Presenting Carmen, our new Female BCC

Well as Cass and I have hinted at in a few recent threads we did get another snake recently! Last Sunday in fact. A beautiful female Surinam BCC from LLL Reptile in Escondito, California.

We had been planning what we would like as our next snake, and that plan was a male BCI. However... it appears that planning a hypothetical snake purchase, while visiting Reptile stores as a weekend activity may not be the best move ever lol!

Hypothetical turned into reality when we saw her at LLL Reptiles, her marking were so outstanding to our eyes, and he temperament was wonderful. We were hoping that she would be a he, but that wasn't the case. Being as we had been planning on a snake that would end up approx 6-7', and we made a careful informed decision on purchasing Carmen as from our research she could push 8-9' maybe.

On with the pictures... sorry they are not very spectacular, but we didn't have much time to take them.


http://www.onlinethingy.com/files/carmen/1.jpg
She's 26.5" long (took this one to measure her)



http://www.onlinethingy.com/files/carmen/2.jpg
Cass and Carmen!



http://www.onlinethingy.com/files/carmen/3.jpg
Not a bad shot of her pattern.



http://www.onlinethingy.com/files/carmen/4.jpg
Snakes can move faster than auto-focus!



http://www.onlinethingy.com/files/carmen/5.jpg
Being as I posted Cass's picture I guess I have to post mine...



http://www.onlinethingy.com/files/carmen/6.jpg
Last one for now.


So there you have it, our new baby girl!

She is BEAUTIFUL! What a tail! I got my female suri from LLL too.. great guys there.

Breathtaking!! You may have bitten off more than you planned on...but I have a feeling you won't regret watching that beauty grow up...not one bit!!

You can look forward to this someday: http://www.ball-pythons.net/gallery/...=3&userid=1428

I think your girl will probably be brighter than my monster is though. Best of luck with her! ;)

Thanks guys - we love her (hence all my worrying!) :D

We looked at all the Surinams and Guyanas they had in stock, but compared to Carmen, the others, including the males, didn't hold a candle to her. It was a done deal when she stretched out to Rick's face and gave him a little tongue lick on the nose. =) He's such a softie with the ladies!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by JLC

Breathtaking!! You may have bitten off more than you planned on...but I have a feeling you won't regret watching that beauty grow up...not one bit!!

---

We talked about bit quite a bit, but like the LLL guy said, go for the snake you love (and hope she doesn't get too big, hehe!). We figured too since there are two of us to care for both girls (and plenty of help and experience here!), we should be okay.

*edit*
Oh, and there still a chance Carmen is a he; the LLL guy popped her, but as we've read, popping is not always 100% reliable, so a visit to a good vet and a probe may prove differently.

From my experience they know what they're doing at LLL.. and popping juvie boids is generally not difficult.

Wow April that's a great looking snake!

What are the measurements on that beauty? Lenght? Weight? Age?

She does not like to sit still for pics, so the measurement wasn't exact. She's in the 7-8' range and right around 16-17lbs. I don't know her age since I just bought her about a month ago. I'd venture a guess at 4-5 years old.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by cassandra

It was a done deal when she stretched out to Rick's face and gave him a little tongue lick on the nose. =) He's such a softie with the ladies!

---

It's a weird response... a female licks my nose and I just *have* to take them home!! :)

It's not been a problem so far!

Breathtaking!! You may have bitten off more than you planned on...but I have a feeling you won't regret watching that beauty grow up...not one bit!!
__________________
--Judy

Why do you say they might have bitten off more than they planned?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Shelby

From my experience they know what they're doing at LLL.. and popping juvie boids is generally not difficult.

---

Gotcha...it was definitely neat actually seeing a snake being popped (since I've only read about it). =)

Yeah.. kinda gross sometimes when stuff other than hemipenes pop out. :P

Still not a bad idea to have a vet probe the snake.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ballpythonandragon

Why do you say they might have bitten off more than they planned?

---

I think because we were planning a male BCI, and ops... bought a female BCC instead - a probable big size difference.

It's going to be a great adventure.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Krynos

It's going to be a great adventure.

---

Amount of time spent talking about, doing stuff for, worrying about snakes: LOTS!

Amount of time spent working on our wedding: ...hmm? Oh yeah...that thing.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ballpythonandragon

Breathtaking!! You may have bitten off more than you planned on...but I have a feeling you won't regret watching that beauty grow up...not one bit!!
__________________
--Judy

Why do you say they might have bitten off more than they planned?

---

Yes, what Rick said. :) Wasn't being critical, just making an observation based on what they'd said themselves. I didn't say they'd bitten off more then they could "chew"...just more than they'd "planned."

As John Lennon said...

"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans"

:)

BCC seem to be pretty slow growers (slower than BCI) so I don't doubt that you'll be fine with her. :)

WOW! No wonder you guys couldn't resist her! What a beauty! Carmen really suits her too! /(^v^)\

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by MedusasOwl

Carmen really suits her too! /(^v^)\

---

Thanks Sheree. =)

Should have heard us trying to name her on the way home, hehe...We live in Redlands, so about two hours from San Diego. I think we had her named by the time we hit the 215. ;)

lol! We can't let a day pass without a pet having a name over here, I totally understand. ;) It's probably why we name them way in advance usually! She *looks* like a Carmen, and Karen and I both like that opera. ;) Perfect for a lovely redtailed snake!

Wow that is a stunning example of a BCC I hope u are ready for her to grow a little larger than the estimated 8-9ft! I am very jealous as over here in the UK top quality Suri's like that are few and far between!

Wedding...bah who needs a wedding...you got a new snake!!!! :P


Carmen is lovely, I can understand why you brought her home. That tail is just eye-popping and she has the typically lovely face.

Congrats to both of you!


~~Jo~~

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by goldenburm

Wow that is a stunning example of a BCC I hope u are ready for her to grow a little larger than the estimated 8-9ft! I am very jealous as over here in the UK top quality Suri's like that are few and far between!

---

We are as prepared as we can be for her to get biiiig. But we're hoping she won't lol. But even if she does turn out to be a monster (10') then we can still deal with her between us. Any bigger and we could possibly have problems with just the two of us handling her.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by www.boa-constrictors.com

Adult female Suriname redtails can reach 10 ft. in length in captivity, but average size is about 7 ft. Larger sized specimen occur rather seldom.

---

I sure hope that is true! They seem to know what they are doing over there, lots of good information on that site too :) No forums though... how dull!

She is beautiful though, and we'll do what is required to keep her happy and healthy.

Meep! Jealous! She's sooooo pretty! ^__^ And those snakes aren't THAT big ;) heehee