Boa ID?

[VinceraVivere]

Hi guys,

A few months ago I was given three snakes with ZERO knowledge of reptiles or how to care for them (I took them as a favor for a friend). She told me that two were ball pythons (I figured out their morphs - a 16 y/o normal and a 5 y/o bumblebee), but am still a bit stumped on exactly what the boa is.

I was given this guy, told that he was a 4.5 year old male "boa constrictor" and no further info. I started googling "boa constrictor" and, unaware that there were so many different subspecies, assumed he was a regular Colombian Red Tail boa and would get HUGE!!!


However, upon reading and learning more about the different types of boas, I think maybe he's some sort of dwarf boa, or a different species maybe? He is 4.5 years old and 4 1/2 feet long (I measured his most recent shed). He's not very big around, and is currently eating weanling rats. However, he might be stunted, because she was definitely not feeding him much - 2 mice every 2 weeks.

http://imgur.com/a/iaWnd







There's a link to an album of the best pics I have of him, and a couple embedded - sorry I couldn't get a full body shot; he really hates to lie flat and still just wants to climb and wrap around things every time he's out.

So if anyone has any ideas of what (more specifically) he is, so that I can have an idea of how BIG he'll get, that would be awesome! I don't know a ton about the differences between bcc and bci, and don't want to end up with a snake that's too big for me to handle several years down the road.

Thanks in advance for all the help!

[AxRegius]

I'd say a really nice looking and stunted BCI. Won't be HUGE like some other subspecies (BCO, BCC) but I don't see any dwarf boa in him (central american, hog island, etc). Just a good ol BCI Colombian from what I can see.

[JoshSloane]

Definitely a normal BCI. Kind of small for his age as mentioned before, but nothing drastic. At that age he should be pushing 5 ft and much thicker. My 1.5 year old boa is about that size. If fed properly he might achieve full adult size. Good job taking him in.

[AbsoluteApril]

Looks like a nice normal boa, most likely Colombian as others have already stated. I personally think he looks fine and a nice healthy size for his age. Looks like he's ready for small rats. Slow grown boas live longer and they will continue to grow their entire lives. Good luck with him!

[JoshSloane]

Looks like a nice normal boa, most likely Colombian as others have already stated. I personally think he looks fine and a nice healthy size for his age. Looks like he's ready for small rats. Slow grown boas live longer and they will continue to grow their entire lives. Good luck with him!

I'm all for slow growing a boa, as I have done it with all my boas. But at 4.5 years old that guy still looks pretty small to me.

[Reinz]

The snake more than likely is not even 4.5 ft long. The OP said that s/he measured the shed.

Sheds are longer than the snake because the skin wraps underneath the scales as well.

I've heard some snake people say that the shed is 20% longer than the snake, and others say 15%.

I don't think that there is really a hard fast truism.

Welcome to the forum VV.

[5teve]

My guess would be 100 % bci Colombian "normal". Congrats they are great.