Boa pick-up/rescue

Hello everyone, this is my first post on here and looking for some advice. My hubby ( Doortech9 on here ) and I picked up a nice mohave and a sad looking red tail boa today and we have a couple questions or concerns about the boas condition. He has loose skin under his chin and around his head and seems awfully small for being 1 year old. He is probably 2 to 2 and a half feet long and probably an inch and a half in diameter. He has some stuck shed and his vent area seems slightly swollen. He was kept at very high heat his whole life with an unregulated UTH and ceramic heat lamp, wondering if this could have caused his stunted growth? Also he came with a 3 foot by 18 by 16 terrarium, is that too large for him to feel secure in at the size that he is or should we move him to a tub? Will post pics when we get home shortly.

Boas don't seem to have security issues like bps,so I wouldn't worry to much about viv being too big. They also grow much slower than bps. They tend to put on length before girth. Please do post pics so we can see what's going on.

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Originally Posted by DrDooLittle

Boas don't seem to have security issues like bps,so I wouldn't worry to much about viv being too big. They also grow much slower than bps. They tend to put on length before girth. Please do post pics so we can see what's going on.

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x2. I doubt the high heat would've cause stunted growth - that could be attibuted to poor nutrition and a too-small enclosure. But I'd be very concerned about neurological issues if he was kept on an unregulated heat mat coupled with a lamp. The stuck shed and skinny body you can fix. Neurological problems are another story. How is he acting? Does he flop around? Stargaze? Wobble? Pictures please!!!

http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/k...9-00555jpg.jpg

http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/k...9-00557jpg.jpg

http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/k...9-00556jpg.jpg

http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/k...9-00554jpg.jpg

http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/k...9-00559jpg.jpg

Sorry about the cell phone pics!

His behavior seems normal to me. he's a little grumpy with a whole lot of very loud open mouth hissing and the odd strike, but aside from that shows no signs of stargazing/righting issues or any other behavioral issues.

Its hard to tell from the pictures but the skin surrounding his lower jaw is very loose/wrinkled and he seems to have some scale issues elsewhere. We put him on paper towel in a sanitized tank and are going to keep him humid and at a proper temperature and see if that loose skin is just a stuck shed.

I've never dealt with a fully stuck shed before its always just been an incomplete or a 'shred' with tattered shed everywhere. I gave him a soak for an hour so he may deal with it on his own.

We've named him remo, wish us luck with our first boa :)

The wrinkles are probably dehydration. Once he gets healthy again he looks like he'll be a nice looking hypo.

Thank you! We were quite taken with his handsome looks and, at the time, pleasant attitude.

He seems to be more bark than bite but I think we'll let him settle down and not find out about that bite right now.

Hypo you say? For some reason that didn't cross my mind... I'm not very familiar with boas. This one was sold to him as a 'jungle 50% ph albino columbian red tail boa'.

Also, is the side speckling a common trait for boas? A lot of the pictures I've Looked at haven't had as much going on.

Ps: sorry to my wife whom I hijacked this thread from :p

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Originally Posted by Doortech9

Thank you! We were quite taken with his handsome looks and, at the time, pleasant attitude.

He seems to be more bark than bite but I think we'll let him settle down and not find out about that bite right now.

Hypo you say? For some reason that didn't cross my mind... I'm not very familiar with boas. This one was sold to him as a 'jungle 50% ph albino columbian red tail boa'.

Also, is the side speckling a common trait for boas? A lot of the pictures I've Looked at haven't had as much going on.

Ps: sorry to my wife whom I hijacked this thread from :p

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I have to say your guy is not a jungle, as I own a jungle and a hypo myself. Also it's not columbian, it's colombian so IMO whoever sold it to you is uninformed.

The speckling is common, it's called peppering. My hypo has some peppers herself, and lots of normal boas have them too. Some boas hardly have any, so it depends on the morph and the individual.

Here's my hypo female Jaida:

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i3...May2820128.jpg

And my jungle male Jericho:

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i3...June920128.jpg

He's got good girth and looks fine for a 1+-year-old. As was said, boas take a bit longer to grow than ball pythons. My boas didn't start going through growth spurts and really putting on size until they were somewhere around 2 years old. But I have females, so it may even take a bit longer for males. The really chunky baby boas that you see are not healthy; it's normal / healthy for boas to stay slender for their first few years (even my 3.5-year-old is still relatively lean). The loose skin you described, however, is not normal, and I would agree that it is probably dehydration.

And as far as temperament goes, I strongly believe that a newly acquired snake won't acclimate to being handled until it has acclimated to its environment first. I don't handle new snakes (especially young ones) until they seem perfectly at ease in their enclosures. Then I add the stress of handling. Nippiness in young boas is fairly common, and I'm sure with some work and time he will calm down for you.

I wish you the best of luck with him! :) Thank you both for giving him a good home; he is a very handsome little guy!

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Originally Posted by Crazy4Herps

He's got good girth and looks fine for a 1+-year-old. As was said, boas take a bit longer to grow than ball pythons. My boas didn't start going through growth spurts and really putting on size until they were somewhere around 2 years old. But I have females, so it may even take a bit longer for males. The really chunky baby boas that you see are not healthy; it's normal / healthy for boas to stay slender for their first few years (even my 3.5-year-old is still relatively lean). The loose skin you described, however, is not normal, and I would agree that it is probably dehydration.

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I agree with this. Your fellow is not too skinny - he appears fine. He may be dehydrated, but even that does not seem too bad. Keep the humidity up, but make sure the enclosure is also well ventilated. The wrinkles in his skin on the lower part of his body may also be due to his needing to go to the bathroom. My boas will look wrinkly like that around the lower 1/3 of their bodies when they need to go. Just a thought. Rehydrating him will help with this as well. It does not appear to be a stuck shed. If I saw him in person, I might change my mind about that, but from the pics, I doubt that is the problem. Frankly, he just looks to have a sausage-butt and needs to take a dump. :D

Loose skin around his neck is more indicative of dehydration, but you're in the process of fixing that. I am glad to hear his behavior seems normal. He dodged a bullet. :gj:

Give him a week or two and you should be a-ok. He's a great looking boa!! And for sure a hypo. ;)

I agree absolutely on what was said. His health condition isnt all that bad. The wrinkled skin is weird and should be closely observed but otherwise he looks quite normal to me. I have a rtb female about the same age and she basically looks the same when talking about size and girth. She might be slightly larger.. I messured her yesterday with a little bit more then 3 feet. But I have to say she went through a serious disease until June and didnt gain much weight at that time so she was thrown back a bit. But like I said.. she s a female so for a male who tend to be slightly smaller then females hes a okay. :) On the side.. he s a pretty little guy!