Baskden a warm den for reptile folk · baskden.com Rubber Boa — Vet-Prep Sheet
🔍 Find a reptile / exotics vet — before you need one
- Search the ARAV Find-a-Vet directory (the Association of Reptilian & Amphibian Veterinarians), or in the UK the RCVS Find-a-Vet — or search "reptile / exotics vet near me".
- Call ahead and ask the key question: "Do you see reptiles?" Not every practice does.
- Ask the exam fee when you call. Knowing the cost up front removes the money-panic in a crisis.
- Find and save one now, while things are calm — not in the middle of an emergency.
📇 Fill this in now — before the crisis
Two minutes now saves ten in a panic. Print it and keep it with your care notes.
🚨 Is this an emergency now?
See a reptile vet promptly if you notice any of these:
- See an exotics/reptile vet if the snake refuses food for an unusually long stretch beyond a normal seasonal fast, especially with visible weight or muscle loss along the spine.
- Retained shed, particularly stuck eye caps or tail tip — recurring bad sheds point to a hydration or humidity problem worth a checkup.
- Open-mouth breathing, wheezing, bubbling from the nose or mouth, or excess mucus — possible respiratory infection.
- Persistent tiny mites, unusual lumps or swellings, mouth redness/discharge, or any wound.
- Regurgitation of a meal, prolonged lethargy, or a body temperature exposure event where the animal got too hot — overheating is a genuine emergency for this heat-sensitive species.
When in doubt, a vet call is never wrong — most issues are reversible if caught early.
🚗 On the way / while you wait
✅ Do
- Keep it warm at a safe transport temperature — a cold reptile crashes fast (a warm car or a covered container with a warm, not hot, pack helps).
- Keep it calm, dark and quiet in a secure, ventilated container — stress makes almost everything worse.
- Bring it in its own container so the vet sees it as it lives.
⛔ Don't
- Don’t offer food, or any OTC, aquarium-shop or online-forum remedy — many are useless or harmful and can mask the signs.
- Don’t let it get cold on the way in.
- Don’t handle it more than you must.
🎒 What to bring
- A short video and a couple of clear photos of the behaviour or sign — it may not show it in the clinic.
- A note of your setup (basking, cool-side and night temperatures, UVB, humidity, substrate) and exactly what — and how often — you feed.
- Your reptile, transported safely in its own secure, ventilated container — kept warm (see below), not in a cold car.
🗣️ What to tell the vet
A general vet may not know this species. Come ready to explain its correct care:
- Temperature
- Warm end roughly 78–85°F (26–29°C) as the ceiling — never let the warm side exceed 85°F. No basking bulb or hot spot is needed; gentle background warmth from a low under-tank heater on a thermostat is plenty. Cool end around 65–72°F (18–22°C). Rubber boas are genuinely cool-tolerant and are active at temperatures far lower than most snakes. A natural night drop is fine and welcome — into the low-to-mid 60s°F (around 60–68°F / 16–20°C). No supplemental night heat required in a normal room.
- UVB & lighting
- Not required. As a nocturnal/crepuscular burrower it does well on a simple 12-hour ambient light cycle with no UVB. A very low-output UVB bulb won't hurt if you want to follow modern best practice, but it is genuinely optional for this species.
- Humidity
- Low to moderate, roughly 40–60%. A light morning misting plus a damp-moss humid hide covers shedding and hydration — do not saturate the substrate or run misters.
- Enclosure
- Adult minimum a 20-gallon long (approx. 30 x 12 in floor space); a 40-gallon breeder is better. Floor space matters far more than height — this is a terrestrial burrower, not a climber.
- Substrate
- A burrowable, moisture-holding substrate: aspen shavings, coconut fiber/coir, or a soil-based bioactive mix a few inches deep so it can tunnel. Avoid cedar and pine (aromatic oils are harmful) and avoid dusty sand.
- Diet
- Appropriately sized frozen-thawed rodents — pinky to small adult mice depending on the snake's girth. Feed roughly every 1–2 weeks (juveniles more often, adults less). In the wild they specialize in nestling rodents, but captive-bred mice fully meet their needs.
- Supplements
- A whole-prey rodent diet is nutritionally complete, so routine dusting is not needed. A light dusting of calcium is only a consideration for animals that never get any UVB and eat a very restricted diet — for most rubber boas on whole rodents it is unnecessary.
⚕️ Reptiles are ectotherms kept at species-specific temperatures — a cold reptile can’t metabolise medicines properly, so tell the vet your exact temperatures and keep it warm for transport. Reptiles are prey animals and hide illness until it is advanced, so early changes matter. Mention your UVB/lighting and any supplements or remedies you’ve already used, and ask for reptile-safe products and doses.
Then note which of the warning signs (above) you are seeing, when they started, and whether they are getting worse.
❓ Questions to ask
- Do you routinely see reptiles? If not, can you refer me to a vet who does?
- What are the likely causes — and could my setup or diet be contributing?
- What is the treatment plan, the likely cost, and what should I watch for at home?
- How do I prevent this from happening again?