My Boa's, and some general questions

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Originally Posted by Evenstar

Ok thanks for more details on the male's behavior - I can surely understand the gloves now. Perhaps you can find smaller and less bulky gloves? It truly might help.

And I still say he's a normal columbian BCI. He's most definitely not an Argentine. I have an Argenting boa (plan on taking pics and introducing him tonight so watch for that post) and he is very dark and granite-y. BCOs look nothing like BCIs - the closest subspecies that ressemble BCOs are BCLs (Longicauda). Columbian boas can vary quite a lot in appearance. Some have more pink hues and some are more grey. Some have narrower saddles and some have lots of speckling, etc. Yours has a nice clean pattern and appears to have nice cream and pink blushing, but he's still a normal columbian - which is perfectly fine!

Yes, BCC means Boa Constrictor Constrictor. And I agree that your female should be much bigger. I missed where you though she was an adult or I would've mentioned that earlier. But don't overfeed her to try and get her up to weight in a hurry! Give her an apprpriate sized prey item only after each defecation. That could be once every 2-4 weeks. BCCs do better with less frequent meals and slightly cooler temps (76-78 ambient and 88 hotspot is good). Let us know what you find out with Ed from Wild Morphs. I hope he can help you!

Can I ask you why you started using black lights in their enclosures?? That isn't generally considered appropriate lighting for snakes so I wondered if you had a specific reason?

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The gloves are Class A dress gloves from when I was in the service, and are actually the most low-profile leather gloves I own. they're actually quite tight on my big ape hands.


I'm not overly-concerned about his subspecies, just as long as I know what he is so that I can continue to learn proper care & husbandry for them both!

Thanks for sharing that with me, I'll look into and try to learn as much as I can.

As far as the lighting goes? Eh.... I had free reign of the pet store I worked at and my payment was usually whatever supplies I needed. I've been kinda strapped for cash lately as I've been largely unemployed as far as "gainful employment" goes. The black lights & fixtures are things I have around. I'm a carpenter by trade and have many things like this available to me.

I've been meaning to buy some red bulbs for them both, but haven't had the cash that pets mart wants (has anyone else noticed their outrageous mark up?). Both tanks have UTH in them, but neither snake seems to be too interested in them.

There's another pet store I've been using, but it's a 45 minute drive one way and they seem to be competitively priced, so I'll try them.

I understand that lighting is more important for Bao's vs. BP's, and when I have the ability to get the right lighting I will do so.

For the most part it's just to give some lighting to them rather than being in the dark. I turn the female's day light bulb off at night, and she doesn't care to spend much time under or near it. That also probably comes down to the humidity in the atmosphere of her enclosure.

For the record, I've never "power-fed" anything I've ever owned or taken care of. I have heard the term thrown around, and assumed it means feeding the snake more frequently than one normally would. Although I know little about it and have never practiced it. I loosely understand that, as a rule, it is a bad idea.

I PM'd Ed last night, I'm still waiting for him to get back to me.

I think they will be fine. It sounds like you are doing what you need to for them. Just get that lump looked at and then start nursing her back to health. The male should eventually calm down. As for the female, I have heard of lumps like that forming due to malnutrition but it could also be a cyst or something else. You never know.

You mentioned soaking her prior to shed. This actually will cause a bad shed. Soaking when the snake is in blue will get rid of the natural oil between the old skin and new skin that is required to help the old skin come off. You should only soak after a bad shed. In order to help the snake shed once you see it's in blue just raise the humidity. Boas like the humidity a bit higher anyway.

If you look at this thread you'll see pics of my BCC. She just turned 3 this winter and it sounds like yours is about the same age or slightly younger. It won't be long before yours fills out like this and has the muscle ripples along her sides. There are pics further down showing her size. I feed her one prekilled large rat every 2-3 weeks depending on her actions. When she's hungry she comes to the door of the enclosure every time I walk by. Judging by the length of yours I'd say she's probably very close to being 3 years old if she isn't already.

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showthread.php?t=163196

You also need to get a secure cage for your large female. When she decides to break out, those weights aren't going to stop her. Just some friendly advice.

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Originally Posted by Foschi Exotic Serpents

I think they will be fine. It sounds like you are doing what you need to for them. Just get that lump looked at and then start nursing her back to health. The male should eventually calm down. As for the female, I have heard of lumps like that forming due to malnutrition but it could also be a cyst or something else. You never know.

You mentioned soaking her prior to shed. This actually will cause a bad shed. Soaking when the snake is in blue will get rid of the natural oil between the old skin and new skin that is required to help the old skin come off. You should only soak after a bad shed. In order to help the snake shed once you see it's in blue just raise the humidity. Boas like the humidity a bit higher anyway.

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Originally Posted by Foschi Exotic Serpents

If you look at this thread you'll see pics of my BCC. She just turned 3 this winter and it sounds like yours is about the same age or slightly younger. It won't be long before yours fills out like this and has the muscle ripples along her sides. There are pics further down showing her size. I feed her one prekilled large rat every 2-3 weeks depending on her actions. When she's hungry she comes to the door of the enclosure every time I walk by. Judging by the length of yours I'd say she's probably very close to being 3 years old if she isn't already.

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showthread.php?t=163196

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Thanks~! I had no idea I was doing more harm than good!!! I will remember than from here fourth.


I hope the lump is minor. I've been paying very close attention to this thread and have been waiting for Ed's reply. I don't worry about much, but I'll admit, this has me concerned.

Hopefully with 'more regular' feeding habits, she'll fill out. I'm aware the male will settle down after a while, but his behavior is dependent on my interaction with him. Which, admittedly hasn't been much over the last several months. I could ramble about what's been going on, but we'll just say I've been away from home and busy with other things in life. Sadly, those things have caused me to neglect the attention he needs to curve his aggression.

It's been a few days since I PM'd Ed... He still hasn't gotten back to me but has been active on the forum.

Not sure how to interpret that. I suppose I will attempt to contact other people.

Socializing with the little male tonight.... Figured I'd shoot some video of it.

Yeah, I know he took a little fall, but that was all him, sometimes he just does that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRzVlOMiXy8

He sure is fiesty. Might want to avoid poking near his head and mouth so much though - especially with the gloves on. I'm sure that doesn't help calm him down very much, hehe. Good luck. :gj:

I would try holding him rather then what you are trying there.

There is something about this that just doesn't seem right. My 2 hypo BCIs are the sweetest animals on the planet but even they would not appreciate being poked and prodded like that. Not all snakes like being stroked or scratched under the chin like that - in fact, most don't.

I agree with WinWizard - just hold him. Let him slide through your hands and wrap around your wrist and just hang out for a while without being poked. That big scarry hand coming from up above is freaking him out. That's fear and defensiveness I see there and not so much aggression. I'm not trying to be hard on you - often we don't realize just what it is we're doing unless someone outside the situation points it out to us. Watch the vid yourself and see this situation from your snake's eyes..... :gj: