Growth question

[boosh96]

Okay, so my female Colombian BCI was born on July 15, 2011. I got her at about two months old and probably around 20 inches. She's in the neighborhood of 3.5-4 feet or so now, and she's got great muscle tone and looks extremely healthy. But, at almost two years old, should she be bigger than she is now?

[Mark Taylor]

All snakes grow at different speeds but I would have thought she would be quite a bit bigger I have 2 young bci's 11 month old female at almost 5' and a 10 month old male around 4' and they are both now on small to medium rats.

[Terranaut]

Are you sure she isn't a he? Snake size really depends on feeding. What prey size are you feeding "her"?

[boosh96]

The breeder who sold Zoey to me had her as a female. They had snakes labeled as either male or female, and frankly I kinda fail to see why the breeder would lie about the gender of their snakes.. She's had a small rat every two weeks for the last 10ish months, and up until then she had an appropriately sized mouse weekly.

[Terranaut]

Lie no. Screw up sexing. Yes. Happens all the time. You can just look upthier skirt to see so people make mistakes .

[boosh96]

Would I be able to pop or probe a snake of her age?

[Mark Taylor]

Is it possible that it has dwarf in it.

[boosh96]

Is it possible that it has dwarf in it.

I guess that is always possible. However, she looks like a pure Colombian to me. I guess I'll have to check and see if Zoey isn't a Zoey after all. Maybe she just didn't grow as much because she'd been fed mice for a while? Or something?

[Mark Taylor]

Male or female I still would expect to be bigger than it is.

[boosh96]

Insert expletive here. That cannot be good. Unless she's a guy or a dwarf.

[rocknhorse76]

I bought an Argentine Boa from a breeder last year that was supposedly a male. Well, once it hit 5' in length and failed to develop larger spurs, I began to have my suspicions about its gender so I had it probed. Turns out he's a she. Mistakes happen all the time.....I'm just glad I came out the winner on this one lol.

[Terranaut]

Can you post a pic ?

[boosh96]

I'll post some when I get a chance.

[Terranaut]

Put something like money in the pic for scale too if you can.

[boosh96]

Here's Zoey next to a stick of deodorant.
https://www.dropbox.com/sc/qas55i4bm2jwjbp/ZQol1hM0d9

And next to a tape measure extended to 1 foot.
https://www.dropbox.com/sc/6yd3wi459qqxpu5/NJlHHA2CCd

Edit: Tell me if the photos don't show up and I'll try and fix it.

[Terranaut]

Red x's for me

[boosh96]

Lemme try again.

Here's Zoey next to a stick of deodorant:
23948
And next to a tape measure extended to 12 inches.
23947

[DeadlyDesires]

1 small rat every 14 days doesnt really see like enough to me, some one else can comment if im wrong, but my BCI which is only at 2 ft eats 1 medium rat every 7-10 days depending on size of rat.

[boosh96]

If I'm not feeding her enough or anything along those lines then I'll change that ASAP. I'm already freaking out because now I'm assuming I haven't been doing what's best for Zoey.

[DeadlyDesires]

she doesn't look unhealthy from the picture but she could use a little more filling out.. seems on the small side for her age. as i said, mine is much younger than yours and she is bigger than yours as well so maybe up the feeding to 1 small rat every week?

[boosh96]

she doesn't look unhealthy from the picture but she could use a little more filling out.. seems on the small side for her age. as i said, mine is much younger than yours and she is bigger than yours as well so maybe up the feeding to 1 small rat every week?

Sounds like a plan. I am so sorry-I honestly thought I had been doing what's best for her.

[Terranaut]

Your interval is to long. I would feed weekly or every 10 days at that age.

[rocknhorse76]

Your interval is to long. I would feed weekly or every 10 days at that age.

Agreed. Feed her weekly.

[Mark Taylor]

A small rat seems to small to me as well, my corn snake eats a small rat every 10 days and both my young boa's have just moved up to a medium rat every 10 days.

But she does look healthy so don't worry about that.:)

[KORBIN5895]

I would not feed her a medium rat every week. She is almost two years old. Bi weekly should be fine. Personally I would up the size and stay biweekly.

My girl is two years old. She hit 4' in her first year and has only grown maybe a foot in the lass year but she has gotten pretty thick. I can fees her an XL rat (300 or so grams) every two to three weeks. I switched her to small rats and biweekly feedings at 8 months old.

To give you an idea of the way I size up the prey I will add this pic.

http://s16.postimg.org/nwlimwx1t/IMG_20130511_082105.jpg (http://postimg.org/image/nwlimwx1t/)

That snake is about 6.5' and about the 4" in diameter.

[boosh96]

Is she still going to be able to eventually grow to a healthy adult length/thickness?

[Terranaut]

Most likely. A stunted growth in a reptile is not the same as a mamal. Regardless I think the most important part is a healthy snake not a big snake.

[boosh96]

Okay. But the consensus is that she appears to be healthy, right?

[Terranaut]

Other than a little thin I think it looks fine.

[KORBIN5895]

Is she still going to be able to eventually grow to a healthy adult length/thickness?

I feel that she should be fine but we will never know what size she was supposed to be so how will we know if she reaches it or not?

[Terranaut]

I feel that she should be fine but we will never know what size she was supposed to be so how will we know if she reaches it or not?

Yeah you will never know but as long as she us healthy who cares?

[Jendee]

I think she looks great!! all my 2011s are 4ft and under even. I would move her up to mediums soon but no rush, I would also keep it bi weekly. Slow growing is 100% better then adult size at sub-adult age, if you want a long lasting Boa keep feeding her exactly how your feeding her. Boas never stop growing there isn't a supposed to be this size standard

[waf]

Hi boosh!
I`m new here, but not in boa´s world. Let me share what I found-out about feeding (and is what I do):
1) Offer preys up to the 20% of your boa´s weight, once a week, but never offer a prey bigger than your boa´s diameter, it´s better to offer 2 medium preys than a big one...
2) Never offer live preys, one day, your boa could get bitten.
3) Use only mice or rats.

Your baby looks healthy! and is soo nice. You can add some multivitamins as I´ve done, but must be done by a vet.

Never forget that growing is according to feeding and good parameters (heat&humidity)

Regards...........

[Brently]

I am no expert but when mine was that size she was on mediums every 10 days or so depending on weight. Athena should be right around 2yrs.( not sure of exact birth date) and she is over 6'. And she weighs just over 5 lbs. I think that she grows on the slow side with a shed only every 8 weeks or so. And she is a very good eater. Hope that gives you some comparison.

[NCHornet]

I myself would be feeding every 7 to 10 days until she fills out a little more. She looks good but she could use a filling out period. Snakes are just like other animals and they come in all shapes and sizes. As long as she stays rectangular you are doing fine, if she gets more round back off on the feedings. Once she hits Large and X Large rats then back off to 14 days, then when she can take rabbits or jumbo rats you can go out to 3 to 4 weeks. The above is just a guideline that I have used for 35 years of keeping snakes.

[rocknhorse76]

I myself would be feeding every 7 to 10 days until she fills out a little more. She looks good but she could use a filling out period. Snakes are just like other animals and they come in all shapes and sizes. As long as she stays rectangular you are doing fine, if she gets more round back off on the feedings. Once she hits Large and X Large rats then back off to 14 days, then when she can take rabbits or jumbo rats you can go out to 3 to 4 weeks. The above is just a guideline that I have used for 35 years of keeping snakes.

Pretty much exactly what I do.