Behira - 2016 Female Ivory Ghost - First BCI

[dakski]

Wanted to update a few things on Behira.

First, pictures are below and she is now 720G, but is due for some massive waste. My guess is she about 650G. She was 464G when we got her at the beginning of October. She is also starting to go in blue, and will shed this week, so her colors aren't vibrant, but I wanted to show the size difference. I'll post more pics after her shed.

Secondly, I wanted to mention that I am changing her feeding schedule. She began eating small rats (55-65G) last month (3 rats) and then ate a 75G +/- rat last feeding. She's growing fast, and has no trouble with those prey items, however, I have read that feeding weekly once they get to small rats isn't the best idea. I've read multiple places that feeding even appropriate size prey weekly to Boas when they get to small rats and/or are 2 years old (she's about 1 year and 8 months, give or take), can cause them to grow too fast and cause premature death. Power-feeding, can cause Boa's to die before the age of 6, instead of living a long 20+ year life.

I want what's best for her, so I am going to every two weeks for feeding. Apparently, feeding small items every week doesn't always work, because they often won't eat prey too small for them. And BCI's metabolism is slow, so appropriate sized meals every two weeks until she gets bigger is the plan. Then I plan to switch her to every 3 weeks once she's eating XL and Jumbo rats and her growing has slowed.

Any thoughts on this are welcomed, as I am new to BCI's.