My little guy that I got delivered to my door April 22nd 2013 was only around 410 grams when he got here and was about 3' 5" long. He was a June 27 2012 baby.
Now he is a bit over 14 months old and he is 4 feet on the dot and weighs in at 1020 grams empty. He hasn't eaten in 12 days and is lean and mean and shaped like a loaf.
These pictures were just a week before he went into shed.
http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/y...a/DSC00712.jpg
http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/y...a/DSC00713.jpg
His colors are still really nice in the sun. He just finished his shed today but I didn't take pics.
Up to this point I think my efforts to safely grow a large male are paying off. I've spread out food intake from some stints of every seven days, to waiting 12-14 days between meals. He came here already eating small rats and I kept that up for the remainder of April and June. In mid July I tried a medium rat and did not like the outcome. We dropped back to smalls but his pre and post feeding response was too strong. I was not able to settle him away from the cage door for 2-3 days after he'd fed. We eventually started on a 2 small rat routine that seemed to work.
Today we are going to try a medium again as he's going on day 13 without food and he's worked out shedding.
Even with a somewhat conservative feeding program I'm amazed at the rate of growth. I've learned to read his behavior fairly well, and I can usually gauge when the next meal will be. I base a lot of my feeding off of Gus Rentfro's boa feeding. Simply feeding him when he'll take food and all signs of the previous meal are gone.
From what I've read and heard, some say between year 1 and 2 is when they really grow long and year 3 they start to bulk up. I'd like to hear what others who have done this longer than I have notice.
Hope you enjoyed the pictures.