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  • 07-13-2020, 10:12 PM
    Mikknu
    Olin- 2020 Colombian Boa Thread
    Hello everyone!

    I finally got my baby boy a few days ago from my local breeder! He's a Colombian boa that is 66% het anery and 100% het albino. Also, just the biggest sweetheart ever! He has yet to hiss or strike at me yet, though I haven't handled him too awful much yet and I'm using a hook and training him with it already. I chose him based primarily on his calm and easy going temperament. And his hets, in case I want to breed later in life, but the base boa morph is my favourite looking one! :number1:

    I've named him Olin. He was born June 19th and is currently 101 grams. I think he's about 25 inches? It's hard to get a measurement xD He last ate 07/10 and has shed once so far. Right now he's eating live rat pups, but I'll be attempting to switch him over to f/t next feeding.

    https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...in_carrier.jpg
    https://ball-pythons.net/gallery//sh...mageuser=81857

    I think he's just amazingly cute and gorgeous <3 I'm looking forward to a good couple decades and a big boy to start my collection with! He isn't my first reptile, nor even my only current (I have 2 crested geckos), but he is my first snake and I couldn't be more excited.

    https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...in_in_hand.jpg

    I have him in a temporary quarantine 10 gallon away from my other reptiles right now, which is below. I'm getting a 4x2x1.5 PVC on Wednesday and hoping to have it dialed in by Friday/Saturday if possible. It has a CHE installed on one side and comes with a heat pad on one side, but I have 2 other heat mats, one medium and one small, in case I need them to help keep temps up. Hopefully the CHE will just be installed for ambients if it's used at all, but I'd rather have too much to use than not enough. I know I've got to include lots of hides to help him feel comfortable in such a large cage, but any tips for setting the cage up, decor or heating wise, I'd appreciate!

    https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...lin_s_cage.jpg

    Humidity in my room never drops below 55% at absolute lowest, even if its temperatures stay unfortunately around 70. I have an IR temp gun finally coming in on Friday as well, I've been waiting for it for a while now. The mail to where I live is all sorts of mixed up right now.

    I'm excited to go on this journey with him and see how he grows. Thank you for viewing my post!
  • 07-13-2020, 10:14 PM
    Bodie
    Re: Olin- 2020 Colombian Boa Thread
    Congrats!! Good looking boa..:gj:
  • 07-13-2020, 10:16 PM
    Bogertophis
    He's adorable, and I don't think you'll have ANY trouble switching him over to f/t prey...boas are not BPs, they love to eat! ;)

    Congratulations on your first snake! :dance: In case you haven't heard, they're delightfully addicting. :D
  • 07-13-2020, 10:27 PM
    dakski
    Re: Olin- 2020 Colombian Boa Thread
    Welcome to wonderful world of boa ownership!

    Any questions, just ask! There are quite a few Boa peeps on here. I have two BI's and one Dwarf BC. IMO they are wonderful animals.

    As Bogertophis said, switching over to F/T should be a non-issue for a boa, especially a young one. I switched my BC, who was about 1 year old when I got him, to F/T in about 2 seconds.

    Again, any questions, just ask, and Congrats!
  • 07-14-2020, 11:35 AM
    Mikknu
    Thank you everyone! It's good to hear that I shouldn't have issues switching him to f/t, but I did pick a boa over a ball python due to their appetites! I have a friend who lost their first BP because it would never eat.

    https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...img_n8allu.jpg

    Here he is this morning! He hasn't quite figured out his hides yet but I'm sure he will.

    For his incoming PVC- I'll have 4 hides, some big leafy bushes, rocks, cork rounds, and leaf litter. Do you think this will be enough to make him feel secure? Theres is a large branch bolted all the away across the middle for climbing/basking.
  • 07-14-2020, 12:38 PM
    EL-Ziggy
    Re: Olin- 2020 Colombian Boa Thread
    Congrats on your new boa. He's a very handsome critter. :)
  • 07-14-2020, 03:51 PM
    Bogertophis
    He looks comfy & from what you describe, the furnishings are more than enough. Boas are seldom as shy as Beeps & more resilient even if you need to make changes.
  • 07-14-2020, 03:53 PM
    ckuhn003
    Re: Olin- 2020 Colombian Boa Thread
    He's a great looking BOA.....

    Congrats on the purchase. Looking forward to watching him grow.
  • 07-15-2020, 02:39 AM
    richardhind1972
    Re: Olin- 2020 Colombian Boa Thread
    Congratulations, great looking boa.
    I don't think you will have a problem switching to f/t either generally boas ar pigs and would probably eats most days given a choice.
    You say your boa hasn't find his hide yet, probably 90% of the time my boas are on show and tend to use them more when shedding or sometimes the warm end hide when digesting lunch
    Good luck and have fun with your new boa

    Sent from my ELS-NX9 using Tapatalk
  • 07-15-2020, 05:46 PM
    Mikknu
    Thank you everyone ^-^

    I just picked up my 4x2x1.5. Very excited! It needs a good clean, but it otherwise looks good though.

    It came with both a heat pad and heat tape, which I'm glad about. In case I need one per side to keep temps up. I'm super excited to decorate it. If the temps are looking good, I'm hoping to move him in Friday/Saturday? Froday I'll get my IR Temp gun too so I can really check where my surface temps are at vs. the ambients.

    It came with a Zilla thermostat as well. I have my own thermostat for his current heat mat, and a rheostat for the CHE. If I have to use both UTH, should the heat pad or heat tape nat get my better thermostat? The previous owner stated that he didn't like the heat tape the cage came with, but I'll have to see for myself how it goes in my own room.

    Also- I've heard a bit of flirting info about how cool the "cool side" should be for a BCI. Some say as cool as 75, others say no lower than 80. Right now Olin's temps read 77.2 on the "cool side" ambient, 83.4 on the warm side ambient, and his heat mat is 88.9 (I have the probe right on top of the glass above the heat mat, and the Tstat set for 89). Is this about the range I'm looking for in the 4x2?
  • 07-16-2020, 12:46 AM
    Mikknu
    I forgot to post these pics! I was testing out areas to put my new PVC using some old 4×1 strips of pegboard, so I let him explore some new decor he'll be getting! My room is pretty full and I'm going to be housing my mum's koi fish from her pond in a few months, so I'm running tight on space >~<. I'm setting the cage up on a chest for now I think, but I'll probably be doing some room remodeling and getting a table to put the PVC on...

    https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...232633_688.jpg
    https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...232613_357.jpg

    A straight up model. He isn't very iridescent, but he has this wonderful peachy-pink running down his sides I'm completely enamoured with. No matter what I do though, it just won't show up on camera! He's so light compared to some older boas I've seen, with those beautiful browns and blacks.

    He's been nothing but wonderful for me so far. Even taking him out of his enclosure with the hook, he hasn't hissed once. He is particularly resistant against going back into his home however xD

    He was last fed 07/10, so I'm thinking I should wait until 07/20 to feed him? Or until he starts hunting at night? I see a lot of people recommend 10-14 day feeding schedules for boas, but I'm not sure if there's an age you're supposed to transition for that. After exploring the first night I put him in, he mostly just sleeps in one of 3 places. While I'm watching at least xD
  • 07-16-2020, 05:16 AM
    richardhind1972
    Re: Olin- 2020 Colombian Boa Thread
    Looking great,
    It really is hard to capture them pink sides even the face blushing in there dark and light phases

    Sent from my ELS-NX9 using Tapatalk
  • 07-16-2020, 01:22 PM
    Mikknu
    I know right?? I cant wait to see him outside, I'll be sure to get some pictures if it ever gets sunny out here! It's been kinda gross and rainy out by me for a while now.
  • 07-16-2020, 03:40 PM
    EL-Ziggy
    Re: Olin- 2020 Colombian Boa Thread
    Your temps sound good to me. I keep a similar hot spot of 88-90 and my ambient temps run between 75-80. I like 7-10 day feeding intervals for the 1st year, 10-14 days the 2nd year, and every 2-4 weeks thereafter.
  • 07-17-2020, 02:36 AM
    Mikknu
    Thank you!

    In the enclosure, his temps are currently 76 on the cool side, 82 on the hot side, and with a hot spot of 89. Humidity is 75%, which is higher than I'd like it to be, but I live in an extremely humid place and it's difficult to get humidity into the low 60s here. I'm considering getting a dehumidifier to help with keeping some of that humidity down.

    All going well, I'm hoping to move Olin in tomorrow. If he seems pretty active, I'll try and feed him tomorrow too then, since it will have been 7 days since his last meal.

    My IR temp gun comes tomorrow too. Exciting! I'll have to try it out with my geckos too, xD
  • 07-17-2020, 09:48 AM
    Mikknu
    Not the highest quality, my phone isn't super great... But! The left and right side respectively of the enclosure! At least, for the 30 seconds my combometers stayed up! They're not suction cupping at all, which is mildly annoying. Does anyone have suggestions for something I could use to get them to stay where I want them?

    He has 2 pangae box hides, 1 normal rock hide, one snake lair hide, 2 cork logs, and those massive sea grape leaves that I think he'll fit under. However, Olin seems to be a particularly big fan of napping and relaxing high up, so I'm expecting a beeline for the branch in the middle!

    His temps are doing good (WAY better than before), ambients included! As long as the cage doors are shut, that is xD Once his IR Temp Gun comes in this evening and I verify that everything is ship shape, He'll get to explore his new kingdom :gj:
    https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...717_002112.jpg
    https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...717_002104.jpg

    If all goes well, I'll try to feed him today as well. I saw him cruising around his 10 gallon last night way more than normal. I think he was hunting.
  • 07-17-2020, 10:40 AM
    richardhind1972
    Re: Olin- 2020 Colombian Boa Thread
    The viv looks awsome, plenty of places to relax and explore [emoji106][emoji106][emoji106]

    Sent from my ELS-NX9 using Tapatalk
  • 07-17-2020, 09:35 PM
    Mikknu
    He's in! And had a baller time exploring too, he was really going everywhere. Made a beeline straight for the branch, as expected. He reached all the way to the highest point! I didn't expect him to be able to go straight up like that xD

    Olin took his rat pups like a champ too! As you guys said, he barely cared at all. He had a little bit of difficulty actually grabbing them, but had zero hesitation about striking them! Ate them both butt first too...

    I do have one question- I've heard it's better to feed one prey item rather than two, but the breeder had him on a 2 rat pup cycle and I wanted to stick with it at least for my first feeding. I'll be going to pick up more frozen feeders tomorrow, and figuring out what I want my feeding schedule to be. They left some sizeable lumps in him, so I'm thinking if I'm going to be feeding him this much, maybe I should only feed him every 10-14 days instead?

    Here are some pictures of him exploring his new digs! I got his IR temp gun earlier today than I thought I would. His ambient on the cool side is 76 with a surface temp of 78 by his secondary heat pad, and his hot side ambient is 83 with hot spots of 87-89 depending on whether I'm right above the heat tape or right below the CHE. The middle is about 80-81 at surface temp, and the hot side non-hot spot is about 84. They've been stable around these areas for a while now, with the humidity on the cool side being about 62% and about 57% on the warm side. It was 80%+ yesterday and I'm glad it has gone down from that.

    Pictures! Several of him exploring, and one of him basking after eating. Again, I apologise for the relatively low quality.
    https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...717_003911.jpg
    https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...717_005138.jpghttps://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...717_014152.jpghttps://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...717_072501.jpg

    He has since buried himself in the substrate to digest I'm assuming. It was funny to watch him bury himself.
  • 07-17-2020, 09:49 PM
    Gio
    I like the cage clutter and the perches.

    Looking good!

    Enjoy that boa.
  • 07-17-2020, 10:41 PM
    jmcrook
    Olin- 2020 Colombian Boa Thread
    [/QUOTE]“ I do have one question- I've heard it's better to feed one prey item rather than two, but the breeder had him on a 2 rat pup cycle and I wanted to stick with it at least for my first feeding. I'll be going to pick up more frozen feeders tomorrow, and figuring out what I want my feeding schedule to be. They left some sizeable lumps in him, so I'm thinking if I'm going to be feeding him this much, maybe I should only feed him every 10-14 days instead? “ [/QUOTE]

    Honestly with boas you don’t want the prey to leave a big bump at all. If it left as big a bump as you’ve described I’d back off of food a little.

    Mine are two years old and eating weaned rats every 10-14 days and both of my boas are over 500grams.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
  • 07-18-2020, 01:51 AM
    Mikknu
    I was thinking it seemed like an awful lot of food for him. He's only 101g at least weigh. I'm nervous to stop what he was eating before he came to me, but is there a trick to switching feeding schedules? Or do you just go for it? With this being my first snake, I want to be sure I'm not growing him too fast or risking a regurgitation.

    I can understand starting him on rats because that's what he'll go to eventually, but what might be another option I could get from my local reptile shop? I'll talk to the breeder as well and ask them about their heavy feeding schedule they had him on. Maybe only 1/pup every 7-10 days is a better alternative
  • 07-18-2020, 03:43 AM
    dakski
    Re: Olin- 2020 Colombian Boa Thread
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Mikknu View Post
    I was thinking it seemed like an awful lot of food for him. He's only 101g at least weigh. I'm nervous to stop what he was eating before he came to me, but is there a trick to switching feeding schedules? Or do you just go for it? With this being my first snake, I want to be sure I'm not growing him too fast or risking a regurgitation.

    I can understand starting him on rats because that's what he'll go to eventually, but what might be another option I could get from my local reptile shop? I'll talk to the breeder as well and ask them about their heavy feeding schedule they had him on. Maybe only 1/pup every 7-10 days is a better alternative

    I feed rat pups to Jeff, my 300G+ boa. They are 20-30G or so.

    Boas are prone to regurgitation if fed too large a meal and can develop regurgitation syndrome which can kill them.

    I rarely feed a prey item more than 10% of a BI's body weight. Boas are incredibly efficient and less is more with them. My 4 year old boa, Behira, is getting medium rats, about 100G +/- and she weighs about 2KG and is 5 1/2 feet now. She was on a 14-21 day schedule on those, usually 21, and growing. I had to speed that up briefly - you can look at her thread - frequent shedding - to every 10 days, but that's too much for a boa that size and age in most circumstances.

    You want to take years - like 4-6+ for your little one to get to adult size.

    Regarding prey type. Boas will eat just about anything. I've switched boas from mice to rats in about 2 seconds. Same with live to F/T; about 2 seconds.

    They are voracious eaters, but therefore, it's up to us as keepers to make sure they are eating appropriate sized meals and not too often.

    Feeding every 7-10 days for now is okay, but I would not feed him anything larger than a small mouse. Frankly, I would be giving mouse hoppers now (7-12G or so). They are more developed and more nutritious than rat pinkies or fuzzies that are less developed.

    If you want to feed rats, I would be feeding small fuzzies at the most. However, similarly sized mice will have more nutrition.

    Please do not offer a rat pup to him. Especially as his first meal while he's adjusting.

    Also, did you get your IR temp gun? Make sure ground temps are about 88-90 hot spot, 80-84F ambient, and a cool side at least 76F, but less than 80F.

    Do not feed until you know temps are proper and digestion will not be an issue.

    Good luck and keep us posted.
  • 07-18-2020, 11:54 AM
    Mikknu
    Re: Olin- 2020 Colombian Boa Thread
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by dakski View Post
    I feed rat pups to Jeff, my 300G+ boa. They are 20-30G or so.

    Boas are prone to regurgitation if fed too large a meal and can develop regurgitation syndrome which can kill them.

    I rarely feed a prey item more than 10% of a BI's body weight. Boas are incredibly efficient and less is more with them. My 4 year old boa, Behira, is getting medium rats, about 100G +/- and she weighs about 2KG and is 5 1/2 feet now. She was on a 14-21 day schedule on those, usually 21, and growing. I had to speed that up briefly - you can look at her thread - frequent shedding - to every 10 days, but that's too much for a boa that size and age in most circumstances.

    You want to take years - like 4-6+ for your little one to get to adult size.

    Regarding prey type. Boas will eat just about anything. I've switched boas from mice to rats in about 2 seconds. Same with live to F/T; about 2 seconds.

    They are voracious eaters, but therefore, it's up to us as keepers to make sure they are eating appropriate sized meals and not too often.

    Feeding every 7-10 days for now is okay, but I would not feed him anything larger than a small mouse. Frankly, I would be giving mouse hoppers now (7-12G or so). They are more developed and more nutritious than rat pinkies or fuzzies that are less developed.

    If you want to feed rats, I would be feeding small fuzzies at the most. However, similarly sized mice will have more nutrition.

    Please do not offer a rat pup to him. Especially as his first meal while he's adjusting.

    Also, did you get your IR temp gun? Make sure ground temps are about 88-90 hot spot, 80-84F ambient, and a cool side at least 76F, but less than 80F.

    Do not feed until you know temps are proper and digestion will not be an issue.

    Good luck and keep us posted.


    Thank you for the good information dakski! I did get my IR temp gun. In a previous post I listed temps, but here they are again:

    Quote:

    His ambient on the cool side is 76 with a surface temp of 78 by his secondary heat pad, and his hot side ambient is 83 with hot spots of 87-89 depending on whether I'm right above the heat tape or right below the CHE. The middle is about 80-81 at surface temp, and the hot side non-hot spot is about 84. They've been stable around these areas for a while now, with the humidity on the cool side being about 62% and about 57% on the warm side.
    These are within your parameters, which makes me really happy. I'm glad I've gotten that right at least.

    I had a small conversation with the breeder as well. My terminology was a bit mixed up- he got rat fuzzies, not rat pups, but they wanted him on the equivalent of a rat pup. Which I disagree with, as I feel even the rat fuzzies were of a size that I felt a little uncomfortable with. I'll be switching to hopper mice if I can.

    I'm going to my local shop this afternoon. I'll see what they have available and switch him down to a smaller food amount. I was feeling kind of suspicious about the size, but I'm glad I asked you guys about it so I can fix this. How long should I wait before I feed him again since he got such a big meal? I hope he's going to be okay :(

    He's been on his hot spot of choice since last night. He likes the branch right next to CHE, which is 86.8 degrees according to my IR temp gun. I turned my CHE up just a smidge to try and give it that boost into 87-89. I know it's normal not to go anywhere while digesting, but I'm worried about him. He's breathing regularly, which I'm hoping is a good sign.
  • 07-18-2020, 02:27 PM
    richardhind1972
    Re: Olin- 2020 Colombian Boa Thread
    Hell be fine just leave him a few extra days till you feed and make sure he's got it all out his system

    Sent from my ELS-NX9 using Tapatalk
  • 07-19-2020, 01:25 AM
    Mikknu
    Thank you Richard. I appreciate your insight and advice.

    Olin is doing well. It's been 32 hours since he ate, and I'm hoping this means he's in the clear as far as regurgitation goes. I read a few other threads about overfeeding on the forum here, and one mentioned that after 24 hours the danger of regurgitation is mostly gone.

    Here he is relaxing on the branch by the CHE. Most of him is behind the CHE itself though. He really favours being off the ground. I've read that baby boas are semi-arboreal in the wild. I find it neat that I'm observing similar behaviour in my little environment as well.

    https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...719_000024.jpg

    I got a cup full of mouse hoppers today, and they look a lot better than the rat fuzzies. The local shop owner suggested that when he's ready to eat more, that I feed 2x hoppers and then 3x hoppers before moving him up in prey size. Is this good advice? I've got a gram scale I'm going to be using to try and follow dakski's ~10% of body mass guideline.

    A photo of Olin's parents from the breeder I got. Unfortunately, they replaced his mom with a giant yellow banana xD

    https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...074226915.jpeg

    Olin is the only snake of a big size I'm planning on having for a long while. I want to do my best to make sure he has the most optimal environment possible for growing and thriving. Thank you all for the assistance and advice you gave me on my first thread, and now as well. ^-^
  • 07-19-2020, 11:41 AM
    EL-Ziggy
    Re: Olin- 2020 Colombian Boa Thread
    I think hoppers are a pretty small meal. A small mouse every 7-10 sounds great to me. I'd move to weaned rats when he hits 400g.
  • 07-22-2020, 10:06 PM
    Mikknu
    Hello everyone!

    Olin is doing good thus far and I'm greatly enjoying him! I have my work desk sort of perpendicular to his enclosure, and it's enjoyable to see him basking on his branch while I work. He loves being by the CHE during the day, but I've observed him exploring and burrowing on the cool side multiples times as well! He likes to burrow quite a bit.

    He seems to be doing okay despite his big meal. I'm not quite sure he'll be ready to feed even by Monday.. as far as I can tell, he still seems to be digesting and I haven't seen a boo that might indicate he passed some of that big meal.

    Today I found him in his humid hide underneath all of the moss. It was cute. I left today for an overnight trip, and was checking up on him before I left. I haven't seen him in blue, but maybe... ? His last shed was about a month ago.

    https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...203304_539.jpg

    I have a night camera I set up to watch my gecko when I first got it to be sure it was eating, and I moved it over to Olin. It's fascinating to be able to observe him without disturbing him. Being able to check and see if he's moving around from a city or two away is nice too! I usually end up travelling overnight for at least one night a week, and a check up helps soothe my nerves.

    https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...203257_768.jpg

    Speaking of geckos! I'm getting rid of some extra stuff and I have a large cut of driftwood(About 16" long, 12" tall, looks a bit like pride rock from The Lion King), a mag naturals wall hide, and a Big Dripper. Would Olin benefit from any of these? Otherwise, I'll put them away until my gecko gets a bit bigger.

    Happy snaking to y'all!
  • 07-22-2020, 10:21 PM
    dakski
    Re: Olin- 2020 Colombian Boa Thread
    Glad he's doing well and you are enjoying him so much.
  • 07-25-2020, 09:50 PM
    Mikknu
    Hello everyone! I finally got my live moss in for finishing off Olin's enclosure. It came out pretty snappy, if I do say so myself. The back LED is working now too. Much better than just having a lamp pointed at the cage xD

    https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...724_185551.jpg

    I gave him a few extra things from downgrading my gecko cages, likes another piece of wood and a magnetic hide. Which he LOVES. He's been hiding in the more humid spots of the cage lately, and spent 48 ish hours in the humid side. I haven't seen him in blue yet, but he does seem a bit more tense lately. I still have yet to even hear his hiss though... I've heard boas have some of the deepest hisses.

    Some more pics! One of him in his new aerial hide!

    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EduEaiLW...jpg&name=large
    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EduEb0FX...jpg&name=large
    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EduEdI3X...jpg&name=large
    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EduEep2W...jpg&name=large
  • 07-25-2020, 10:18 PM
    EL-Ziggy
    Re: Olin- 2020 Colombian Boa Thread
    He looks great. I LOVE that enclosure too. Where'd you get the long branch?
  • 07-25-2020, 10:39 PM
    Mikknu
    Re: Olin- 2020 Colombian Boa Thread
    The long branch was actually custom made with the cage. As far as I can tell, it's actually a giant PVC Pipe that someone maybe heated up and bent before painting and sealing it... ? You can see the two I got the cage secondhand, but I know the makers on facebook. They're local to my area.

    https://m.facebook.com/AquaticOak/ph...&mt_nav=0&_rdr

    Here is the facebook page. I do believe they ship their cages as well, though the wait time is pretty long. Maybe they can make the branches and ship them specifically? It can come out.

    Thank you for the compliment C: I'm really happy how the cage turned out. My handsome boy blends in quite nicely.
  • 07-25-2020, 11:58 PM
    Igotsmallballs
    Re: Olin- 2020 Colombian Boa Thread
    Beautiful boy!
  • 07-26-2020, 02:54 AM
    richardhind1972
    Re: Olin- 2020 Colombian Boa Thread
    The viv looks awsome.
    He may be a bit stressed from all the new things being changed in his home, I'm sure he'll settle back down once you've finished
    Looks like he's enjoying all the new furniture tho [emoji106][emoji106]

    Sent from my ELS-NX9 using Tapatalk
  • 08-03-2020, 04:20 PM
    Mikknu
    Whoo. Another wonderful week with Olin, and his first real handling session with me this week! It's just a few days short of him having been home with me for a full month. I had a rare sunny day and briefly took him outside the door for a quick pic too.

    Here's a pic of him taking his first hopper. He absolutely horked it down, I think it took less than 2 or 3 minutes before it was gone. I was pretty impressed. He has left me two nicely sized presents at this point, so I'm happy with how he's feeding and processing. They can actually be a bit hard to find though... His poops are pretty small for an 8 sq. ft enclosure.

    When I stopped by the place where I get my feeders, the wife of the breeder I got Olin from was there and we exchanged pleasantries. She about gave me a heart attack saying Olin would get 15-20 feet, but I think she meant weight, not length.

    https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...727_103459.jpg

    He totally adores his aerial hide. Being so small, I don't think he's too comfortable with not being in a hide except at night or when he's digesting. From where I'm sitting at my desk I can juuuust barely see his nose poking out right now. I got a zoomed in picture of him. Sometimes, if I'm lucky, I'll catch him moving from one side of the viv to the other. I've been thinking about adding springtails, but I'm not sure how well they'd do with reptichip as substrate and live moss being the only plants.

    https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...803_143911.jpg
    https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...801_223503.jpg

    Still no hissing and no defensive behaviour around me. Not even when I take him out of his cage. Granted, I'm already using tap training so that's probably a good sign. He's a pretty curious dude. I gave him a weigh while I had him out as well. He's 111g now, about 10g more than when I first got him.

    Here's him out in the sunlight! I have a daylight bulb for my crested gecko, but it doesn't look quite the same. I adore the pale browns of boa babies. I can't wait to see him darken up as he gets older.
    https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...802_153856.jpg

    I especially love how some of his darker browns are lined by black. You can really see it in the stripe leading up towards his eye.
    https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...801_223004.jpg

    https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...801_223335.jpg

    Here's him under the daylight bulb! I really do adore this little guy. I noticed this week that in the beginning rows of his back pattern he also has more of a }{ design instead of the () pattern later on him. I think that's super cool, personally. I tried my best to get some good pictures of that feature of him.

    https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...801_222329.jpg
    https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...801_221825.jpg
  • 08-03-2020, 04:29 PM
    ckuhn003
    Re: Olin- 2020 Colombian Boa Thread
    He's a really good looking Boa! Sounds like you're doing all the right things which is going to payoff in his health and handle-ability.
  • 08-14-2020, 06:36 PM
    Mikknu
    Well, it's been a while.

    Unfortunately, I been away from my home for nearly 5 days due to a medical situation involving barotrauma. This has unfortunately hit me kinda hard, and I'm pretty drained from being in consistent pain. It brought me a lot of joy to get back home and see my handsome scaley sons again. And, I was happy to discover that my beautiful boy is in blue! He's hunkered down in the hottest and most humid area of the whole viv, right by the dripper that keeps his overall humidity up. He has a hide full of moss right next to his CHE I spray frequently as well in case he wants it. About what humidity level should I keep the overall viv while he's in blue?

    A small update from a week ago is that Olin ate just fine, but he did miss the mouse and instead bit himself! He didn't actually hurt himself, but what he did do was explode the mouse's stomach... It was pretty gross. I haven't fed him yet today, but I'm not sure he'll tale it. His activity levels are very low, and Olin seems pretty content just to chill in his warm hide. I can't believe he fits in it... He takes up the whole thing. It's a small pangea box hide.

    https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...813_230053.jpg

    Here are a few pictures from before my medical hiatus. I don't have many. Now that he's in blue, I probably won't get to hold him for a little while longer than I was expecting.

    https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...806_221028.jpg

    https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...805_110138.jpg
  • 08-14-2020, 07:16 PM
    dakski
    Re: Olin- 2020 Colombian Boa Thread
    Feel better soon!

    He's looking good.
  • 08-25-2020, 12:49 AM
    Mikknu
    Hello everyone! I'm feeling much better, and have pretty much recovered from my medical issue at this point. Just in time as well, as I have a 2 week trip starting this Sunday.

    Olin's first shed went completely perfectly! He did crumple it up into a little ball though, sadly. I was hoping to keep it to compare it to later. He is currently 131g. As of the last few hours, I've had the pleasure of seeing him hunting :D It makes me happy to know that the feeding schedule he's on is working for him. For my two week vacation he's going to be in reptile daycare with the breeder I got him from, along with my crested gecko Quincy. I'm most likely going to feed Olin tomorrow since I've seen him hunting now, so that he will be 96 hours post feeding before I make the drive to take him over to them. It isn't too long, but the only other time he's been in a cup was on his way home the first time. A picture of him exploring below!

    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EgFT4a0X...jpg&name=large

    Here are a few pictures about a day post shed! He's gained some wonderful rainbow hues to him, though he isn't anything super shiny. The best I can notice is that his darks seem darker, but if anyone else notices something new let me know!

    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Efza9d4X...jpg&name=large

    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EgFXamcX...jpg&name=small

    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EgKEsbjX...jpg&name=large

    He has a ton of speckling near his tail. I really enjoy it. However, I took the following two pictures less than 12 hours apart. He is very clearly far more speckled and a lot darker and grey in the second picture, with a lateral stripe. What does this mean? Is he too cold? I've measured the temps all over his viv, including in his aerial hide where he spends most of his time, and they're all within acceptable ranges and exactly where I want them to be for the most part. He hadn't been out for long in either picture, and I was sitting in the exact same spot with the exact same lights on. Is it stress?

    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EgH2W4AX...jpg&name=large

    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EgH2YLqX...jpg&name=large

    The colour change is cool and all, but I'm worried it means something bad. Hopefully I'm just being paranoid about it however.
  • 08-25-2020, 04:00 AM
    richardhind1972
    Re: Olin- 2020 Colombian Boa Thread
    Glad you feeling better. He's looking great, boas have light and dark phases sometimes extreme, I posted some pics of my leopard in his light and dark phases the other day, it's perfectly normal.

    If you moisten the rolled up shed you should be to unroll it, most of my boas leave it in a nice coiled up present

    Enjoy your holiday (vacation)



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