Our first Red Tail..

Our first boa..we have pythons (balls/albino burmese) we got this beauty from a local reputable pet shop..he said the boa was a military man that was getting deployed..
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The pet shop owner said the red tail was 6 months old and the owner was "power feeding" it..
My question is...how long and heavy can these snakes get from hatchling to 6 months old..i don't think this boa is 6 months old but i might be mistaken..

this might work..don't know how to post a pic but she is roughly 4-5ft and heavy..haven't weighed her yet.
.http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/01/16/nyvyjy3e.jpg
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Oh and how can i tell if she is a BCC or a BCI

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She looks pretty big to be 6 months old. Also she is most likely a BCI, her saddles are round ) ( unlike a BCC saddles which are peaked } {. Congrats and best of luck with her.

That's huge at 6 months.
Maybe she does have BCC in her..? If so, i would still thinks she is huge for 6 months.
I have a female BCI that's smaller than her at 3ish years old.

Awesome pick up! IMO there no way that thing is 6 months old.

Beautiful. But I also think no way 6 months. I would guess a couple years. I would also guess BCI, due to saddles.

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Yeah i kinda thought she was huge for 6 months..any way to tell age...and i reckon she is not full grown

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Maybe it was that the army guy had her for 6 months.,,?

I would guess anywhere around 2-4 years old. If he really was "power feeding" she might be on the younger side.

Thank y'all very much for the replies...That could be to..i love her temperment..and she appears very healthy.and boy o boy does she like to climb :eek:. just trying to get an idea how big she might get..cause I'm gone to build a custom terrarium for her

The pet shop owner said he was feeding her 2 small rats every 2 weeks..i don't think i agree with that..i think I'm gone to use a 1 medium or slightly bigger rat every 10 days..she just ate 7 days ago so i gone offer food Friday or Saturday...

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At that size she could eat every two weeks just fine, imo. Boas have slower metabolism, they don't need to eat as often as a ball.

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It's hard to tell in the pic but is she round like a BP? (she looks thick)

Oh ok..i guess i will keep her at 2 weeks then..i wasnt aware of the Boas slower metabolism..thank you. my bp's seem like they are always hungry lol

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Yes she is rather rounded like balls are..i will see if i have closer pics

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This is kind of a good pic to see her girth.
I will see how many grams she weighs tonight
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/01/17/amabubav.jpg

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She looks a wee bit smaller than my male Colombian, who's a June '10 baby. There's no way she's 6 months old IMO.

She looks like a normal Colombian BCI to me, I'm not seeing any BCC influences.

I would plan for at least a 6' vivarium for her, that size suits most Colombian adult females just fine. (I like 6' long x 2' wide x 1 1/2 foot-2ft tall depending on if you want to add any ledges in there for her to climb on).

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Originally Posted by Daybreaker

She looks a wee bit smaller than my male Colombian, who's a June '10 baby. There's no way she's 6 months old IMO.

She looks like a normal Colombian BCI to me, I'm not seeing any BCC influences.

I would plan for at least a 6' vivarium for her, that size suits most Colombian adult females just fine. (I like 6' long x 2' wide x 1 1/2 foot-2ft tall depending on if you want to add any ledges in there for her to climb on).

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I agree with all of this completely. To add, I would feed her one small to medium sized rat every 2 weeks. I would definitely not feed her any more frequently than that. She could stand to trim down slightly, but she doesn't look too overweight to me. Proper feeding will help her condition. Her growth should slow down a bit and eventually she should look nice and lean with a slightly squarish appearance. Boas do much better when they are slow-grown and they should not be fed like ball pythons. With their slower metabolism, less is better!

She looks slightly larger than my September '10 male Argentine. I'll take a stab in the dark and guess that she's about 2 years old.

She looks like a really nice snake! Temperament is most important and she seems to be pretty great. Fyi though, boas are addictive - bet you can't have just one!! :D

Thank you all for your input. I really do love her and my fiancee and my 20 month old daughter love her as well..

Here is another question..are the BCI in any shape or form,a tree snake? Lol ... Man she likes to climb and be up high.all the time..i reckon the terrarium i build is gone have to be tall

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Boas love to climb if given the opportunity. But they are not considered truly arboreal like, say, a green tree python or an amazon tree boa. More "semi-arboreal". BCIs can live their adult lives in a 6 x 2 ft enclosure that is only 18" high. So they don't necessarily need anything to climb on in their cage. However, with a lower cage, I highly recommend frequent "outings" to ensure your snake gets the exercise it needs.

Personally, I am one who believes that if you have the means you should give your pet the largest enclosure you can (so long as bigger is appropriate for that pet). Boas are not as shy as ball pythons and do well in large spaces. Since this is your only boa, you might be able to spoil her more than if you had a bunch like me, lol. A big and tall enclosure with a climbing tree will be greatly appreciated and used by your boa! :gj:

Shes a beautiful red-tail, congrats with her, its obviously people have already figured out what she is xD, but she doesn't look the age of a 6 month old, but if the previous owner was power feeding her she would be rather big. Even so, I don't think she would be six month, she looks like around maybe a year and a half if not that.

she looks like a big sweetheart, so again congrats with the wonderful new snake :]!

~Kaala

She's definitely not 6 months. But a beautiful boa nonetheless. I just got my first a couple days ago.

She has got to be more that 6 months old like the other posts above. I don't think you will be able to discern if she is BCC or BCI very easily without knowing her family tree. Most of the criteria for distinguishing the difference are overlapping. Someone on the site has posted a nice criteria list for BCC vs BCI such as saddle count, ventral scale count, and the numbers would overlap by a few. Most important thing is that you have a beautiful new girl with a good attitude! :)

http://www.legacyreptiles.com/southamerica.htm

I came across this link on another forum that might be helpful to distinguish between boa subspecies.

Thank you.ewaldrep that is a fantastic link....i really do appreciate eveyones input..

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Nice looking girl. i also picked up a colombian shes about 4 1/2 feety and sweet.