Behira - 2016 Female Ivory Ghost - First BCI

[PiperPython]

I have a 4 year old male colombian BI, and he does not sit still - I could not watch TV with him. But all my other boas are MUCH more passive to hold than the pythons are. The carpet python? Forget about it, 100% attention necessary, always.

[dakski]

She's deffo starting to get that nice meat head that boas get as they mature, she looks so good dakski, keep up the good work with her

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Thank you Richard! I am doing my best. My first BCI, but not my first rodeo! Of course, I want what's best for all my animals. However, I am also making up for my younger years when I wanted the same thing, but didn't know how to properly care for them. My current reptiles are treated like gold!

Thank G-D for resources like this site to help new keepers' learn what's best for their animals. I wish I had that 28 years ago!

I have a 4 year old male colombian BI, and he does not sit still - I could not watch TV with him. But all my other boas are MUCH more passive to hold than the pythons are. The carpet python? Forget about it, 100% attention necessary, always.

LOL. Yeah, Behira does her exploring and looking around for a minute or two and I just have to stick with her until she relaxes. However, once chill, she's really chill!

[dakski]

Quick Video of Behira being chill as can be on my arm. She's such a calm and beautiful animal! Love her eyes!

https://streamable.com/pxfyk

No other updates. With other new Boa peeps on here, and reports of varying temperaments, especially at young ages, I thought I'd show what a docile 2 year old can be like.

[richardhind1972]

Looking really nice and healthy daksk, great how there head freckles come and go on boas

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[dakski]

Had Behira out for a bit tonight. She LOVES exploring. Got some nice shots. She's getting longer and thicker, but I can't wait to see her really start thickening up.

I also got a video of the frighteningly fast and ferocious Boa that she is on the coach (she was playing Peek a Boo): https://streamable.com/5it1j



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[ckuhn003]

Thanks for sharing. You can really tell from the video how gentle she is and that her comfort level with you is wonderful.

[dakski]

Thanks for sharing. You can really tell from the video how gentle she is and that her comfort level with you is wonderful.

Thank you! She really is very gentle. I have no fear of a bite from her except when getting her out/feeding time, and if then, between hook training, and knowing her now, neither really bothers me at all.

Yeah, I was joking with Katie. I played Peek A Boo with Behira and there was no drama. I try that with our lab, Bailey, who was abandoned, and she will have none of it. The second I hide under the covers, she's literally ripping covers and sheets off of me as fast as possible. Poor girl. I only did that once.

Behira and I have really developed trust and a rapport together. She's fine when other's hold her, especially Katie, but is always calmer with me. She knows her dad!

You'll get there with Phantom too. Remember, he's tiny right now, and I've had Behira almost a year now and she was already 430G when I got her and calm as can be (holdback who was handled often). We just worked on our trust level and that paid dividends.

[dakski]

Behira nailed a 90G F/T small rat tonight (and the door once, LOL, ). She's had one that big before, probably 200G ago, but I've been giving 70-80G small rats every two weeks mostly, as that's what I had in the last small rat package.

I opened a new small rat package today, and there are a few larger ones, like the 90G I fed tonight, but many are 70-75G.

I am thinking of moving her up to medium rats within the next few feedings. However, initially offering nothing more than 100-110G tops.

I was going to work with one of my suppliers and request two packages of 90-110G mediums, or there about, and one of larger mediums. Either Behira will grow into them, or, more likely Shayna, the 1700G BP will eat those.

Do you guys see any reason not to move up at this point? She is 1,050G now and eating 90G small rats with ease every other week.

I would move to mediums and feed every 3 weeks instead.

Does that make sense? I preach that less is more, but I'd be going up 10-20G for a while (and although a bigger meal now, would get smaller relative to her size as she grows) and then moving up to larger medium rats later when it was appropriate and still feeding every 3 weeks.

Again, I'd be giving food that leaves a small lump and every 3 weeks instead of 2.

Any thoughts are welcomed! I just want to do what's best for my little girl.

[richardhind1972]

I think she would be fine with that especially if you move to 3week feeds

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[dakski]

A few pictures and updates on Behira.

She nailed a 90G small rat last week and I will be ordering medium rats for her next feeding. I'll start with small medium rats and work her up as she grows. I will also offer every 3 weeks instead of every two, her schedule with small rats.

I fed Monday this week (usually Sunday) and took her out this evening. She was a wild woman tonight! All over the place. After a few minutes, she did calm down, but if she decided to head for the bookcase, the lamp, or anything else she set her mind to, and I tried to re-direct, it didn't go entirely smooth. A few times I pulled her back and tried to re-direct her and she would move her head and neck really quick, almost like she was having a tantrum. She would also fight me quite a bit! She's super strong, even at 1,050G, and I had to be really gentle not to upset or hurt her. To be clear, she showed ZERO AGGRESSION, she just wanted to go where she wanted to go.

I would try to re-direct and it was almost like she was saying, "But Dad! I want to go thisssssss way!"

I still got some good pictures (below). I also have a 4 second video of her being still and you can see her head pattern at slightly different angles. She was closer to her dark phase today than her light phase, but not full dark.

I also have a few pictures of her tail. Phillydubs pointed out that she has a Ghost Face on her Ghost tail! I had noticed the marking, but he was looking upside down, and it totally looks like a ghost's face from that angle. Pretty cool, a Ghost on a Ghost!

4 Second Video of Behira's Head in a Fairly Dark Phase

https://streamable.com/yof07


Ghost on a Ghost

Right side up (head to tail)

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General Pictures

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