Brazilian Rainbow boa

About Brazilian Rainbow Boas

Area of origin: Central and South America
Adult size: 5-6ft
Captive lifespan: 25+ years

To see how I’ve set up Skittles, my own Rainbow Boa’s enclosure, check out the video!

Housing, heating & lighting

Enclosure

Rainbow Boas require high humidity and good air flow- this can seem tricky to achieve but is actually rather simple. An enclosure with ventilation on the back lends itself well to having a small computer fan attached to draw fresh air inside. This way, the air exchange is good and you won’t need to worry about mould growing. The minimum size of the enclosure for an adult should be 4 x 2 x 2ft. Whilst mostly terrestrial, Rainbow Boas do climb, so allowing them a little height to do so is beneficial.
Provide at least two hides, as theses snakes tend to be very shy during the day and prefer to tuck themselves away and sleep. Providing lots of hiding spots will help your snake to feel more confident as they know they’re never far from a safe place.
Branches are a great addition to any Rainbow Boa enclosure as it will help them to keep fit and active during the night when the venture out for some exercise.
You’re aiming for a humidity of 90%+ for a hatchling or juvenile, and 80-90% for an adult Rainbow Boa. To achieve this humidity, make sure you have a good size water bowl and a substrate that holds moisture without becoming too damp. I use a mix of coir, orchid bark, and mosses.

Heating

Heating a Rainbow Boa enclosure is rather interesting as you don’t want to use a heat source that will dry out the air too quickly. A ceramic heat emitter will tend to cause the humidity to drop rapidly, so it’s not the best option unless you have an automated misting system. I do all my misting by hand, so I use a reptile radiator to heat the enclosure from above and provide a heat gradient of 21-30°C from cool end to warm end. Make sure whatever heat source you use is guarded so you can snake doesn’t burn themselves.

Lighting

Brazilian Rainbow Boas must be provided with a day/night cycle. You can certainly offer your snake UVB lighting- a 6% flood light should be sufficient. If you prefer not to offer UVB, LED strips are a great way to light the enclosure. Make sure they lights are on a timer so your snake has a routine they can become familiar with.

Feeding & handling

Feeding

Rainbow Boas tend to eat whatever’s put in front of them, I’ve not come across many that are too fussy with food. A good staple are rats as these boas do get larger as adults. However, using mice while they are young is fine.
Hatchling and juveniles should be fed weekly, with adults having a meal every 14 days.

Handling

As with any young snakes, Rainbow Boas can be a little skittish when small. It’s totally normal and with regular handling they’ll settle down. They can be fast and flighty when young, so if children are handling, this should be supervised to make sure the snake stays safe.
Rainbow Boas are naturally very curious, so they enjoy investigating everything when they come out for handling sessions.