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Thread: Growth!

  1. #1
    BPnet Veteran dkatz4's Avatar
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    Growth!

    Finally, my little man is putting on length! since i got him in early march he's been hovering at 34 inches, and do you know how frustrating it is to say your snake is almost 3 feet long? even after 2 sheds his length was about the same - i know boas are slow growers, but at this point he's only just shy of 2 and i've had him for three months; no growth in a young snake over 3 months; frustrating. So his last measurement was May 7th. Since then he's shed again, and had 2 meals and 2 poops, and turned 2 years old (yesterday!) so i thought i'd check the tale of the tape. 37.3 inches, baby!!! I guess April showers bring more than May flowers!

    By the way i use this site for measurements,
    http://serpwidgets.com/main/measure
    (i first checked its accuracy by using a picture of a fiberglass tape measure)

    March 28, about 33 1/2 inches



    May 7, just about 34 inches



    June 14, a whopping 37 and 1/3 inches!!!
    Last edited by dkatz4; 06-15-2016 at 12:51 AM. Reason: typo
    1.0 Central American BI: Irwin
    0.1 Jungle, het snow BI: Gimel
    1.0 green albino, het granite Burm: Dr. Waffles
    1.0 Betta fish: Convertible
    1.1 cats: Tipitina (Tipi) and Professor Longhair (Fess)
    0.1 Egyptian baladi dog: Toasty

  2. The Following 3 Users Say Thank You to dkatz4 For This Useful Post:

    Ashley96 (06-15-2016),Fraido (06-15-2016),Jus1More (04-16-2018)

  3. #2
    BPnet Veteran Ashley96's Avatar
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    Really cute little guy. I never knew boas were slow growers. All the ones I see seem so large

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    dkatz4 (06-15-2016)

  5. #3
    BPnet Veteran dkatz4's Avatar
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    Re: Growth!

    Quote Originally Posted by Ashley96 View Post
    Really cute little guy. I never knew boas were slow growers. All the ones I see seem so large
    Thanks! He is cute, isn't he? Yes, even the big boas is take a lot longer to get there compared to other large species of snake, but my boy is especially little because he is from Central American blood that stays smaller, although I'm not sure if he would be considered a true "dwarf". I'm expecting an adult size 4 1/2 to 5 feet, and he may not attain that length until he's four or five years old. of course they grow for their entire lives but once they reach the "adult size" the rate of growth slows dramatically.
    Last edited by dkatz4; 06-15-2016 at 08:26 AM.
    1.0 Central American BI: Irwin
    0.1 Jungle, het snow BI: Gimel
    1.0 green albino, het granite Burm: Dr. Waffles
    1.0 Betta fish: Convertible
    1.1 cats: Tipitina (Tipi) and Professor Longhair (Fess)
    0.1 Egyptian baladi dog: Toasty

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    Ashley96 (06-15-2016)

  7. #4
    BPnet Veteran dkatz4's Avatar
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    Measured today after he shed, 39.2 inches! Growing like a weed my little buddy is!
    1.0 Central American BI: Irwin
    0.1 Jungle, het snow BI: Gimel
    1.0 green albino, het granite Burm: Dr. Waffles
    1.0 Betta fish: Convertible
    1.1 cats: Tipitina (Tipi) and Professor Longhair (Fess)
    0.1 Egyptian baladi dog: Toasty

  8. #5
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    Very nice!
    0.1 Red tail boa
    1.0 Normal BP
    0.1 Enchi BP
    0.1 Bearded Dragon
    1.0 Argentine BW Tegu
    0.1 Blue tongue Skink

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    dkatz4 (07-22-2016)

  10. #6
    BPnet Veteran dkatz4's Avatar
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    UPDATE:

    Irwin shed last night and the ruler came out...[drumroll]...3 feet, 7.6 inches!! That's 4 and 1/2 inches in 5 weeks! Folks, he's only getting small rats that don't even leave a bump every 14 to 17 days; the boy just wants to grow!
    1.0 Central American BI: Irwin
    0.1 Jungle, het snow BI: Gimel
    1.0 green albino, het granite Burm: Dr. Waffles
    1.0 Betta fish: Convertible
    1.1 cats: Tipitina (Tipi) and Professor Longhair (Fess)
    0.1 Egyptian baladi dog: Toasty

  11. #7
    BPnet Senior Member cchardwick's Avatar
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    If you want him to grow faster you can feed him more. I've been feeding my reticulated python medium rats that leave a big bump followed by several adult mice, all in one feeding. And have been feeding twice a week. She has grown almost half a pound in two weeks! A small rat that doesn't even leave a bump every two weeks would result in super slow growth (if that's what you want). I've heard that with snakes you can pretty much control to rate of growth 100% because they almost always will eat twice a week if you offer it to them. On the other hand I got a free ball python that was fed a fuzzy mouse once a month. He was a year old and looked like he was only a month old WOW. When I first got him he ate three adult mice in about an hour LOL. Now I feed him one or two rodents twice a week and he is growing like a weed.........

    Here's an example of how large of a meal you can feed your snake. I would never suggest feeding live like this video, just way too risky for the snake, better to feed fresh killed or frozen thawed. But you get the idea of how large of a rodent you can feed in comparison to the size of the snake:

    Last edited by cchardwick; 08-29-2016 at 02:25 AM.


  12. #8
    BPnet Senior Member Fraido's Avatar
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    Re: Growth!

    I'm betting Katz is feeding very appropriately, way too easy to overfeed a boa, which you should definitely avoid.😛

    I totally forgot about you telling me about this method of measuring, Katz! I should try it now!

    Sent from my LG-H812 using Tapatalk
    Crawling back into the reptile scene once more!

  13. The Following User Says Thank You to Fraido For This Useful Post:

    dkatz4 (08-29-2016)

  14. #9
    BPnet Veteran dkatz4's Avatar
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    The thing with boas and retics is that their similarities are only...scale-deep. Both big tropical constrictors that will eat as much as you give them. But on the inside they are very different creatures. A retic is always hungry b/c it metabolism converts food into energy at an alarming rate resulting in fast moving snake that grows rapidly. A boa is always hungry b/c it has evolved to endure famine and feels that every meal might be its last. It's metabolism uses food for growth, but also stores the energy as fat. Now boas will certainly grow faster to if fed harder, but at the same time they will be developing health issues similar to those that humans who over eat can develop – an abundance of fat that starts to inhibit the function of their organs. Boa experts agree and it has been shown time and again that slow growing on a conservative feeding regimen leads to very long healthy lives. Overfed boas, arguably, aren't as satisfying to keep either as they are lethargic and slow - imagine how you feel right after a thanksgiving feast, now imageine it takes 2 weeks for that feeling to subside, but your host feeds you another turkey 4 days later (and you eat the entire thing in one bite, head first).
    My boa is a 2 year old sub adult, still actively growing so I try to keep a meal coming every two weeks, but there are definitely plenty of boa people who think that I am feeding him a little too much. It can be tedious waiting for your small snake to get big – that's why all of my growth posts are so enthusiastic because it gets me so excited, but it's worth the wait knowing that I should have a happy healthy pet for the next 20 years at least. That being said, One of these days, when my kids are older, I really want to get a food-inhaling, poop-spewing, fast-moving retic as well!
    1.0 Central American BI: Irwin
    0.1 Jungle, het snow BI: Gimel
    1.0 green albino, het granite Burm: Dr. Waffles
    1.0 Betta fish: Convertible
    1.1 cats: Tipitina (Tipi) and Professor Longhair (Fess)
    0.1 Egyptian baladi dog: Toasty

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    Fraido (08-29-2016)

  16. #10
    BPnet Senior Member Fraido's Avatar
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    Re: Growth!

    I know what you mean about it being tedious waiting for them to get big. 😣 I attempted to use that website to measure my four year old female, she's only approximately 4'7, just shy of 4'8 if I recall. Could be off a little bit because it was my first time using it and I was using my phone. Lol Gonna try a few different methods to measure my new baby, it will be interesting to compare her to my first girl when she gets to be four, and it's nice knowing exactly how old she is. 😃 Do you weigh any of your boas?

    Sent from my LG-H812 using Tapatalk
    Crawling back into the reptile scene once more!

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    dkatz4 (09-01-2016)

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