huge bump on her nose as well as a ri that caused her to basically foam at the mouth. since then she has rebounded beautifully, she no longer feels like a bag of bones showing great strength, and the foaming at the mouth is now minimal if any. i had a real problem with the foaming part, she would get wood chips stuck to the sides of her mouth and had me worried it would hinder her recovery, so after a discussion with my local herp guy he came up with putting an egg crate over the substrate so i could still use the wood chips for humidity but dont have to worry about them getting into her mouth. she still has a way to go till she is 100% healthy but she is well on her way. last week she ate a jumbo rat that weighed just over a pound! tommorow is feeding day and i plan on getting more pics then, until then heres a couple of my big girl.
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now i know what people mean when they say pictures dont do her justice because they really dont so many different colors, she is such a beautiful snake

Glad shes doing better, But till 100% i would just ditch the substrate and crate(not needed) and move to paper towels till shes recovered.

The crate will only cause irritations to her and be very uncomfortable..

Aww! She is pretty glad you are helping her. I think i would just use the paper towels also.

problem is i cant get the humidity she needs on only paper towels, i tried but i just cant, im thinking of covering the crate with paper towels though. how about that face in the first pic, shes so adorable, even with that gynormous bump, i think shes beautiful.

Dont use heat lamps and cover 3/4 of the screen lids with foil or glass. This sill help hold in humidity.

I agree with Rich. That`s how we keep all of our boas that are in tanks (The babies are in tubs). Most of the screen is covered with thick plastic. Only UTHs- no lights.

i did get glass to cover the lid i actually got glass cut for all my tanks (thank you rich) only cost 25 buck for 2 peices. as for the lamp i need it to acheive the temps she needs to recover. i was told keep her hot side 94 and cool side 82, i have the lamp on a dimmer and angled from cold to hot to up the cold side and make a hot spot. my problem is the tank is so long id need another mat to heat the cold side if no light is that what i should do? i have another mat

Might help out with a space heater in room to keep it 80F and youll never need lamps again.

what about uv light i have one in the room she is in but its not on her. should she have a uv light? cause i have one but didnt want to put one directly on her tank, ive gotten conflicting info on this i read they need it and i read they dont(hog island boas)

Snakes dont need UV at all their nocturnal.

I use a digital Oil filled radiator to keep snake room at 82. Then all thats needed is belly heat.

Since you`re having problems with the tank, You might consider keeping her in a tub until she gets over the RI. In a tub, You can achieve the high temps & humidity. No UV is necessary

slytherynhiss that may just be the best peice of advice ive got, i mean i want her in the tank but just for now till i get her better why not. how big should i get she is just shy of 6 foot

you can get 41-60qt tub for her. Keep in mind once you go to tubs you wont go back to tanks.

IDK- I think I`d just "eye' it....LOL W/O seeing her, I`d guess about an 80 quart tub. You want her to have a little bit of room to move around & room for a water dish. BTW- You can call me Rayna :-)

Agreed! Tubs are WAY easy! I went for a bigger size, to give her some "head room"