going to get my first boa!!!!

what is the "normal" growth rate of a columbian bi. i know most of it depends on feeding (which i will need some advice on) like what % of the animal weight do i use to find the appropriate size food. but anyways the reason i am curious about the growth rate is i want to eventually when it is bigger, i want to get it a enclosure that is to my liking most likely 6'x2'x2' i want something big so he has all the room he will ever want or need something it can roam around in and climb in i know that much room is probably not needed but i feel that the more room the better... thank you

Boas grow slow. For example my big girl is about 4 years old and she is about 6.5'. I've had about 3.5 years and got her at about 18". My sunglow is about 2.5 years old and almost 5'. I've had her a little over 2 years and when I got her, she was about 2'.

As for feeding, I feed anything up to 1 year old once a week. 1-3 years old every 2 weeks. 3+ years, depending on the snake and if its male or female, anywhere from 2-4 weeks, males being on the 4 week schedule. Some people actually fast them for a few months in the winter. I usually just stretch out their feeding by about a week or feed smaller prey but I feed year round. As for size, you want to make sure its about the same thickness as the thickest part of the snake. A little bigger is fine for BI but you want to keep it close. I never bothered to weigh the food. I just eyeball how thick they are and give them food.

Also some people say start on rats asap. I disagree. I would keep your boa on mice until its large enough for weaned rats and higher. Baby rats are just milkbags imo as they don't have fully developed muscles, organs and are filled with mothers milk which isn't great for boas. Switching boas over to rats from mice is pretty easy for most of them so I wouldn't worry.

Also feed in the cage. Don't fall for the wives tale that they get aggressive when fed in cage. That's BS. If you are worried about a baby eating substrate, just have a piece of newspaper, printer paper or paper plate handy and when you dangle the prey for the snake with tongs, when the snake grabs the prey, just hold it with the tongs and place the plate or paper down on top of the substrate under the snake who is coiled on the prey and then lay em all down on the paper. After the snake eats and crawls off into its hide or wherever, then just take the paper out and you are done.

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Originally Posted by Sauzo

Boas grow slow. For example my big girl is about 4 years old and she is about 6.5'. I've had about 3.5 years and got her at about 18". My sunglow is about 2.5 years old and almost 5'. I've had her a little over 2 years and when I got her, she was about 2'.

As for feeding, I feed anything up to 1 year old once a week. 1-3 years old every 2 weeks. 3+ years, depending on the snake and if its male or female, anywhere from 2-4 weeks, males being on the 4 week schedule. Some people actually fast them for a few months in the winter. I usually just stretch out their feeding by about a week or feed smaller prey but I feed year round. As for size, you want to make sure its about the same thickness as the thickest part of the snake. A little bigger is fine for BI but you want to keep it close. I never bothered to weigh the food. I just eyeball how thick they are and give them food.

Also some people say start on rats asap. I disagree. I would keep your boa on mice until its large enough for weaned rats and higher. Baby rats are just milkbags imo as they don't have fully developed muscles, organs and are filled with mothers milk which isn't great for boas. Switching boas over to rats from mice is pretty easy for most of them so I wouldn't worry.

Also feed in the cage. Don't fall for the wives tale that they get aggressive when fed in cage. That's BS. If you are worried about a baby eating substrate, just have a piece of newspaper, printer paper or paper plate handy and when you dangle the prey for the snake with tongs, when the snake grabs the prey, just hold it with the tongs and place the plate or paper down on top of the substrate under the snake who is coiled on the prey and then lay em all down on the paper. After the snake eats and crawls off into its hide or wherever, then just take the paper out and you are done.

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wow that answered every question i had... thank you very much

Boa tip number 1: dont over feed (I put that above temp and humidity b/c you already have BP's, the requirements are very similar) Like Sauzo said, they are always hungry but really do not need much food. Problems seem to arise b/c feeding young boas a lot really does accelerate their growth, but in the long term it shortens their life.

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Originally Posted by dkatz4

Boa tip number 1: dont over feed (I put that above temp and humidity b/c you already have BP's, the requirements are very similar) Like Sauzo said, they are always hungry but really do not need much food. Problems seem to arise b/c feeding young boas a lot really does accelerate their growth, but in the long term it shortens their life.

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I will be sure to not over feed I would not want to shorten his life.... Thank you....I figured the temps and humidity would be appox. the same but wasent for sure

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Now where is this boa!!?? Pictures!! I'm bored and if I don't see new pictures, i'm going to just snap random pictures of my snakes doing nothing and just post them lol.

The guy I get my snakes from is is waiting on the snakes to arrive he said he is going to order a couple so I can pick the one I like he owns a small pet store a couple blocks from my house and the only snakes he really gets is bp cuz their is next to nobody around here that wants snakes plus I am waiting on my t8 (should be a couple more weeks before it arrives) and get it all set up.... But I promise that as soon as I get him/her I will post alot of pics.... But I mean if you want to post random picks of your snakes that's cool because I love seeing different snakes and all the different set ups you guys have for them

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oh and just a question but what is a good price for a baby normal columbian bi? would $120 be a good price for one or would that be too high? i dont mind putting money into my animals i really dont but i dont like getting ripped off either. thank you

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Originally Posted by erebus45

oh and just a question but what is a good price for a baby normal columbian bi? would $120 be a good price for one or would that be too high? i dont mind putting money into my animals i really dont but i dont like getting ripped off either. thank you

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Prices vary by location, by you 120 might be a good price by me a normal baby from a breeder usually cost 50-80 depending how clean the pattern is. 120 can usually buy you a hypo in most places, check morph market, fauna or even the big breeder's website to get a better idea.

You will almost always get a better price from a breeder vs a reseller. Like mentioned check out FaunaClassifieds.com and also check out Kingsnake.com. I have never bought anything off Morph Market but last time I looked at boas on it, it was pretty lacking. Lots of BPs though.

Also most breeders don't breed "pure normal" per say. The normal are by products of trying to hit some morph so most "normals" are actually het or dh for something. Pet shop people wont know but a breeder would as it is his snakes. $120 for a pet shop normal is kind of high when compared to what you can get from a breeder but bottom line is if you like the snake, then I wouldn't worry too much about it being $120.