Profile: Black Betty

[exwizard]

Meet Black Betty. She is on '02 Dumeril's Boa that is exceptionally large. She was the other female in that trio we got from Omaha in April last year.

We took her into the vet last week for a pregnancy check (there were no babies btw) and she weighed in at 27 lbs. She is also 9 1/2' long. She is very tame and handlable like all my snakes are. The 3rd pic is one of a lockup with Popeye last year in Novemeber which put her on baby watch all year until that vet visit. If you look closely you will see a big size difference between them (he's only 5 1/2' long and 10 lbs but was a very eager breeder ;). Too bad that lockup didnt result in anything but she is a pet first and foremost, like the rest of them, and thats the important thing.

[alessia55]

She's huge! Thanks for sharing that.

I showed my boyfriend the last photo and I tell him, "see? that's the female and that's the male" pointing to them. And he responds, "you mean that's the female and that's her snack." :p :p :p The size difference is incredible!

[It'sKourtneyYo]

Jeeeze!
I might be getting a Dumerils soon, i hope its a male! lol

[exwizard]

Black Betty is unusually large, even for a female. Normally females dont get bigger than 7'.

[It'sKourtneyYo]

Well then thats just dandy. lol
I've only read about 2 females that 9 feet. Your and another site.

[millertime89]

she's huge! Great looking Dum Gary. You should bring her to Omaha at the next expo if its possible.

[exwizard]

No, Im not going to stress her out with a 2 hour car ride especially since I dont plan on ever selling her but ty for the compliment.

[youngster]

Very nice! Her tail is about as big as his head! :p

[exwizard]

She's huge! Thanks for sharing that.

I showed my boyfriend the last photo and I tell him, "see? that's the female and that's the male" pointing to them. And he responds, "you mean that's the female and that's her snack." :p :p :p The size difference is incredible!

Your bf's response is pretty funny :)

[exwizard]

Very nice! Her tail is about as big as his head! :p

Ty. She may be big but she is as tame as can be. :) Very typical Dum.

[Wolfus_305]

oh my gosh she's a giant! what does she eat?

[exwizard]

She eats XXXL rats but we have fed her rabbits before.

[millertime89]

do you breed rabbits Gary?

[exwizard]

No and thats part of why shes on rats now. I wouldnt even know how to get ahold of the guy we got them from before.

[millertime89]

well dang, ah well.

[It'sKourtneyYo]

would a snake eat a rabbit if it's big enough even if it never had them before?

[millertime89]

the switch from rats to rabbits can be as difficult as mice to rats, it totally depends on the snake. My little boa did the switch from mice to rats without any issues, some people find it almost impossible and find themselves "fighting" with the snake.

[Rogue628]

OMG she's huge! Is she still growing in length?

[exwizard]

OMG she's huge! Is she still growing in length?

Snakes never really stop growing. They only slow down their rate of growth as they get older. Betty is 9 yrs old now so her rate of growth has slowed down substantially but Im sure she will grow more as the years progress.

[exwizard]

would a snake eat a rabbit if it's big enough even if it never had them before?

We were able to feed her rabbits when we felt that she needed them. Her recent baby watched coupled with supply concerns caused us to have to switch her back to XXXL rats and that worked out fine. We dont plan on switching her back to rabbits esp since rats are more readily available to us.

[Rogue628]

Snakes never really stop growing. They only slow down their rate of growth as they get older. Betty is 9 yrs old now so her rate of growth has slowed down substantially but Im sure she will grow more as the years progress.

That's what I meant. Sorry for the poor choice of words.

I know the dumerils are slow growers and some snakes initially grow faster than others. I have two rescues that were already in the 4-5' range. I was curious as to how long it took her to reach that size, especially since mine seem like babies compared to her lol

[CK SandBoas]

Betty is absolutely beautiful!

[exwizard]

Betty is absolutely beautiful!

Tyvm. :) I was very happy with the acquisition of this trio when we picked them up from Omaha. I only wish we still had Lulu (RIP), but Black Betty and Popeye have made nice additions to our collection and they, like Dums in general, make awesome pets.

[exwizard]

That's what I meant. Sorry for the poor choice of words.

I know the dumerils are slow growers and some snakes initially grow faster than others. I have two rescues that were already in the 4-5' range. I was curious as to how long it took her to reach that size, especially since mine seem like babies compared to her lol

Black Betty is unusually large. Lulu wouldve been more typical of the adult Dum of 8 yrs. She was 7' long and 18 lbs. Your rescues sound like '07s or '08s. I have a few of that age and that size. Nice thing about Dums is that they dont normally get extremely large and that they remain handlable their entire lives.

[exwizard]

More pics of Black Betty since I got her 6' Neodesha cleaned today.

[alessia55]

She looks great. Still can't get over how large she is :shocked:

[exwizard]

Yeah sometimes I cant either. Im still thinking this was the reason the breeder didnt want me to take her out of her tote at the Omaha reptile show when we first got her (Omaha has an 8' limit).

[theapexgerman]

Blackbetty is a beast can't wait for my dum to get popeye size but still got a ways sadly

[exwizard]

Itll happen soon enough :)

[theapexgerman]

I have yet to see my dum actualy strike at any food I get a live mouse snap it neck and imy dum will only eat it if it dark and I leave the room but has a great feeding response

[exwizard]

Babies are more shy generally and some of them wont eat at all if they know you are watching them. Thats very normal for Dums from what Ive seen. As he gets bigger, he will be less shy about it.

We feed ours rats and have been since some of them were babies. Kermit was a mouse eater but we were able to get him switched to rats pretty easily.

[theapexgerman]

Yea ill switch him over to rats in another few months after he a little over a year old I hope hell take a rat without any problems

[exwizard]

Betty is off feed for now and has been for a few months but we will try to offer her a XX large tonight and see how that goes.

[theapexgerman]

I read some were maybe on here that dum go of feeding every now and then

[exwizard]

Yes thats true and have experienced that myself, especially during the colder part of the year. I will keep offering it anyway though.

[theapexgerman]

So far mine been a champ on eating hope he stays. that way my best eater tho ismy bull snake hell eat anything kind of food you put in threre but loves to bit humans tho guess its the way we taste