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Housing the Boa Constrictor
Housing for baby boas should be at least 24 inches wide (preferably 36 inches) and can be a simple aquarium with a secure top, or one of the numerous plastic snake enclosures on the market today. Adults require a much large enclosure. Rule of thumb is to add the width of the cage (right to left) and the depth (front to back) together and that is the maximum size snake that that enclosure can house. An exmaple is a cage that is 4 feet wide and 2 feet deep can house a 6 foot snake. Most of the prefab plastic/PVC/Plexiglass enclosures have an average height of 18 to 24 inches.
There are many acceptable substrates available in the pet industry today. The most common used for large constrictors is Cypress muclh that can be purchased at any home improvement store such as Lowes or Home Depot. Cedar shavings and/or chips are never to used for any reptile as it is toxic to them. Another alternative is butchers paper which is a brown paper that comes on large rolls and is inexpensive and is a lot easier to work with when cleaning day comes along. Newpaper is another cheap alternative that can be used. For more details on the types of substrates please see our Substrate page.
Hides are important to boas and one must be present at all times for your snake to feel safe and stress free. One at each end of the enclosure (one in the cool end and one in the hotter end) is recommended. Hides can be half logs (pretreated to get rid of the little critters that may be present), upside down plastic buckets, commercially purchased caves, or even cardboard boxes (but make sure to throw these away if (and when) they become soiled.