MISSING / FOUND Columbian Red Tail Boa

[msavary76]

HEY everyone its been ages since ive been on here and its because about 6-7 months ago my red tail boa went missing out of his feeding bin. Well 6-7 months later he decided it was time to come out and grace us with his presence. Anywho i have my snake back. WOOT WOOT

[MoreliAddict]

Congrats! That's lucky!

Glad the Boa is okay too.

[MDT]

there may be hope for my retic yet!!!!!

congrats on the found snake, glad all is well!

[alessia55]

Where did you find him?

[TeaNinja]

lol, 6 or 7 months xD. you probably saw him and were like O.O OMG!

[Lankyrob]

Amazing! Is he looking good?

[msavary76]

Ya he's looking ok. We found him inside the oven. Ya i was in the bedroom and all of a sudden my wife and mother in law is screaming get your behind in here. There he was with his head sticking out. Ya when i lost him i figured he got outside cause i found the back door left open. But any who im amazingly surprised that he's back. Ill post some pics after he gets settled back in.

[msavary76]

I was also wondering, How long should i wait till i handle him? I mean i only handled him to move him from his feeding bin back to his Cage. I have friends lining up on facebook waiting for pictures and some friends back where my parents live waiting to hold him.

[Gungirl]

Give up on the feeding bin and feed him in his enclosure. You should have learned your lesson on the feeding bin when you lost him.

Give him a week to relax then you can start in on handling him.

[msavary76]

Ok so a week Awesome.

[concinnusman]

I lost a young ornate box turtle (in the house) one time and found him in the back yard one spring day, 8 years later while I was clearing blackberries. He had a burrow out there and everything. He was in perfect health and quite a bit bigger. After a year or two missing and a few severely cold winter storms, I figured he was a goner. Turns out he didn't go far and was living in the backyard the whole time. Guess I should have cleared those blackberries sooner.

Funny thing is, I gave him to a friend a few years ago, and he just lets him run loose in the house. He has a food/water dish near their wood stove, where he often comes to warm up. In all these years running loose in his house, he hasn't disappeared. He always returns to his dish sooner or later. Even if they haven't seen him in days, they don't worry. He always returns when he gets hungry, thirsty, or cold and he has a couple of large tortoises (also running free) to keep him company.

[msavary76]

Hey everyone:

I fed the snake the day before yesterday. Should i offer him another rat since he hasnt eaten in 6 months?

[dinosaurdammit]

Hey everyone:

I fed the snake the day before yesterday. Should i offer him another rat since he hasnt eaten in 6 months?

some snakes go 6 months on just a strike. I would just continue regular feeding.

[Swany]

If he's in good condition he may have been eating whilst he was on the run.

[concinnusman]

Why do you say that? are there some neighborhood pets or kids missing?:p

I'm not a bit surprised at a well fed boa going that long without food especially if it was kept rather cool, but that long without water, would be impressive. If the snake doesn't look underweight just feed it like you normally would.

some snakes go 6 months on just a strike.

I've had rubber boas (Charina bottae) go 10-12 months with no apparent ill effects or weight loss. With those, I don't even consider it fasting until they've past the 6 month point.

[Swany]

Ok maybe I should have asked. Has he lost weight ? What condition is he in ?

[concinnusman]

Any chance we could see pics?

[msavary76]

Sure let me shoot some.

[msavary76]

I didnt want to disturb him while he was soaking. But here you go. If you need close up pic just let me know ill take him out and take better photos.



http://i596.photobucket.com/albums/tt41/LisaWhiteWolf/DSCF0002_zps99b86620.jpg

[rmfsnakes32]

He looks healthy I would just feed regular schedule

[concinnusman]

Yeah, he's lean but doesn't look undernourished. Better than being obese like most boas/pythons I see.

[msavary76]

Should i be dipping his food? I mean dipping it in Calcium?

[TeaNinja]

he looks fine to me :P my big 5.5+ft dum put off food for 6 or 7 months when it was around mating season, stubborn ******* lol. i don't see any reason to dip the rats in anything.

[concinnusman]

Should i be dipping his food? I mean dipping it in Calcium?

Nah, that stuff isn't really necessary unless you're feeding your herp a diet that is calcium deficient over a long period of time. If you're feeding a snake whole rodents then supplementing isn't necessary. (and could even cause problems if you overdo it) He's likely going to get all the calcium he needs from digesting bones.

[msavary76]

Ok then i just continue feeding normally.

[Kingsnakechris]

Nice!! That's an awesome feeling when you find your snake you have already given up on finding! Congrats! Glad it worked out in your favor!