Undersized buddies

[stloria]

Hello all. I have 2 snakes from the same person, and they're both terribly undersized. They're healthy, and sweet, they were well taken care of, but before this person decided they were no longer in the hobby, they were just doing maintenance feeding. So, I have a 2 1/2 year old Colombian RTB that is only about 2 feet long, and thin. (I need a new scale, I don't have a weight today). I also have a BP that was a rescue to this person, and is figured to be somewhere between 8-10, but I would swear he's younger, because he is MAYBE 4 feet, and pretty petite no matter how much we feed him. We aren't power feeding, but we are definitely getting them both to eat more in hopes that they grow. I'm worried about my babies, I'd like to know what I can do to increase their size safely.

[CptJack]

A 4ft long male BP is actually a good sized male.

Honestly, doing regular and appropriate feeding is about all you CAN do. I know nothing about boas, but a small/medium rat a week is plenty for the BP. If they're skinny, you should probably do a parasite check, too.

[stloria]

I feel like he's so much smaller than all the others I've been around. He's in wonderful health, so I guess I can't complain, right? As for the boa, I will try to get him up in size. We've only had him about 2 weeks, so there hasn't been much work with him yet, he's still adjusting and snappy. Once he calms down I will take him for a check up.

[bcr229]

As CptJack pointed out, the BP is probably fine. Remember they can also go off food for months at a time. If he has the nice plump BP shape then I wouldn't worry about his length, a lot of males don't get much bigger.

As for the boa, definitely don't over-feed in an attempt to get him up to size. If he's getting an appropriate-sized feeder every 10-14 days then he should be just fine. Most boas are over-fed and I cringe when I see a round one that looks like a ball python or milk snake, because the keeper is shortening that snake's life by many years, they are not meant to be fat.

[stloria]

Oh I definitely don't want them to be fat! I just worry about the boa especially. He is soo small. But if he is healthy otherwise, I will not worry as much. Thanks!

[Mr. Misha]

You can always post up so.e photos of your pets. It's almost impossible to tell if they're underweight without actually seeing them.

[stloria]

This is the red tail from a few weeks ago. He will be 3 this winter.



And here's my bub.

[artgecko]

I would post in the boa section (with the pic of the boa) and ask them what feeding regiment to use. He does look a little skinny to me, but I've only been keeping boas for a few months now. Boas, when in good shape, should look like a "loaf of bread" instead of being more round.

Odds are, that if he is 3 years old, he may not put on a lot of additional length, but can regain body condition. I believe they do most of their growing in the first 4-5 years, so he could still grow, but probably won't attain the same size as he would have.

Good luck with them.

[stloria]

Thank you. I will do that and see what they say.