Question??? I Need Responses Quick!

Im extremley interested in purchasing a Red Tailed Boa Constrictor.... Ive had one before (got sold because of great offer for the quality of the specimen) and know everything about care for them and am able to get a custom enclosure for it when its older so dont worry about that... But anyway, when i was in my local reptile shop (D&J Reptiles) i saw a red tailed boa, and its head was huge fore its actual size.... Is there a specific red tail (suriname,guyana,colombian,etc.) thats head gets bigger faster then most? The snake must have been a female, so does the gender have a role in how big they get, like do they get bigger faster if they are females, and are their heads bigger? I know that females get bigger then males by quite a bit, but do they grow bigger faster? I also know that all snakes have different growth rates, but in general, do females grow bigger than males faster??

Thankyou,
Brandon

Hi Brandon- I would pm Jimi (a mod here) because I bet he has the answer to your question. Also, Pat and the other Brandon could be of help as well. You could try pm'ing them :gj:

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Originally Posted by starmom

Hi Brandon- I would pm Jimi (a mod here) because I bet he has the answer to your question. Also, Pat and the other Brandon could be of help as well. You could try pm'ing them :gj:

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Alright, ill send them pm's

Hey Brandon, this is the other Brandon. :) Head shape and size is one of those things that "sometimes they have them, sometimes not". In all honestly a lot of it depends the actual ssp of boa. I see this more in Boa constrictor constrictor than any other ssp. Especially Iquitos Peruvians and Surinames. Although, occidentalis get huge noggins as well. Another variable is individuality (i.e. genetics). Litter mates have some variance among them. Like big heads, longer bodies or just bigger in girth all together right at birth. Not to ramble on, it's just genetics. Think of it this way, some people are taller than others. No different with boas. They all grow and look differently even if very similar.
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Obviously, females will have a larger head and grow to be a larger snake in general. As far as which sex grows the fastest, hard to say. There's no "timeline" or whatever you want to call it for boa growth. So many variables come into play with growth (again, genetics, feeding frequency, sex, type of prey, ssp., cage temps etc etc). So it's hard to determine which sex would actually grow faster. One would think female, but are they actually growing faster, or just longer? Even though males don't grow as big, does that mean they don't grow as fast? And since males don't get as large, do they reach their peak" faster than a female does, or vice versa? Hard to say.
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Growth rates are pretty vague questions because their is no answer. Every boa grows differently. As a generalization, I honestly think they grow at fairly steady rates with one another (ruling out all that junk that aids in growth).
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I don't know if I answered all of your questions. It's late and I didn't put that much thought into this. But here's a picture to help you out. This is a 3 year old Iquitos Peruvian. As you can see, she's got a good size head in comparison to her body. And one other observation that I forgot to state above is foreshadowing. Boas that display large heads when you, usually means you will get a big adult.
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http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/j...Picture916.jpg
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http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/j...cture913-2.jpg
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Hopefully Jimi sees this thread and can add anything I left out.

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Originally Posted by starmom

the other Brandon could be of help as well.

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Now that I think about it, I'm still relatively new here and their might be other Brandon's. So perhaps I'm not the other Brandon. :)

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Originally Posted by ssjsmits

This is a 3 year old Iquitos Peruvian. As you can see, she's got a good size head in comparison to her body. And one other observation that I forgot to state above is foreshadowing. Boas that display large heads when you, usually means you will get a big adult.
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http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/j...Picture916.jpg
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http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/j...cture913-2.jpg

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She's so gorgeous it hurts :D Just had to add that

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Originally Posted by ssjsmits

Now that I think about it, I'm still relatively new here and their might be other Brandon's. So perhaps I'm not the other Brandon. :)

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Lol!!! You goof!! :P
Yes, you were the other Brandon of which I was referring. Actually, you would be the OG since you joined before Brandon the OP :rofl:

BTW: Your snake is adorable :P

I think Brandon hit the nail on the head pretty good.

Im gonna agree with him as well, in saying that no 1 sex grows faster than another.

Sure there are methods to make females grow faster yadda yadda yadda, but those are DEF not recommended.

Big mom, big dad USUALLY means big babies.....USUALLY.

I think you'll find that boas are one of the most rewarding species out there!

so why did you need the response so quick?