Phantom: Super Ghost BCI Progression Thread

Phantom looks really happy in his new set up! Congrats on breaking quarantine! Haha sorry for the scare but it's fascinating how well he camaflogues!

And yes! My russian rattie girl is out of her QT days and definitely enjoying a more decorative scene!

Phantom and the viv look great,does make your stomach turn when you can’t find them,Ive emptied the viv before only to find them pop there head out out the substrate as if to say “keep it down,I was sleeping “ lol


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Looks like a happy lil boa! :)

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Originally Posted by dakski

Thanks for the kind words brother. Happy to help any time.

I’ve had scares like that and they are not fun. Heart skipped a beat, right?

The day after 25g Solana went into her life home, a 3x2’ Boaphile, with 6 hides, I couldn’t find her. Lifted all 6 hides and started freaking out. Little turkey was under the paper wedged in the corner behind her water bowl.

I’ve learned my lesson, she’s growing like a weed, and I am positive she cannot get out of there.

However, for a minute there, I was about to cry.

Phantom looks awesome and he’s going to love his new digs once he settles in. Looks really nice.

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No Thank You!!! You’ve been so helpful to many of us so just looking to pay it forward.
Heart definitely skipped a beat and I was having flashbacks when I checked my BP’s hides a couple months ago and proceeded to destroy the basement looking for him ;)

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Originally Posted by MissterDog

Phantom looks really happy in his new set up! Congrats on breaking quarantine! Haha sorry for the scare but it's fascinating how well he camaflogues!

And yes! My russian rattie girl is out of her QT days and definitely enjoying a more decorative scene!

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He does look very happy! And now I feel like a finally have a ‘show’ snake. One that doesn’t hide every hour of the day ;) Congrats on the end of QT for you as well. Wonder how long that will last…..meaning new creature ;)

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Originally Posted by richardhind1972

Phantom and the viv look great,does make your stomach turn when you can’t find them,Ive emptied the viv before only to find them pop there head out out the substrate as if to say “keep it down,I was sleeping “ lol
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Thanks Richard! I’ll say I definitely panicked when I didn’t find him but also panicked when I realized he was 2 inches from hand. Luckily he didn’t take a chunk out of my hand since he was probably still in feed mode ;)

Weird feeding response tonight for Phantom. I always feed at night w/ minimal lighting and he's ALWAYS aggressively taken the food. Tonight I was having trouble finding where he was in the enclosure so I thought the sound of a hair dryer and the smell of a warm mouse would bring him out but no luck. I ended up turning on the enclosure LEDs and lifting the cool side hide where he usually likes to hide out. No Phantom?!?!? I proceeded to close the sliding glass door and open the other side to check the warm side hide. There is was curled up in a ball. I presented the mouse and it took him awhile to acknowledge the prey but he eventually took it but I had to really work to get him to eat. Maybe it has something to do w/ the cold season upon us or maybe a shed could be coming up. I'm not quite sure. I'll definately be checking tomorrow morning to make sure the mouse was eaten and not left inside his hide.

Curious what others do when there is no reaction from your snake when its feeding time. I know it's not recommended to turn on the lights and lift the hide but at least he ate this time by me doing so.

A few thoughts.

First, I agree with checking and making sure the prey was eaten. He could be shedding, it could be a weather change, or he could be having an off day. Even Behira refused 1 meal since I've had her. No idea why, but she did.

Secondly, I agree with, in general, not picking up hides and definitely with not turning on lights, etc. If he doesn't come out the he smells food. I would either leave the prey item on the warm side, or near the opening of the hide you know he's in (if you know he's in a hide), without blocking the hide.

Aside from the fact that many snakes will be turned off food by lights coming on all of sudden, and definitely with hides being lifted off, etc. You are taking a big risk buddy. With a little Phantom, not so bad. Try that with a 5FT+ Phantom and get a food response bite and you could be talking stitches. What if he was just sleeping, and he all of sudden smells food and you lift the hide and BAMMM?

Not important enough for him to get a meal in at this point for your to dis-regulate him, or risk getting bit now or certainly at later date when he's bigger. Pretty much any healthy snake can miss a meal easily. If he doesn't want to come out, leave it for a bit. If he doesn't take in a few hours, or overnight at the most. Take it out and toss it.

Offer again in a week.

He will be okay.

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Originally Posted by dakski

A few thoughts.

First, I agree with checking and making sure the prey was eaten. He could be shedding, it could be a weather change, or he could be having an off day. Even Behira refused 1 meal since I've had her. No idea why, but she did.

Secondly, I agree with, in general, not picking up hides and definitely with not turning on lights, etc. If he doesn't come out the he smells food. I would either leave the prey item on the warm side, or near the opening of the hide you know he's in (if you know he's in a hide), without blocking the hide.

Aside from the fact that many snakes will be turned off food by lights coming on all of sudden, and definitely with hides being lifted off, etc. You are taking a big risk buddy. With a little Phantom, not so bad. Try that with a 5FT+ Phantom and get a food response bite and you could be talking stitches. What if he was just sleeping, and he all of sudden smells food and you lift the hide and BAMMM?

Not important enough for him to get a meal in at this point for your to dis-regulate him, or risk getting bit now or certainly at later date when he's bigger. Pretty much any healthy snake can miss a meal easily. If he doesn't want to come out, leave it for a bit. If he doesn't take in a few hours, or overnight at the most. Take it out and toss it.

Offer again in a week.

He will be okay.

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I checked this morning and Phantom was still under the same hide and the prey was gone. I made every attempt to shield myself while lifting the hides last night and I understand what you’re saying about the risk doing this with a 5’ plus BOA. I think I was more perplexed then anything since this was the 1^st time not witnessing a feeding response. I felt the need to investigate to see if he was ok and worse to see if he was even in the enclosure (I had visions of when my BP went missing for a couple hours ;)…. Thanks again for the response. It’s definitely a learning experience and I’m glad to have this board share knowledge like this.

I had a similar experience last night and other times previously. My BCI and scrub were both in their hides at feeding time last night. I lifted their hides and offered the rats on tongs. They both ate just fine. I've also had to turn on the cage led lights a few times when feeding my carpets, bulls and olive. It's tough seeing where the sharp end is sometimes so I either turn on the cage or room lights until they take the prey then it's back to lights out. I didn't know that could make them not eat. Luckily it hasn't been an issue yet but I'll definitely be more mindful.

I always feed with the lights on so they can see when they have struck the rat rather than my hand then turn the lights off after I know it's gone, my motley will only eat with the lights off tho

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Originally Posted by EL-Ziggy

I had a similar experience last night and other times previously. My BCI and scrub were both in their hides at feeding time last night. I lifted their hides and offered the rats on tongs. They both ate just fine. I've also had to turn on the cage led lights a few times when feeding my carpets, bulls and olive. It's tough seeing where the sharp end is sometimes so I either turn on the cage or room lights until they take the prey then it's back to lights out. I didn't know that could make them not eat. Luckily it hasn't been an issue yet but I'll definitely be more mindful.

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Must be that Atlanta weather causing our snakes to close up shop during feeding times. Actually I checked when I got home and Phantom ‘might’ be showing signs of a shed coming on. I’m not the best at recognizing this yet so we’ll see if I’m on to something. And you’re right it’s tough seeing in the dark and trying to guess where these guys are. If it weren’t for the lights turned on last night, I would have guessed the wrong hide ;) I can definitely see the lights having a negative effect on my BP but the BOA doesn’t seem to care much.

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Originally Posted by richardhind1972

I always feed with the lights on so they can see when they have struck the rat rather than my hand then turn the lights off after I know it's gone, my motley will only eat with the lights off tho
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I hope this wasn't a result from past experiences (i.e. food response to your hand) ;)

It’s still happened a couple of times when I’ve not been quick enough because they have come out so fast from behind a branch or a there hide in full on food mode and missed judged it, it’s normally been my thumb.
A six foot 10yr old boa bleeds a bit than a juvenile boa, I turn the light off once they proper coiled


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I took a picture today of Phantom’s eyes because I have a hunch a shed might be coming on. They look a little cloudy to me. Curious if the eyes look that way to more experienced Boa owners. He’s only shed for me once and I missed the signs. Also, as I outlined earlier, his food response a couple days ago was non existent even though he ended up eating.

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Looks a little cloudy to me. When did he shed last? Have you had him out lately? Did his belly look a little red? Does it now? That tends to happen before the eyes cloud over.

They can get less aggressive at food time when going into shed, but still eat. Feliz did that.

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Originally Posted by dakski

Looks a little cloudy to me. When did he shed last? Have you had him out lately? Did his belly look a little red? Does it now? That tends to happen before the eyes cloud over.

They can get less aggressive at food time when going into shed, but still eat. Feliz did that.

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Thanks Dakski. Oct 2nd was his last shed (1st for me). I thought is eyes looked cloudy and when I approached his head for tap training he barely flinched so maybe they are a little clouded. The last time I had him out was 4 days ago (ate 3 days ago) and I didn't want to pick him up today since he might be in shed.

Definitely going into shed there,I notice the greyer boas get a blue tinge to there bellies as they going into shed , my IMG does to but my albino ones get a link belly as Dave said
Most boas tend to go into shed 6-8 weeks

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Originally Posted by richardhind1972

Definitely going into shed there,I notice the greyer boas get a blue tinge to there bellies as they going into shed , my IMG does to but my albino ones get a link belly as Dave said
Most boas tend to go into shed 6-8 weeks

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Thanks Richard. Good to know and makes me feel better about the lack of feeding response. I'll make sure to increase the humidity to help matters.

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Originally Posted by ckuhn003

Thanks Richard. Good to know and makes me feel better about the lack of feeding response. I'll make sure to increase the humidity to help matters.

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Correct to increase humidity, but after the eyes clear.

60-70% normal humidity for my Boas and then 70-80% when the eyes clear and shed is imminent.

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Originally Posted by ckuhn003

Thanks Richard. Good to know and makes me feel better about the lack of feeding response. I'll make sure to increase the humidity to help matters.

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I spray the vivs most days then spray well every day when they go in shed then as soon as the eyes clear I up the spraying to two or three times daily..

Perfect shed every single time !


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That’s what I do with my boas soon as I see the first sign increase the humidity by misting with tepid water


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Originally Posted by ckuhn003

I took a picture today of Phantom’s eyes because I have a hunch a shed might be coming on. They look a little cloudy to me. Curious if the eyes look that way to more experienced Boa owners. He’s only shed for me once and I missed the signs. Also, as I outlined earlier, his food response a couple days ago was non existent even though he ended up eating.

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Thank you for posting this and for everyone's subsequent replies. Our BCL's eyes looked like this last night, so it's good to know I wasn't wrong when I thought her eyes looked a bit different than usual. Will be bumping up humidity for the anticapted shed.

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Originally Posted by WhompingWillow

Thank you for posting this and for everyone's subsequent replies. Our BCL's eyes looked like this last night, so it's good to know I wasn't wrong when I thought her eyes looked a bit different than usual. Will be bumping up humidity for the anticapted shed.

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Of course! This is what this board is for. Good luck with the shed.

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Originally Posted by ckuhn003

I took a picture today of Phantom’s eyes because I have a hunch a shed might be coming on. They look a little cloudy to me. Curious if the eyes look that way to more experienced Boa owners. He’s only shed for me once and I missed the signs. Also, as I outlined earlier, his food response a couple days ago was non existent even though he ended up eating.

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It looks like my hunch was correct. Three days later, I lifted up Phantom's hide and he was coiled around a full shed. I haven't inspected him thoroughly, but my guess is that it was a perfect shed. That explains the weak feeding response last week. Just in time for feeding in a couple of days :)

That's good news then,I normally unroll it to make sure both eyecaps are there and the tail tip as this can cause a lot of problems if maintained, can't wait to see some fresh pics

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Had my little guy out tonight whIle the kids were playing in the basement. I’m really enjoying the fact that he turned out to be a calm little snake which in turn has helped my confidence level in handling him. Here’s some pictures from tonight.

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Phantom looks great!

Do you know his weight now?

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Originally Posted by dakski

Phantom looks great!

Do you know his weight now?

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Thanks Dakski! I love the square shaped body that healthy Boas have. I weighed him a couple weeks ago for the first time. He was 199 grams.

Looking really great glad he’s settled for you ,makes life a lot easier especially when the kids are about


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Wanted to provide an update on Phantom as I’m coming to the end of his 1st F/T Mouse shipment. I took ownership of him about 6 months ago and he’s grown to about 300grams while feeding once a week on Adult mice (mid 20grams). He’s been a great eater and has been a really chill Boa thanks to persistent tap training and handling sessions. Anyways, I’m considering keeping him on the same size food for another six months and wanted to get some opinions.

Here’s some pictures.

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Looking really great

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Almost a year since I took delivery of Phantom and he’s turned out to be a wonderful 1st Boa. He’s currently closing in on 400grams which is double his weight when he arrived. He’s been very chill when handled which is amazing to think considering how ‘vicious’ he can be when the lights go out and he thinks it’s feeding time.

Here’s some pictures I snapped today.

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Looking good!

What a handsome boy! Still can't get over his eyes <3

Looking really great

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Phantom looks great CK! We took the boa plunge at the same time last year. The feeding and growth rates are pretty interesting. It seems like you're feeding slightly smaller meals more often. I'm feeding larger meals a little less frequently. The closest size comparisons would be my BO and your BI. My female BO was 96g when she arrived on 8/14/18. She weighed 320g today. She eats a weaned rat or 1-2 adult mice every 10-14 days. As far as same species comparables my yearling male BI was 207g when he arrived on 7/23/18. He weighed in at 750g today. He eats a weaned/small rat or day old chick every 14 days on average. I'm curious to see how this trend goes over time.

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Originally Posted by EL-Ziggy

Phantom looks great CK! We took the boa plunge at the same time last year. The feeding and growth rates are pretty interesting. It seems like you're feeding slightly smaller meals more often. I'm feeding larger meals a little less frequently. The closest size comparisons would be my BO and your BI. My female BO was 96g when she arrived on 8/14/18. She weighed 320g today. She eats a weaned rat or 1-2 adult mice every 10-14 days. As far as same species comparables my yearling male BI was 207g when he arrived on 7/23/18. He weighed in at 750g today. He eats a weaned/small rat or day old chick every 14 days on average. I'm curious to see how this trend goes over time.

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Thank you Ziggy! I was trying to space out the meals a little more in the beginning (10+ days) but he’s starting to act like he’s still hungry after the feeding and into the morning so I started to reduce the feeding times to every 7 days. He’s still on adult mice and I believe I have maybe 10 more to go before I make the switch to whatever the appropriate size in rats is. I agree it’s pretty interesting watching the growth rates on these guys since we both took ownership about the same time.

Beautiful snake! I was wondering what the thinking was on feeding mice instead of rats for your snake? Is that what yours prefers or just what you have on hand?

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Originally Posted by Burticus

Beautiful snake! I was wondering what the thinking was on feeding mice instead of rats for your snake? Is that what yours prefers or just what you have on hand?
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Thank you! I believe it's recommended to feed mice during the 1st year due to the fat content found in rats. That's what I was told by my breeder and many on the board follow this protocol. He's a wonderful eater (unlike my BP) so I'm not too worried once I switch over to rats in the near future.

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Originally Posted by ckuhn003

Thank you! I believe it's recommended to feed mice during the 1st year due to the fat content found in rats. That's what I was told by my breeder and many on the board follow this protocol. He's a wonderful eater (unlike my BP) so I'm not too worried once I switch over to rats in the near future.

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Boas are garbage disposals. They are not BPs.

The switch will be easy. Feed mice until he can take rat pups.

i wasn’t able to take any good pictures but I wanted to document Phantoms 1st successful conversion to weaned rats. This went a lot easier then my BPs well documented struggle with mice to rats. Phantom is weighing in around 420 grams and doing very well.

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Phantom is looking great and I am not surprised it was an easy transition from mice to rats. Neither of my boas blinked an eye (well they wouldn't have if they could) and switched without hesitation.

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted any updates about Phantom. Not much has changed. We’ve had some good sheds and he’s consistently been a good eater and is very calm when handled. I know they are slow growers and I’ve been patient with his feeding schedule but just wanted to post a picture of his body structure to make sure we’re still on the right track. He’s about 480 grams and eating a weaned rat every 14 days. I’ve had him for about a year and a half now.

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He's looking great!

Looks solid to me! I hear ya on the slow growing and patience. My Suriname is going to be 2yrs in a month and is maybe 3’ at best and closing in on 400grams. We have to remind ourselves sometimes that we’ll miss this size once they get bigger


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He's looking really good, great looking eye's

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Not the best of pics but wanted to snap one of Phantom using his basking shelf after devouring a rat last night. He’s usually under his warm hide the next day after a feeding but I guess the shelf was a little more cozy this time around. He looks so innocent now compared to the ‘cocked and ready’ posture a couple hours after feeding.

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Looks nice and chilled.
My boas have always loved there shelves and branches

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Found myself watching some Boa videos online which made me want to spend some quality handling time with Phantom tonight. He’s been such a great 1st Boa for me. Always eats and the handling has gotten better over time. He’s never had a problem with it but I’ve always been hesitant and feel like I’m getting better and more confident each time.

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Originally Posted by ckuhn003

Found myself watching some Boa videos online which made me want to spend some quality handling time with Phantom tonight. He’s been such a great 1st Boa for me. Always eats and the handling has gotten better over time. He’s never had a problem with it but I’ve always been hesitant and feel like I’m getting better and more confident each time.

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Looking great
Looks nice and healthy

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Just checking in to get some advice on prey size since I'm coming to the end of my stash of food. Phantom (approx 2.5 years old and weighing around 580ish) has been on weaned FT rats since last October (8 months). I've been feeding him every 14 days. I'm thinking about bumping him up to small rats and changing his feeding frequency to every 3 weeks. This seems like the general consensus on the board and wanted to verify before I put in an order. My BP has a couple small rats from my last order that I'll feed until they are gone. Thanks!

Sounds fine to me mate

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