My first Boa

Got this Red Tail Boa today (gender unknown) at a local reptile shop we found. They had a good deal on some nice yearlings (I think the guy said a few months, not sure on the exact age) so I decided to snatch one up. I've done some reading prior and know these become giants. Can't wait to build my own vivarium for it.
http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/878...800x6001hj.jpg

http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/4...800x6002xh.jpg

Right now he's chilling in the warm side (bought me a 25 dollar digi thermo-hydrometer, I hope it's more accurate) at around 92*F and 52% humidity. :D
Is there anything inparticular I should know about this species as far as handling and fedding is concerned? He seemed a lot more active than my ball when I handled him in the reptile shop today. :)

P.S. Disregard that heat rock you see in the first pic. That was given to me for some dumb reason. I know not to use those. ;)

Congrats on the new boa! :gj: Let me know if you need some links for some caresheets. They're pretty easy to take care of... they have a GREAT feeding response and are amazingly fast and strong compared to a Ball. They also seem to move around a lot more and are a lot less shy. He might enjoy a branch to climb around on while he's young, but when he gets older he probably won't use it too much.

Probably best to get this snake sexed as female columbians get a fair bit bigger than the males so you may as well know up front what you will end up dealing with. I don't believe they are actually classed as a "giant" like burmese pythons, reticulated pythons, etc. are. They do get to be a good sized, muscular snake you need to respect for it's sheer strength. They are usually very aggressive eaters that easily take live, f/t or p/k prey and are not extremely prey specific. They do have quite a long strike range so plan for safe feeding procedures. Start good habits now and you'll be fine when this snake is larger.

Rock on! Hot boa there...They definitely don't qualify as giants, even the biggest females. But they can become large and a handful. Do your research and you'll be fine. Welcome!!

Boas Rock! You'll love him/her, they have an awesome personality. I've heard about males being smaller than females, but it isn't really a 100% thing. Don't worry too much about it, it might only be six inches to a foot either way. When they are that big, it doesn't matter anymore..lol. Take your finger and press from it's butt down to it's tip of the tail firmly. Do this a few times and if you feel a double bump or bulge...it's a boy. It will be one after the other type thing. This is really easy to tell with boas. Press firmly though, but not too hard. Good luck!

Defently not giants like everyone else said but a large female can be 9-10' and 50+ lbs although that would be an older boa. Most are tame as long as you handle them every once in a while. I usually hold my 2 1-2 times a week for just 10-20 minutes and try and get them out sides 1 time a week if the weather is ok. Nice boa and I hope you don't use that rock heater in the background in that first pic. If its a male you should expect to have a 4' by 2' cage MINIMUM as an adult and for a female, 6' by 2' is a minimum althought I would do 6' by 30" or something like that for an adult.

how nice is he. you take good care of it and you will have a great frind for many many years. if you have any questions dont hesitate to send me a pm
matt

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Originally Posted by fish21

how nice is he. you take good care of it and you will have a great frind for many many years. if you have any questions dont hesitate to send me a pm
matt

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:gj:

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Originally Posted by fish21

how nice is he. you take good care of it and you will have a great frind for many many years. if you have any questions dont hesitate to send me a pm
matt

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Ya, what he said

As much as our first love is and always will be Ball Pythons I just can't imagine not having a Columbian Boa in the house. They are personality plus and at least in our limited experience, very easy keepers and not as easily stressed as the BP's.

True Joanna. The only negative I can think of is that without enough heat, they can easily get an RI. Its hard to find a stressed colombian(notice the spelling, They come from COLOMBIA not COLUMBIA). lol As long as they have a cage correct temps and enough food, they are usually very healthy and a joy to keep. Since almost all will readily take f/t rats, I would order frozen since buying live for a large boa will get expensive unless you have a local supplier of XL-XXXL rats

I have some small frozen mice left over from when my ball was smaller.

I guess giant was an exaggerration, but to me anything that reaches 10 feet is rather big. :P

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Originally Posted by Grim91Z

I have some small frozen mice left over from when my ball was smaller.

I guess giant was an exaggerration, but to me anything that reaches 10 feet is rather big. :P

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Good luck. Rats seem to be a better meal for boas and he is likely to switch to rats easier at a younger age than when he gets older. Get him on rats and you'll see a growth spurt

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Originally Posted by Pork Chops N' Corn Bread

Good luck. Rats seem to be a better meal for boas and he is likely to switch to rats easier at a younger age than when he gets older. Get him on rats and you'll see a growth spurt

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Good idea. I'm gonna switch my ball to rats anyway.

BTW: Do frozen mice expire? I've had these for 4 months anyway.

What a looker, I love the silver phase! :D

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Originally Posted by Grim91Z

BTW: Do frozen mice expire? I've had these for 4 months anyway.

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There are mixed oppinions on the topic. If they are vacume packed, they are ok for about a year IMO. Some people say that the vitamins start to break down after 4 months or something but I have seen no evidence to prove it so I say 1 year. If they start to get white spots on them or they bust open when you are thawing them out, they are bad. You can tell a bad rat from a good one.

i live in san diego so if you need any emergency help pm me and i will give you my # and we can see if we can figure out what is wrong. a vet aloways has there place, but i aloways say there is no need to go see a vet that is just going to tell you what you allready know. like a ri or easy stuff like that.

matt
i hope i dont come of like tom cruse when he was on the oprah winfree show. ( if you know what i am talking about this is funny)

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Originally Posted by Pork Chops N' Corn Bread

There are mixed oppinions on the topic. If they are vacume packed, they are ok for about a year IMO. Some people say that the vitamins start to break down after 4 months or something but I have seen no evidence to prove it so I say 1 year. If they start to get white spots on them or they bust open when you are thawing them out, they are bad. You can tell a bad rat from a good one.

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Bust open? That must be interesting to see.

@fish21, there is nothing wrong with this Boa. :confused:

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i live in san diego so if you need any emergency help pm me and i will give you my # and we can see if we can figure out what is wrong. a vet aloways has there place, but i aloways say there is no need to go see a vet that is just going to tell you what you allready know. like a ri or easy stuff like that.

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RI's are easy? I'm not sure I completely agree with this statement. Sorry Matt.

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Originally Posted by Grim91Z

@fish21, there is nothing wrong with this Boa. :confused:

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I think he was just saying "IF" there is ever something wrong. There doesn't appear to be anything wrong with him/her. I take all my snakes, regardless of whom I bought them off, to the vet within a week of getting them. I get their fecal checked and have them checked regardless of anything. Common practice to me.

Did you check for those bumps yet? It's easier to do when they are smaller, so I'd do it soon. If you feel them you won't ever doubt what they are, you'll know. Boas are really easy to check this way and I have NEVER probed one afterwards that read differently. It's pretty solid.

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Originally Posted by jim020cricket

RI's are easy? I'm not sure I completely agree with this statement. Sorry Matt.

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I would take it a step further and implore you not to advise people not to take a sick snake to the vet but rather to bring it to you. Can you provide the proper meds? What is your experience with reptile illness?

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Originally Posted by jglass38

I would take it a step further and implore you not to advise people not to take a sick snake to the vet but rather to bring it to you. Can you provide the proper meds? What is your experience with reptile illness?

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Me?

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Originally Posted by jim020cricket

Me?

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No, Matt...

Oh, you were agreeing with me and taking THAT a step further, gotcha.

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Originally Posted by jim020cricket

Oh, you were agreeing with me and taking THAT a step further, gotcha.

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I always agree with you, pal! :P

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Originally Posted by jglass38

I always agree with you, pal! :P

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I noticed that...warped minds must think alike... :cool:

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Originally Posted by jim020cricket

I noticed that...warped minds must think alike... :cool:

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It doesn't get much more warped than mine!

ok WOW
i just checked back and a storm erupted in here.

ok to Grim91Z
i dont thnik there is any thing wrong with your boa. i was just saying if you need help i am close. your boa looks good and healthy. sorry if i came off as anything other than just trying to be a frind to a fellow boa person.

i do have meds for light cuts and i do have a stockpile of tylan200 cures up a RI in 9 days. i have all the supplys you need to administer it. trust me like i said i am not a vet and there is aloways a place for a good vet.

i have bought from some people that seemed good then i get the boas home and noticed they had a relly bad RIs. i was going to take it to the vet and a close frind ( verry respected person on this site) said why are you takeing it to the vet if you allready know whats wrong. now they are all cured and 100%healthy. but like i said i just would offer help and assistance. i will be the first to tell you to go to a vet if it is anything serious.
nothing but love
matt fisher

Oh, ok. You kind of scared me. Haha! Thanks a lot, though. :) I don't know of any local reptile vets (I'm sure there are some around). I need to contact one and get my ball in as well just for the sake of it.

As for the sexing, I thought that was a BP trait. Well I won't try it anytime soon (BP was just fed, Boa is still getting settled).

I also need to find an ACCURATE metric scale.

Here he is chilling, btw::cool:

http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/8...hillingxy7.jpg

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As for the sexing, I thought that was a BP trait. Well I won't try it anytime soon (BP was just fed, Boa is still getting settled).

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Don't know about how it works with Balls, but I know it works with Boas.

Update! More pics.

http://img451.imageshack.us/img451/9044/p1011455od0.jpg
http://img278.imageshack.us/img278/1144/p1011459af8.jpg
http://img57.imageshack.us/img57/8094/p1011460os9.jpg
http://img311.imageshack.us/img311/5199/p1011458ms9.jpg
http://img328.imageshack.us/img328/2379/p1011461tz7.jpg

WOW!! Looks better than the other pics. Good luck and how about some more pics soon?