Behira - 2016 Female Ivory Ghost - First BCI

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Originally Posted by ckuhn003

Hahah.....I'm not worried about handling it. It's the thought of entertaining the conversation w/ my wife when I tell her I'm going to get my 2nd snake which is "slightly" bigger then our BP ;)

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Katie was nervous about getting a big snake too. However, two thoughts.

1. If you do go big, start small! Get a baby or juvenile (1 year old or so tops) and let your wife watch him/her grow up. Boas take a long time to reach adult size. 4-6 years easy if fed properly (less is more). If I had brought home a 7FT female, Katie would have killed me. Behira was 1 year and 4 months old when we got her. Established, but still small ((in addition to being a Ghost (hypo angry) she's 66% het moonglow, so the breeder was thinking of keeping her and making moonglows before he decided to sell her). She was about 440G. She's already over 960G 8 1/2 months later and still growing fast. However, Katie has gotten to know her and appreciate her. She was even Katie's favorite snake (she loves her personality; BCI's can be very curious, but also very docile and predictable). However, she is in love with Solana now, the 2 month old and 8G Scaleless Sunglow (Red Factor) Motley corn she got me for our anniversary last week. She adores her! We fight over holding her!

Point is, it's not like Katie's going to wake up one day to a monster. She will watch Behira grow into a gentle giant.

I will say the conversation about keeping the small dogs away from Behira when she's bigger was a tough one, but she even accepted that, after some time. :).

2. Go for an animal you really and truly want. For me, I started out wanting a male BCI because they are smaller, but I loved the BCI temperament. Then, I realized this is my one shot at a large snake and decided to get the combo of best temperament, best looking, and best eater. I think we did pretty well with Behira. Did I want a 16 pound+ snake to begin with? No, but I have fallen in love with Behira and have no regrets. She is my favorite snake now. I think she's amazing both with temperament and interaction as well as beauty. I have zero regrets.

If you get something you really love and your wife really loves (Katie picked Behira out once I narrowed it down to 4 possibilities from a small local breeder who knew his snakes and their personalities well) you will have a great experience regardless. Katie was included in the process and truly enjoys interacting with Behira more than any of the other snakes. Also, getting an animal you really love will help you stay committed and caring for that animal for its life (20-30 years for a boa).

I would hate for you to compromise and not the get animal you truly want. Then you will have regrets (and maybe even resentment towards your wife) and might not have a snake that lasts his/her lifetime. Further, how much room do you have for more animals? I am at my limit now, so I choose Behira and Solana very carefully. I got exactly what I wanted with no compromises or impulse purchases. Now, I feel my collection is awesome and complete and I couldn't be happier.

Just my two cents, but as much as it is my hobby, Katie does dabble and enjoy the animals greatly (even if she doesn't always admit it :)).

Regardless of what you choose, know we are all here to help!

Behira ate Sunday night and we've been busy with Solana, the new baby scaleless sunglow motley corn snake. I took everyone out today, including Behira, for some dad time. I didn't want them feeling neglected :).

Got some funny pictures with Behira I thought I would share. She's so gentle and so curious!

She's doing great! She turned two years old this month and is growing at a great, healthy, pace; not too fast. Still feeding a small rat every two weeks. They average about 70-85G.

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Nice bud!!

It is boa season!

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Originally Posted by Gio

Nice bud!!

It is boa season!

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Katie had a rough day today and wanted to hold Solana ((our baby (9g) scaleless sunglow motley corn)). About a minute into holding Solana, she calmed right down and was smiling. I realized, Solana is Katie's "therapy snake."

Made me think, Behira is definitely my "therapy snake." She's my reptilian companion animal. I love her personality and we interact really well together. We really know and understand each other at this point (as much a grown man and 2 year old BCI can anyway). She makes me really happy and I am able to really relax interacting with her. It's not that the other snakes and lizards don't do that for me, Behira just seems to have the strongest effect. She's my buddy!

Also, nothing against the 5 dogs! They all make me happy, but I interact with them differently. They are definitely my snuggle buddies.

Nice to know Behira is beautiful and docile, but also very therapeutic!

As a final note. After holding Solana, Katie said she missed Behira and wanted to see her soon. That's a big deal. I did not take her out tonight because she had been out earlier today and the lights were out at that point. No reason to fight the food response and go through that battle!

Behira is going to shed soon. Her belly is starting to turn reddish and he skin/scales are getting darker.

Katie wanted to spend time with her tonight and I had to clean her water dishes and put fresh water in. Got a few good pictures too!

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Behira should shed in the next week. She's darker, and her belly was reddish the past two days. Still waiting for her eyes to cloud over, unless I missed it. Humidity has been between 65-75%, but I am keeping it 75% and above until she sheds. She has yet to have a bad shed with me. High humidity = good shed every time.

Here are two shots of Behira after I put her back in her tank today. She's starting to fill out the 6X2' tank; key word is starting to. She has a long way to go - like another 6,000G (she's about 1,000G now).

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Behira shed today! She didn't leave me any waste, which is unusual, however, she's eating smaller meals lately (the bag of small rats I got recently average about 75G each and she had been eating 85-90G small rats) so she might just be putting more to growth. Also, there's no rule that she has to go when she sheds, but she usually does.

Since she didn't go, I didn't weigh her. She was 965G before last meal.

In any event, she looks happy and beautiful. Pictures below.

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Looking great after her shed

Sent from my TA-1024 using Tapatalk

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Originally Posted by richardhind1972

Looking great after her shed

Sent from my TA-1024 using Tapatalk

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Thank you! Yeah, I wish the pictures did her justice. In person she's so rich and iridescent. The lighting in my finished basement isn't great. I'll get some more shots outside soon.

As noted, Behira shed 2 nights ago, or early yesterday. I took her out to get the shed and take some pictures (earlier in the day).

I offered food last night, and for the first time yet, she refused.

Not sure if there is a correlation, or if something else is going on, or it's totally random.

I know if I take Shayna (BP) out the day of feeding she often refuses. I didn't expect that with Behira.

In any event, not too worried yet, and will offer again in a week (does that make sense or wait two weeks).

Snakes can be funny and she's very healthy and seemingly happy.

Temps and humidity are dialed in and she had a perfect shed. No change there in the past 6 months.

87-89F hot spot.

82-84F ambient.

78-80F cool side.

Humidity - 60-70% - higher in shed