Feliz - Venezuelan "Dwarf" BCC

Little feliz is looking great dave, he's nice and bright, glad he's still nice and chilled for you

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Originally Posted by richardhind1972

Little feliz is looking great dave, he's nice and bright, glad he's still nice and chilled for you

Sent from my CLT-L09 using Tapatalk

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Thanks Rich!

Yes, nice and chilled, when out of his tank! I think I am going to have to put a drape up for him like I did for Behira. He's got a crazy strong food response and keeps nailing the acrylic.

Dude has the hardest strike I've ever experienced. Makes Behira look soft :).

All kidding aside, the hook training has worked great and I am not worried about getting nailed. The issue is I do not want him getting hurt. That's the reason I put the drape up for Behira as well. Too bad, they are good display snakes, but the two of them are just "animals" when it comes to wanting food.

Feliz starts looking for food in the late evening. So, I've been taking him out then (I usually take the snakes out during the day or early evening) and using the hook to let him know that no food is coming. He's totally chill once he realizes no food is on the way and he's a joy to handle. He's strong but gentle, and inquisitive, but calm.

He's eating a weaned rat every two weeks now and doing great 1 month away from his second birthday (9-25-19).

Katie took some pictures of me holding him today. He's looking good and sturdy (he's about 400G now). I also got two shots putting him back in his tank.

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...om/L2sCxjU.jpghttps://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...om/2Pn2GDR.jpghttps://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...om/bden9tn.jpghttps://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...om/j26Glva.jpg

He's progressing so very nicely...handsome colors & all the personality you want in a pet- with some credit going to his snarents of course. ;)

He looks awesome Dave! That's a fit and ready 400g champ!

Looking graat dave, love how golden he is agains his red tail

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

He's progressing so very nicely...handsome colors & all the personality you want in a pet- with some credit going to his snarents of course. ;)

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Thanks Bogertophis. I am not sure how much credit Katie and I can take for his personality. He's been a gentle and curious guy from day one. He wasn't handled much at the breeder, but he (Tommy Carpenter) said that his girlfriend will not help with the baby snakes. He does a lot of locale boas and dwarf locale boas. Some, especially, the locales, can be nippy, especially out of the womb. She loves the dwarf Venezuelan BCC's and handles them from day one. They are apparently just super chill animals. They have the insane food response of many boas, but when being handled, they are just lovely. From day one he was like Behira after a few months of acclimation. Not that Behira was every defensive, but she did calm down a bit with handling and trust. Behira has chilled a tiny bit on food response, but Feliz, he's a monster when eating. A few weeks ago he was half in his hide and when struck for the F/T rat (not waiting to come out of the hide), he took it half way across the tank with him. He hits hard!

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Originally Posted by EL-Ziggy

He looks awesome Dave! That's a fit and ready 400g champ!

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Thank you El-Ziggy. Fit and ready is how I want him. That's why he's eating every two weeks now on weaned rats. He is a BCC after all. Apparently, they are much less prone to regurgitation syndrome than other BCC's, but cannot hurt to spread out the feedings. Fit and firm is good, chunky isn't so good. Having said that, I am super pleased with his growth and progress overall. He's an awesome animal and I love how sharp and colorful he is, with great contrast. He was a holdback for color after all.

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Originally Posted by richardhind1972

Looking graat dave, love how golden he is agains his red tail

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Thank you Rich. As mentioned above, his contrast blows me away. Behira is my baby, but she's a ghost BI, so contrast is not her thing. She's got rich coloration and an amazing personality, but she isn't colorful and contrasty. I love the difference in patterns and colors between all my animals.

Shayna (BP): Deep and rich yellows, almost neon.

Yafe (CP): Contrast of deep yellow and white with some oranges around the head.

Behira (BI): Rich tans and almost greens, with some pattern, and a ghost on her tail - for the ghost boa she is!

Feliz (BCC): Beautiful contrast and sharp saddles with browns and tans and a beautiful red tail.

Figment (corn): Purple eyes and light purples and pinks and grey on his body. Did I mention he has purple eyes?

Solana (corn): Red and orange and and so bright.

So there you have it, reds and oranges, yellow and white, tan and brown and deep red, and greens and tans. I've got the full gamut.

The lizards have some diversity too, but mostly in the Leopard geckos who have all different colors. The lizards rock mostly because of distinct personalities, but 4/7 are as nature intended, like Feliz. He's my only non-morph snake.

You're definitely holding Feliz like a proud parent, haha! He's looking fantastic. I like how warm his colors are.

Feliz is bulking up (about 400G now) even eating a weaned rat every 2 weeks. He was doing his best impression of Yafe (carpet python) the other day and I grabbed some pics.

I use the hook handle to let him know that no food is coming. He decided to wrap around it quick and go for a ride.

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...om/14lIEu7.jpghttps://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...om/pev7rt1.jpghttps://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...om/aHCdCUJ.jpg

I had a friend over and Feliz was striking the acrylic doors hoping for food. I opened the tank, showed him the hook handle and rubbed him a few times with it. He let me pick him up a few seconds later and was a total sweetheart.

Hook training working wonders.

My friend's mind was blown. He went from being petrified of him to holding him. He is not afraid of snakes, but did not like Feliz going after the doors.