She's obviously a very tame snake and has been babied her whole life, I'm just trying to make sure she continues to live the same lifestyle (minus some of that extra fat shes got). She never gets stressed out and actually seems to enjoy hanging around my arms and neck for an hour or two sometimes without moving. However, this snake was handled daily for 2 years before I got her and I'm going to continue to do so. I know not to handle her for a few days after her last meal, but beyond that I respect your recommendation. As for the handling I've had her a few weeks and she's eaten twice. Sounds like that may not be accurate, but I'm not too worried about the exact breed of the snake per say I'm just happy to have a boa that is as beautiful and tame as her. The breeder also told me it was a Colombian Red Tail BCI. I won't be doing this anymore for a few months now, but I guess it might be too late. I had taken both snakes to the local vet and she said they were both healthy and disease free so I figured it would be okay to get them out together. But besides that, there are a whole host of other diseases and parasites to be worrying about. IBD is going around in boas, and they tend to either be asymptomatic or don't show symptoms up to 3 years. That's keeping the snake in a separate air space from your other snakes, using separate feeding and cleaning utensils, and handling the new snake last. I personally recommend 6 months to a year of qt, but many will recommend 3-6 months. Your boa and bp should not have been introduced. You also really should be practicing quarantine. After that, I recommend no more often than 2-3 times a week, besides 2-3 days after eating and while in shed. You should not be handling her at all until you've had her a week, and she's eaten at least once. None of my boas have been all that affected by a diet change, but I see some who do experience it. From 88-90F hot area to 85F hot area, and 80-85F ambient to just 80F. 2-3 months no food, plus a 5 degree temp drop. I also don't feed my more mature boas during the winter. She looks fairly overweight, but not as bad as I've seen. At 5.5', if it's eating a large rat without a bulge, I'd go 4-6 weeks. Both of them are eating a medium rat every 3 weeks. One is over 4.5' and the other I'm guessing is over 5' but I haven't measured her in a year or more. With my current feeding regimen, I have two (female) boas that will be 5 in June. I've been learning a lot since, and have gotten quite a few boas (and other snakes!) since. When he was 2.5' at a year old, I panicked thinking he was stunted until I came onto this forum around the time he was 2-2.5 years old. My first boa reached 5'2" at 2 years old because I was unaware I was overfeeding him. Yes, she is absolutely over-sized and overfed. Your boa would be considered a common boa constrictor (Boa imperator), I hesitate to use Colombian as most boa constrictors in captivity are mutts. It's spelled Colombian, and red tail is a separate species. Also, if I stop feeding her weekly will that affect her temperament? She's used to being fed every Thursday, so if I start feeding every 10-14 days will she be food aggressive when I try to pick her up and handle her on Thursday/Friday because shes used to being fed then? I currently handle her just about every day unless I feed her, and I plan to continue to do so. At her current age and size is this too often to be feeding her? I've heard there can be serious complications involved with feeding too often and I certainly don't want to put her through that. The breeder has fed her weekly since birth, and she is currently eating one med-lrg rat a week. I know there's a big debate in the boa world about power feeding these snakes and getting them up size too quick, and from what I've seen she is about the biggest 2 year old boa I have been able to find. As the post says she's currently only 2 years old she's about 5 1/2 ft long and weighs just under 7lbs or ~3,000 grams (shown with my 350g ball python for scale). I immediately fell in love and brought her home with me, however I just have one concern. The breeder claimed he had hand raised her, and actually wasn't planning to sell her, but he heard I was looking for a female and pulled her out from behind his booth. So I just recently picked up Roxy at the Cincinnati Reptile expo a couple weeks ago! Shes a 2 year old Columbian Red Tail and is a complete puppy dog that loves to be handled.
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