Approx. age of my Boa

[reptiletalk]

Hello,

This is my BCC Suriname:

20141206_220207.jpg

I got her back in April and i was told she was around 6-7 months old. Now she weights 2260 grams and she feeds on medium to large rats. Someone mentioned to me that for a yearling is too big and she might be overweight. Any chance that she is older or overweight?

[Mikoh4792]

Doesn't look overweight at all. Obesity isn't measured just by weight alone. A 5'5 240lb person will most likely be overweight and fat, but a 6'3 240lb person can be lean and muscular.

Can't say anything on the age though.

[BIGT FROM F.B.]

Agree with the not overweight. It looks a little older than that to me due to the size. I would say it's at least 1 1/2 years. I'm sure others will weigh in also, but that's my opinion. At any rate, nice, healthy looking Boa.

[Cmwells90]

Yea I wouldn't worry about weight unless you can see the skin between the scales, that's an indication of being overweight. As for the age, I have a 1 1/2 old BCC which is a bit bigger then the pic provided. I would guess-timate around 9-12 months old. but the original age of 6-7 months could be true and she could just be larger than most her age. Remember, females will get larger than males.

[reptiletalk]

Originally Posted by Cmwells90

As for the age, I have a 1 1/2 old BCC which is a bit bigger then the pic provided. I would guess-timate around 9-12 months old. but the original age of 6-7 months could be true and she could just be larger than most her age. Remember, females will get larger than males.

She was 6 months when i got her. Now she is around 12 months old, as you correctly suggested. I have her as i said on medium to large rats every 7 days. I will continue this until end of January and then i will change her to one large every 12-14 days.

[Cmwells90]

I would suggest moving to a 10-14 day schedule as soon as possible, with prey that large feeding weekly, you'll find she'll gonna get real big. Unless that's what you're going for, then just be cautious about obesity.

[metalcopper]

She looks to be a little bigger than my BCI, and she is a year and a half. I would guess she is somewhere around a year and a half or two years old or so. I know BCCs are larger, but I'm not sure if they grow faster necessarily.

[bigsnakegirl785]

She doesn't look overweight, but she is slightly big for her age. My BCI was only 2.5ft at a year old, he didn't reach her size until he was nearly 2 years old. BCI are averagely 2-3ft at a year old, although 4ft is common it is on the larger side and BCC normally grow slower than BCI. Not much to worry about, but at her age I'd definitely back off on feeding regardless of her being large or not.

[Cmwells90]

Originally Posted by bigsnakegirl785

She doesn't look overweight, but she is slightly big for her age. My BCI was only 2.5ft at a year old, he didn't reach her size until he was nearly 2 years old. BCI are averagely 2-3ft at a year old, although 4ft is common it is on the larger side and BCC normally grow slower than BCI. Not much to worry about, but at her age I'd definitely back off on feeding regardless of her being large or not.

Remember, females are bigger than males. So if your's is truly male, and this is truly female, then the size difference is to be expected. Not sure how much at only a year old though.

[bigsnakegirl785]

Originally Posted by Cmwells90

Remember, females are bigger than males. So if your's is truly male, and this is truly female, then the size difference is to be expected. Not sure how much at only a year old though.

Yes, but males also tend to grow faster than females. "Tend" being the word used here as each snake will grow at their own rates. Major growth doesn't really start until during the second year (after they turn 1, before they turn 2), typically. And females are typically larger than males, but it's not unheard of for males to be as big or bigger than females.

[Derek Roddy]

Originally Posted by bigsnakegirl785

Yes, but males also tend to grow faster than females. "Tend" being the word used here as each snake will grow at their own rates. Major growth doesn't really start until during the second year (after they turn 1, before they turn 2), typically. And females are typically larger than males, but it's not unheard of for males to be as big or bigger than females.

Females being bigger than males may be true for their captive environment but, in the wild (their natural environment).....males are usually the bigger animals.
This is why males tend to grow quicker than females. In the bush, females don't have human feeders pushing them to "recover from breeding" or "cycled for breeding", etc and females eat a lot less than males mostly because they're off feed and carrying embryos or eggs for 4 to 5 months of the year.

Males continue feeding much quicker than females....resulting in bigger animals.

But yes, captive environment usually means females will be larger.

D

[bigsnakegirl785]

Originally Posted by Derek Roddy

Females being bigger than males may be true for their captive environment but, in the wild (their natural environment).....males are usually the bigger animals.
This is why males tend to grow quicker than females. In the bush, females don't have human feeders pushing them to "recover from breeding" or "cycled for breeding", etc and females eat a lot less than males mostly because they're off feed and carrying embryos or eggs for 4 to 5 months of the year.

Males continue feeding much quicker than females....resulting in bigger animals.

But yes, captive environment usually means females will be larger.

D

Makes sense, thanks for the info!

[TurboChris]

Very nice, she looks good to me. Post more pics we need more pics of beautiful boas to look at on this website!