Spring Fling.

It's the time of year here where everybody starts eating and moving around.

Spring time is when I usually make a total substrate change and do a deep cleaning within the cage and its decor.

Two of my four are already squared away and won't be pictured here.

These are the largest of the four and they were rather pleased with the cleaning and change out.

Barranquilla, Colombian boa constrictor. Produced by Gus Rentfro. True locality animal. He's 6 and 1/2 feet long and coming up on 5 years old.
http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/y...tput_407e.jpeg

He's eaten once since last November, and tonight he may be dinning on quail.
http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/y...tput_4077.jpeg

He is becoming more active with the seasonal changes taking place here.
http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/y...tput_407d.jpeg

He's freshly shed, but the cage pictures don't do him justice. I'll have a boa constrictor thread just for "Sniper" when it is nice enough to photograph him outdoors.
http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/y...tput_407b.jpeg


My other mover and climber is rather active today after her cleanup.

This is a coastal carpet python mutt. She's a good 6 and 1/2 feet plus of snake. She's a few months away from the 4 year old mark and is still growing.
http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/y...tput_4076.jpeg

She has quite the life in her display cage.
http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/y...tput_407f.jpeg

http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/y...tput_4078.jpeg

This is probably the most active snake at this point. The retic is still a little shy and growing up slowly.

This girl is out and about frequently.
http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/y...tput_4080.jpeg

Thanks for checking them out. The cages are all set up for display, and I'll get photos of the royal and retic out when the outdoor climate is right.

http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/y...tput_4082.jpeg

All looking great. Boa looks massive. Great pattern, a really nice specimen you have.

6.5 feet and growing is a nice size for your Coastal too. I really love the looks of Coastals.

Awesome enclosures!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rock

All looking great. Boa looks massive. Great pattern, a really nice specimen you have.

6.5 feet and growing is a nice size for your Coastal too. I really love the looks of Coastals.

Awesome enclosures!

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Thanks much!!!

The boa is really something special as far as linage. Sauzo has a Suriname specimen produced from two Gus Rentfro Pokigron boas.

Gus and a handful of others are true locality boa folks.

The "coastal" I have is quite the opposite. I love her but she is coastal, maybe jungle and diamond. She could be mixed with IJ or possibly Darwin. I have no idea, but I love her just the same. There is no bad carpet IMO.

They are great snakes however your Bredli makes me drool! Gus is to boas what Nick and a few others here are to carpets.

OH,
FYI looks like both carpet and boa are going to refuse quail tonight. Typical early spring behavior.

Your critters and enclosures are beautiful Gio. Do you scale back on all your snake's food during winter?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Gio

Thanks much!!!

The boa is really something special as far as linage. Sauzo has a Suriname specimen produced from two Gus Rentfro Pokigron boas.

Gus and a handful of others are true locality boa folks.

The "coastal" I have is quite the opposite. I love her but she is coastal, maybe jungle and diamond. She could be mixed with IJ or possibly Darwin. I have no idea, but I love her just the same. There is no bad carpet IMO.

They are great snakes however your Bredli makes me drool! Gus is to boas what Nick and a few others here are to carpets.

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I read up before on the Suriname red tails from the Pokigron region. Definitely awesome and increasingly rare. You are exactly right about the similarities of Gus and Nick's approach.

I think having mixes or morphs coupled with a true locality animal really creates a nice collection.

Thank you about my Bredli. He is exciting for me to watch grow.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by EL-Ziggy

Your critters and enclosures are beautiful Gio. Do you scale back on all your snake's food during winter?

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Good question.

The answer is yes and no.

The boa is the one I pay close attention to with seasonal changes. He naturally has a decrease in appetite and activity when fall and winter hit, and he picks up in the spring. I slightly adjust temps and certainly cut daylight hours back from 12 to around 8.

The royal and carpet are very picky. The carpet is a very strange eater. In my book a pain in the butt and annoying. She usually goes 2 months between meals. Live, fresh kill, frozen thawed, rat, quail or rabbit doesn't matter. She eats when she's ready and usually has a long, irritating ritual of crawling around, sniffing, acting ready and then slinking off and coming back.

I feed her and the royal when they are ready. Usually I pick a time when the boa is ready, except winter, so I have a place to drop the refusal.

The retic is also picky, but he is consistent usually and I want him started off slowly anyhow.

I love seeing videos of folks with large collections feeding 10, 12, 20 snakes with no refusals LOL!

Its rare that I have a day where all four hit it at once.

Wow. Your enclosures and snakes are amazing. How long have you been keeping?

My snakes stay in an 'eternal summer'. They don't seem to slow down on activity but then again they don't seem to really care about much unless it involves food haha. They don't seem to lose their appetite though, they are all pigs that I got to regulate or I'd have a room of food comatose snakes :P If i take them out, they are all really laid back except Caesar now who is just a spazz. Last time I took him out, he literally crawled all over my head and then when that got no where, he climbed down my leg like it was a tree trunk and started investigating the floor lol.

Heck even Gina is turning into a pig. The day after I got her, it was feeding day for everyone and since the day and night I got her, she seemed really inquisitive and not shy at all, I figured I'll try a F?T hopper mouse for her as she was feeding on medium mice. She was kind of hesitant on it but finally took it. Then about 9 days later she graced me with a present lol. Then the 10th day, I offered her another hopper mouse and she launched like s loaded spring on it haha. This time I got the sheet of paper under her so she didn't eat a mouthful of EE. She is such a relaxed little snake. Chris did tell me the Rio Bravo Pokigrons he has been breeding are really laid back and not snappy at all.

And your carpet sounds like my BP. I quit even trying to figure her out. She will eat like a champ for a few months, then just quit eating. Doesn't need to be winter. Can be spring or fall too. She is a weirdo.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DLena

Wow. Your enclosures and snakes are amazing. How long have you been keeping?

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Thank you, and not long at all.

We, my son and I, plus my daughter to some extent, started when my wife and I bought our son a royal python. My join date 05-28-12 was the day we bought him his snake for a 9th birthday present. The join date and purchase were 2 days before his actual B-day. (cage and equipment purchased weeks before) We, were both against the idea, I especially was as I knew I'd end up being the primary care giver.

I ended up captivated by the little royal and got the dreaded snake bug.

I was a quick study and turned somewhat fanatical when it came to the true biology and natural habits of the animals.

I bought and read books and other media, studied on line, published studies, and ended up making a good friend who track, finds, sexes and documents the data of certain species of native snakes in our area. He keeps locality, Pokigron Suri BCCs and Argentine BCOs also.

In the end, the 5 years have been rather rewarding. I have no interest in breeding my animals. I actually don't have a single matching species. The collection of 4 is rather diverse, at least within the boa/python family.

You could say, the relaxing aspect of a fun snake room and pleasing, display caging is what I like. Plus the personal preference I have for semi arboreal and somewhat active snakes makes the viewing better IMO.

My Utopia.

http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/y...tput_3114.jpeg