What breed of snake is my snake

[andrewbrienstr]

Hello,

Can you please help me identify what breed of snake this guy is?
Store says red tailed boa, however I've heard that's a name that's just thrown around alot..

Please help!!

[hondo-dan]

I'm not a boa guy but it is a red trail. What morph I'm not sure though.

[LiL Zap]

Looks like a red tail to me. How did you obtain a snake that you don't know what the species is?

[CrotalusR#1]

Not a boa guy either but it's no morph from what I can see...looks like possibly a suriname/pokigron boa.
Nathan.

[Mikoh4792]

Looks more bci than bcc to me.

[poison123]

Agreed ^ Likely a Columbian boa.

[Tsubaki]

It's just a boa constrictor, if you don't know what it is you can not put a name on it. Just like you can't get a mut from the pound and name it the breed it resembles the most, you can not do that with snakes either. Is is a pretty little boa constrictor, probably an intergrade of sorts.

[Dilema]

Definitely not a redtail...

[Aaron_S]

The third pic says Hogg Island with the white colouration.

BCI though but without knowledge of parents it's a best guess situation.

[bigsnakegirl785]

Not a red tail, but exactly what it is we couldn't tell you, and there are no breeds of snake. A wild-type boa constrictor. That prey item looks a bit big for your boa, too. You want to feed something about as big around as they are, and it shouldn't leave a bulge, although babies could probably get away with a small bulge.

[Tsubaki]

I don't see any problem with this prey size, i always feed around 1,5 times the size of the girth. it Could even take bigger, it seems about the same girth as the thickest part of the snake. I rather feed slightly larger prey less often, and give their digestive system more rest in between feedings. Never had a fat snake or any dietary issue whatsoever.


it shouldn't leave a bulge
Why not? it's completely normal to be able to see that a snake has eaten.

[bigsnakegirl785]

I don't see any problem with this prey size, i always feed around 1,5 times the size of the girth. it Could even take bigger, it seems about the same girth as the thickest part of the snake. I rather feed slightly larger prey less often, and give their digestive system more rest in between feedings. Never had a fat snake or any dietary issue whatsoever.



Why not? it's completely normal to be able to see that a snake has eaten.

Boa constrictors have extremely slow metabolisms, and it seems to be healthier for them to make their prey items smaller and lengthen time between their feedings. A couple of big names such as Vin Russo, who wrote the Complete Boa Constrictor, support this kind of feeding. I have implemented this kind of feeding with my BCI since December, and I've noticed increased health and body build. Granted, he's a young adult, but that kind of feeding supports a slow growth in baby boas, which has many benefits. I did admit that babies could probably do with a small bulge, but as they get older you really don't want to see that bulge.

[Tsubaki]

The opinion on that subject varies a lot, and yes they do have a slow metabolism. I support feeding a lot less often than most people do, especially on adults (5+). My adult boa's (males in particular) would only eat a handful of times times a year compared to my other snakes, and they were very healthy. I do not agree that a bulge should not be visible, i did feed my boa's smaller on average than i did my retics. (Who i would easily give prey twice their girth or more). As long as you give the animal more than plenty of time to digest, and don't go to any extremes it should be fine. It is not an exact science, all you can do is mimic what they do in the wild. I believe their bodies should be put to work from time to time, always had adults glowingly healthy, lean, mean and shiny. I don't think there is a 'perfect' way of feeding in captivity, i don't think Vin Russo's method is perfect, i don't believe mine is perfect.. But i do believe there is more than one method in which the animals grow up to beautifully healthy adults, so i don't think either them is bad.(there Are bad methods out there though) Vin Russo is great btw, both my Nicaragua's were bred by him.

[David VB]

This is still a young boa so it won't hurt him to have bigger prey, they need it to grow. Like Tsubaki said, once grown you should be more careful about feeding.

And this is no red tail, it's Boa constrictor sp.

[bigsnakegirl785]

The opinion on that subject varies a lot, and yes they do have a slow metabolism. I support feeding a lot less often than most people do, especially on adults (5+). My adult boa's (males in particular) would only eat a handful of times times a year compared to my other snakes, and they were very healthy. I do not agree that a bulge should not be visible, i did feed my boa's smaller on average than i did my retics. (Who i would easily give prey twice their girth or more). As long as you give the animal more than plenty of time to digest, and don't go to any extremes it should be fine. It is not an exact science, all you can do is mimic what they do in the wild. I believe their bodies should be put to work from time to time, always had adults glowingly healthy, lean, mean and shiny. I don't think there is a 'perfect' way of feeding in captivity, i don't think Vin Russo's method is perfect, i don't believe mine is perfect.. But i do believe there is more than one method in which the animals grow up to beautifully healthy adults, so i don't think either them is bad.(there Are bad methods out there though) Vin Russo is great btw, both my Nicaragua's were bred by him.

All good points. I've found this method best for me and my boa constrictor. He gets rabbits or rats from 1/2 his width to just under his width every 5 weeks. I'm also trying to fast him this winter as well, he normally eats all winter, never had him refuse a meal except when I was accidentally feeding him too large of meals (he should have still been on mediums but he was getting nearly jumbo-sized rats which I didn't realize at the time due to a lack of a scale and advice to step up his prey size). Right now I'm stocked up on rabbits, so that's what he's getting for now, but I might feed every 4 weeks on rats, but I haven't fed rats since I began this feeding regimen. Feeding depends on the prey item, the snake in question, and age.

I plan on trying this method with my next boa, and seeing how it works for babies (obviously 7-10 days rather than 5 weeks lol). Although I could feed him larger, I don't feel like it's important. Snakes are overfed as it is, so maybe stepping down on the food will improve their overall health. I'm still in the testing stages of this feeding method, but after nearly a year I've found this to be a very good method, at least for my individual.

The mouse is still rather large, though. It appears more than 1.5x the width of that snake.

[amousley1]

Looks like a sibling to my mutt boa! (Terrible lighting in my picture though)

[CrotalusR#1]

That's funny, so when an anaconda eats a capybara it's detrimental to it's health? So what's the biggest meal for an 18+foot retic a big rat rabbit?lol
Nathan

[Tsubaki]

All good points. I've found this method best for me and my boa constrictor.

The mouse is still rather large, though. It appears more than 1.5x the width of that snake.


I'm glad you found a method that works for you and your animal, it does not sound like a bad method. I agree there are many overweight snakes, and i can assure you that is from overfeeding, not larger prey. I feed larger prey, but i do not have a standard feeding schedule. It varies from snake to snake, and from time to time, i'll share how i feed my snakes in case anyone is curious.

I can not set my calender in advance, when i feed my animals is not always the same for each of them. I set it per meal. Basically put: I never offer food in shed or when mating, i try to avoid offering food if they don't forage. I set a minimum amount of time between meals, and a maximum amount of time depending on age/gender/species. When that minimum time passes, i feed them as soon as they forage, if they do not forage i feed them at the maximum time.

Never had an overweight animal in my life, and never had a skinny one either. While using this method i noticed, more laid back animals eating less often. While more high strung individuals, often ate at start of the minimum. All while retaining a proper weight. The balance of that personalization makes it feel right to me, but this method might not be for everyone, to each their own :)

Looking at the picture, i'd say the mouse is about the same girth as the thickest part of the snake (which is not visible in the picture) It's dead and laying flat, it looks thicker than it is.

[SnoopySnake]

That's funny, so when an anaconda eats a capybara it's detrimental to it's health? So what's the biggest meal for an 18+foot retic a big rat rabbit?lol
Nathan

No one was talking about anacondas or retics, they were talking about boa constrictors.

I have heard what bigsnakegirl said too, but more so I hear that bcc's need smaller meals than bci because they have slower metabolisms.

That said, I agree with everyone else. Looks like a mix of various boa constrictor locale.

[CrotalusR#1]

SnoopySnake

theirs just know way boas should only eat prey size as big around as there mid body. anacondas are boas by the way....gaboons have super slow metabolisms but they still have been know to eat stray cats, Royal antelope, and monkeys!.. if a snake is kept in a proper set up they can very easily digest large prey items. if there not being kept properly than i would go with what some of you are saying but if that's the case, probably shouldn't be keeping the snake in the first place. my boa used to eat huge prey items and was extremely healthy.

[poison123]

Didn't read everybody's comments.

Based off of my experience with BCIs, they tend to bloat fairly easy. They may have a faster metabolism than BCCs but not by much. Candas and bcis are in two completely different genus so comparing them is inaccurate imo.

[SnoopySnake]

Didn't read everybody's comments.

Based off of my experience with BCIs, they tend to bloat fairly easy. They may have a faster metabolism than BCCs but not by much. Candas and bcis are in two completely different genus so comparing them is inaccurate imo.

This is what I was getting at, lol. :)

gaboons have super slow metabolisms but they still have been know to eat stray cats, Royal antelope, and monkeys!.. if a snake is kept in a proper set up they can very easily digest large prey items.

Also just because they do this in the wild doesn't mean its best. They're opportunistic feeders, they'll eat whatever they can find that fits, they don't go by whats best for their health. I also don't think gaboons are comparable either as its a completely different type of snake.

[CrotalusR#1]

Also just because they do this in the wild doesn't mean its best. They're opportunistic feeders, they'll eat whatever they can find that fits, they don't go by whats best for their health. I also don't think gaboons are comparable either as its a completely different type of snake.
i mentioned gaboons because some one mention slow metabolisms, so yes in that sense they can be compared..... leave it man to change in captivity whats been working for millions of years in nature..... im done on this post so please don't respond to this, i really don't want to have to do another reply, thank you.

[Mikoh4792]

I'm going to have to agree with Snoopysnake. They are opportunistic feeders, and they don't consciously eat to live a long, and healthy life. They just need to eat whatever they can to reach breeding age and pass on their genes. Derek Roddy, a member of this site has been feeding his snakes smaller and more frequent meals for some time and said he has noticed an increase in longevity and overall fitness of his animals.

What happens in "nature" isn't exactly always what's best, but is what is necessary to survive.

[CrotalusR#1]

Mikoh4792
I agree that smaller and more frequent meals are probably better, and that's what I personally do, but the fact that people are saying it's bad to give a snake a meal bigger around than there mid body is just ridiculous. regardless of the species. A meal that is way to big can defiantly be bad and sometimes be fatal... I have such a hard time believing that a snake that can easily be eating goats or pigs would do better on prey that are like snacks compared to what they can and should be eating... Snakes are made to eat large prey hence the whole the structure of there jaw, head and body lol... You can't really argue nature! After all isn't that what where trying to imitate in all of our cages? Why stop and start making the changes when it comes to food? You don't see any one making humidity, temp, and husbandry changes do you? why, because the the way all those things are in nature is the way that works best...why fix something that's not broken? Lol I hate that saying but it fits .
Nathan

[Dilema]

I own Carpets which can take huge food items. Personally all of mine get large meals less often. Judging by some of the comments on this thread some of you would be amazed at what size prey a carpet can actually comfortably take. I have seen so many feeding pictures on forums where people are feeding 3 or 4 times smaller than i would be feeding the same snake.

Just my opinion and it works for me and my snakes ;)

[bigsnakegirl785]

SnoopySnake

theirs just know way boas should only eat prey size as big around as there mid body. anacondas are boas by the way....gaboons have super slow metabolisms but they still have been know to eat stray cats, Royal antelope, and monkeys!.. if a snake is kept in a proper set up they can very easily digest large prey items. if there not being kept properly than i would go with what some of you are saying but if that's the case, probably shouldn't be keeping the snake in the first place. my boa used to eat huge prey items and was extremely healthy.

I'm not say they can't physically eat these prey items, but snakes are already quite a bit overfed in captivity. Smaller prey items less frequently may help improve longevity and health than the current conventional way of feeding. Tsubaki has also had luck with regular-sized meals less frequently, but either way less food seems to be very beneficial for them.

I have personally seen just how big of meals snakes can take (one due to a rat that outgrew my ball python while I was feeding live, and another was when I was feeding too large of rats to my boa constrictor, which I fixed fairly quickly).

As a baby, my boa was fed rats that were averagely half his girth, but up to his girth, until he was about 2 years old. He reached 6ft at 2.5 years old, so it definitely didn't stunt him. Now I'm feeding him small meals again, less frequently as well. He's been doing this for almost a year now, and he's definitely not underfed and I've even noticed better health doing this.

Mikoh4792
I agree that smaller and more frequent meals are probably better, and that's what I personally do, but the fact that people are saying it's bad to give a snake a meal bigger around than there mid body is just ridiculous. regardless of the species. A meal that is way to big can defiantly be bad and sometimes be fatal... I have such a hard time believing that a snake that can easily be eating goats or pigs would do better on prey that are like snacks compared to what they can and should be eating... Snakes are made to eat large prey hence the whole the structure of there jaw, head and body lol... You can't really argue nature! After all isn't that what where trying to imitate in all of our cages? Why stop and start making the changes when it comes to food? You don't see any one making humidity, temp, and husbandry changes do you? why, because the the way all those things are in nature is the way that works best...why fix something that's not broken? Lol I hate that saying but it fits .
Nathan

Yeah but they only eat those large prey sometimes. They aren't built to eat large prey all the time, but because they're ***opportunistic*** they are built to eat those large prey items on the off-chance they find them. You are making a very huge jump in the last part of this post. Comparing changing husbandry (unless it's to support new knowledge on care) to changing feeding is a large stretch. As long as the snake isn't being starved or overfed, it doesn't matter how you feed them. There's lots of right ways of doing things, and I'm not saying to implement this feeding schedule for any other species.

[CrotalusR#1]

bigsnakegirl785 .What I'm saying in the last part of the post is that Why do we imitate there natural conditions as close as possible and stop at food? Know what I mean? I'm not saying every meal should be massive. What I'm arguing is the fact that some are saying you shouldn't feed them prey items larger than there mid body. Saying shouldn't is implying that it's wrong.... I'm just saying that feeding them prey items larger than there mid body is not bad at all as long as you have a proper set up that allows for them to thermoregulate properly..... Idk why every one is arguing facts! It happens in the wild so it sure as hell can happen in a cage!

[bigsnakegirl785]

bigsnakegirl785 .What I'm saying in the last part of the post is that Why do we imitate there natural conditions as close as possible and stop at food? Know what I mean? I'm not saying every meal should be massive. What I'm arguing is the fact that some are saying you shouldn't feed them prey items larger than there mid body. Saying shouldn't is implying that it's wrong.... I'm just saying that feeding them prey items larger than there mid body is not bad at all as long as you have a proper set up that allows for them to thermoregulate properly..... Idk why every one is arguing facts! It happens in the wild so it sure as hell can happen in a cage!

No one has said not to feed more than mid body, if what you mean is half their girth. I have said from half girth up to just under girth size are acceptable meals, although if you feed less frequently then you could possibly go up to 1.5x their girth.

Proper set up or no, that's more fat and excessive energy they're getting, which will still be detrimental to their health. Since they're built to store energy, it will be a lot more difficult to have them burn that extra energy than it will be to overfeed them and them become overweight or obese.

If you want to imitate nature, then offer variable prey sizes at varying intervals. Maybe feed a rat 2x the girth one feeding, then 3-4 weeks one half the girth and feed another 1.5x the girt 1-1.5 weeks later. Shake it up, that's how it would be in the wild, they don't consistently get small mice every odd week in the wild. Sometimes they eat a lot, sometimes they go through a famine, sometimes they have large meals other times they have small meals.

[CrotalusR#1]

OK well this is one of the stupidest debates I've ever been in.... what you said in the last half of your post about how you should feed snakes if you where trying to imitate the wild is exactly my point! Why people have started doing a rat a week i have no idda but it is idiculous... using different prey items and different sizes is what should be done....including a big meal every now and then... if a snake is given a proper set up with lots of stimulating smells and places to go there will be plenty of exercise.

[Mikoh4792]

We don't imitate nature when it comes to snake husbandry. We provide suitable conditions and usually give them a steady diet of a particular food item. In captivity, the point is health and longevity, not survival. In nature there are predators, other animals that co-exist with our snakes not to mention live prey items that could seriously injure or kill our snakes, disease, lots of space compared to the "x" ft by "x" ft boxes we give them, rain, floods...etc. There are so many variables in nature that we exclude in captivity. If we were to imitate nature, our snakes would probably not live very long. Nature is a constant struggle where only the fit survive. It's not a haven which provides what is best for our snakes. The "best" is what we should provide in captivity.

[Aaron_S]

Mikoh4792
I agree that smaller and more frequent meals are probably better, and that's what I personally do, but the fact that people are saying it's bad to give a snake a meal bigger around than there mid body is just ridiculous. regardless of the species. A meal that is way to big can defiantly be bad and sometimes be fatal... I have such a hard time believing that a snake that can easily be eating goats or pigs would do better on prey that are like snacks compared to what they can and should be eating... Snakes are made to eat large prey hence the whole the structure of there jaw, head and body lol... You can't really argue nature! After all isn't that what where trying to imitate in all of our cages? Why stop and start making the changes when it comes to food? You don't see any one making humidity, temp, and husbandry changes do you? why, because the the way all those things are in nature is the way that works best...why fix something that's not broken? Lol I hate that saying but it fits .
Nathan

To answer your last questions. The reason no one messes with temps and humidity is because it will kill the snake. Changing a diet generally won't.

As you said, why fix what isn't broken? I feed rats. It's easy and readily accessible for me. Gives my animals the necessary energy to survive and thrive.

I feed the boas 10 - 15% of body weight. All the species on this diet have done extremely well. (ball pythons, green trees, BCI, BCC, bullsnake, Amazon tree boas) All have steady growth rates and great body tone. There is no reason to feed them super large meals. Just because I can eat a whole cake every day doesn't I should.

[CrotalusR#1]

I never said super large Aaron S...and that's what I was hoping some one wouldn't say. You feed rats cas it's easier for you lol! That's not write. mikoh4792, you mite not simulate natural conditions but I sure do especially with my native species and have tremendous success producing rare seldom seem snakes such as crotalus oreganus concolor, crotalus oreganus abyssus ,crotalus ruber (costal) and the holy grail crotalus Tigris!!.. I brumate all my snakes in there large realistic cages made from materials from where they live. I follow near exact temps and humidity levels, when it rains where the snakes are from I will spray down the write cages..I do manny more things to insure a realistic environment.
Nathan.

[Aaron_S]

I never said super large Aaron S...and that's what I was hoping some one wouldn't say. You feed rats cas it's easier for you lol! That's not write. mikoh4792, you mite not simulate natural conditions but I sure do especially with my native species and have tremendous success producing rare seldom seem snakes such as crotalus oreganus concolor, crotalus oreganus abyssus ,crotalus ruber (costal) and the holy grail crotalus Tigris!!.. I brumate all my snakes in there large realistic cages made from materials from where they live. I follow near exact temps and humidity levels, when it rains where the snakes are from I will spray down the write cages..I do manny more things to insure a realistic environment.
Nathan.

It's great you spray them down. Do you give them snowfall too? How about hail? Do you set up a fan in the enclosure on windy days?

What's not right about feeding rats to my snakes? Are you saying I should go and find gerboas because that's what ball pythons eat in the wild?

[CrotalusR#1]

Well Aaron S.. it sounds like you must not know that snakes aren't out in the wind, snow and hail, glad I could help you out on that one.
Of course I don't simulated dangerous conditions that don't aid anything as far as the snakes are concerned.. If you have any more brilliant questions go ahead and ask.
Nathan

[Aaron_S]

Well Aaron S.. it sounds like you must not know that snakes aren't out in the wind, snow and hail, glad I could help you out on that one.
Of course I don't simulated dangerous conditions that don't aid anything as far as the snakes are concerned.. If you have any more brilliant questions go ahead and ask.
Nathan

Oh. I thought you made a realistic environment. My bad. I got the impression from your posts that you were almost better than others because of this. No one harms their animals by not replicating hours of rain with a simple spray down. I personally don't see a problem with what you do and don't really care. It's your right. I would prefer if you didn't seem to judge others on their practices as if it's inferior.

Never answered my question though.

[CrotalusR#1]

Aaron_S, I don't see any one as better or worse and if I came off that way I apologize. Juge is a strong word, I'm just doing what were all doing, debating. As long as some ones caring for there snake properly than why should I or any one els care. I do believe that it is important to closely mimic the environment including food. Sorry if I came off as judgmental because seriously that's something that I really really hate. I just believe that natural is better as far as things that aid the snake and a verity in prey and prey size is a part of that...
Best regards
Nathan.

[Aaron_S]

Aaron_S, I don't see any one as better or worse and if I came off that way I apologize. Juge is a strong word, I'm just doing what were all doing, debating. As long as some ones caring for there snake properly than why should I or any one els care. I do believe that it is important to closely mimic the environment including food. Sorry if I came off as judgmental because seriously that's something that I really really hate. I just believe that natural is better as far as things that aid the snake and a verity in prey and prey size is a part of that...
Best regards
Nathan.

To each their own. I don't see how a variety of prey or prey size aids in a snake's health. As I said before. I don't really care how you do things. It's your right and it isn't harming the animals.

Sounds more like it's for your peace of mind that you're "helping" the snake in some way.

[bigsnakegirl785]

We don't imitate nature when it comes to snake husbandry. We provide suitable conditions and usually give them a steady diet of a particular food item. In captivity, the point is health and longevity, not survival. In nature there are predators, other animals that co-exist with our snakes not to mention live prey items that could seriously injure or kill our snakes, disease, lots of space compared to the "x" ft by "x" ft boxes we give them, rain, floods...etc. There are so many variables in nature that we exclude in captivity. If we were to imitate nature, our snakes would probably not live very long. Nature is a constant struggle where only the fit survive. It's not a haven which provides what is best for our snakes. The "best" is what we should provide in captivity.

Exactly. +1 Unnatural doesn't always mean bad.