uumm freak snake?

[VenomAngel]

umm ok sorry if this sounds a bit silly but is my snake meant to be this big this young?

as you all know i got my male bci a few months ago adn hes jus lovely but..

when i bought him they said he was only a year old, he was 3foot in length and about 4" in diamiter
now months down thw line hes touching about 6.5 foot in length and about 8/9" in diamiter...wow
so i was wondering if hes a bit older than they told me in the reptile shop or he could be a she which i know has some sort of impact on the growth or maybe hes just a freak snake?..any oppinions would be appreciated
thanx

[hip]

Well how many months have you had him? what is his feed cycle like? Is it a tape measurement? or an educated guess as to his length?In most cases the second year of a boa's life is also the greatest growth spirt you will experence.I was looking at video yesterday of one of my males shot in Jan of 2002.He was around the 1 year old mark (give or take)At his last vet trip Jan of this year he had tripled his body weight and was twice as long as a year before.Now in May he is yet again longer and heavier than Jan of this year.I have noticed his growth rate slowing down though in the last 2 months.The female I have has at the same time grown by leaps and bounds and her growth rate has increased in the last 2 months. I would love to see a pic of your male(are you sure it is a male?)



Peace




Hip

[killaclown]

Have you been feeding him those new steriod filled rats.lol.j\k. I dont know what to tell ya man as long as its healthy

[Zoe]

3ft at one year sounds about right, if not a little small. My girl has been eating small rats every 7-10 days and is a little over 3 ft at about 11 months old.

Depends on what you feed them and the temps you keep them at, really.

Zoe

[VenomAngel]

hes about 6foot now and yes thats an educated guess...being that im 5foot and his last shed was well bigger thatn me lol will get some pics

[RachelS.]

Well, okay then I have a question about my girl. She's about 2 inches away from 6 feet and about 3 1/2 years old. Is she normal... slow? I feed her a jumbo rat every week. She did go off feed for a few months before, but I wouldn't think that would slow things down, would it? Thanks

[hip]

Sheds are usally 10-20% longer than the snake it comes from(the shed streches as it comes off) so a shed is not a good measuring tool(sorry)Hey Rachel Your female will grow some more in the next year or so but don't expect too much in length gain but she will get thicker for sure.I have a rule of thumb for feeding boas after two years of age.Females every two weeks,when the female is breeding age and is going to be bred she should be fed roughly every 7-10 days for a month and one half to two months before breeding(she might not eat again for a half a year while gravid)At three years of age males get a 3 week feeding routine,captive males get fat very easly and this can lower the success in breeding(fat males are less agressive breeders).


This is not the gospel and keeping notes is very valuable as different boa's will have different requirements.Rachel the litter mates of your boa could be much bigger or smaller(you just never know)In time we all learn what works best for each boa we keep and change our husbandry accordingly.



Peace


Hip

[Linds]

Snakes skins can stretch a great deal (as much as 3/4 the length of the snake!), depending on humidity, etc (the more moisture the more it enables the skin to stretch). Given this to find the snakes length you need to measure the snake itself. 3' at a year old sounds right. How much and often are you feeding him?