Growth rate of a BCC?

[alice40604345]

Hi guys~ I have a baby male Suriname boa. I heard that they grow very slow and should be fed pinky rat or fuzzy mouse for the first 6 months.I fed him around every 9 days since the seller said they fed him every 7 days... but should I change it to 14 days now? Will that be too long for now? And may I know for different grow stages, should I always fed him 10% of his weight every 14 days? Or change it a little bit based on his weight or age?
According some posts I saw the males will finally grow to around 6 feet. Is that correct? And how long will they reach that adult size? 2-3 years? Will they be much thinner than females? I saw some pictures of BCC are very wide like https://goo.gl/images/nc89HL or https://goo.gl/images/2rjZ4X...but some are pretty thin just normal rectangular shape like this:https://goo.gl/images/M6iKNg . May I know which ones would be the appropriate size of an adult BCC boa? Love to see your boa's pictures This is my baby. I hope he could have a more bright red tail in the future but looks like it may stay the same dark red color.

[bcr229]

BCC should be thin and slow-grown. My guideline for feeding is:
- Up to 6 months old, weekly
- 6-12 months old, every 10-14 days
- Feed yearlings every 2 weeks
- Feed two year olds every 3 weeks
- Feed 3+ year olds every 4 weeks for females, and every 5-6 weeks for males.

Also once they get older their growth rate slows down so the whole "10-15% of body weight" guidelines goes out the window. My adults get a feeder that's about 3/4 of the girth of the snake, so the snake has little to no visible lump immediately after eating.

[Alter-Echo]

I kept a guyana bcc for about 15 years before gifting her to my a good friend who had always wanted a boa. When I got her she was close to neonate size, when I gave her to my friend she was 11ft 4in. Fed her weekly for the first 2 years, then once a month after that. Prey was about the thickness of her body. As an adult I was feeding her rabbits, not sure on the weight, back then I was not as precise as I am today.

I saw her last month and at 17 years she is looking pretty good.

Btw, anyone even know how long they live? I had heard about 15 years but apparently they can live much longer. Lol

[Sauzo]

I feed my suriname girl every 7-10 days up to a year old. Then every 14 days until they are up to medium rats. Then every 3-4 weeks when on medium and large rats. Males get fed less.

They do grow pretty slow except they do have bursts when you upsize them a little. My girl is 1.7 years old and she just graduated to weaned rats. She's almost 3 feet long.

And i never go by the body weight thing for food. All my boas are fed just by the thickness of them vs the prey. Once they are adults, even that goes out the window and i just feed them a large rat or baby rabbit every few weeks. My big boas are all girls so i am a little more relaxed about their feedings and i also tend to feed a little more in the summer and a little less in the winter. It also depends on the food item. Rabbits are very dense so a little goes farther where as something like a quail isnt that packed with meat so i feed a little sooner if i give them one of those.

You can also read the boas. When they get hungry enough, they will start patrolling around. It's 4 days from feeding day for the little boas and my BCL and hypo BCI boys are both out at night cruising around lol. My suriname girl is in shed so she is quiet or else i would probably expect to see her out there cruising around at night too.

As for growth, most boas have a slow down at around the 3 year mark but they constantly grow throughout their lives. As for adult size, thats hard to say. I mean if you are considering 6 feet as an adult, then your boa probably wont reach 'adult' size until probably around 5-6+ years.

And here is a pic of Gina. She is a pure Rio Bravo Pokigron from parents from Gus Rentfro's 2006 litter.

[AbsoluteApril]

Btw, anyone even know how long they live? I had heard about 15 years but apparently they can live much longer. Lol

Boas may live for an average of 20-30 years. My oldest Bi (BCi) was 28 when I had her euthanized. The oldest recorded Bc (BCc) that I am aware of was a Peruvian kept at a zoo that passed at 41 years.

[Alter-Echo]

Boas may live for an average of 20-30 years. My oldest Bi (BCi) was 28 when I had her euthanized. The oldest recorded Bc (BCc) that I am aware of was a Peruvian kept at a zoo that passed at 41 years.

That's amazing.

I have known other snake keepers who were amazed that I managed to keep mine alive and thriving past 10 years old. I remember one guy who told me that his bcc grew to near 14 feet and died at 7 years old. After learning that he was feeding it jumbo rabbits twice a month I wasn't really surprised why it grew so large but died so quickly. Really sad.

[alice40604345]

Ah thank you soooo much! That's really really detailed! I'll take a note of this and follow this rule lol! So when they get older the 10-15% feeder would normally bigger than 3/4 of their girth right? Thank you so much!

BCC should be thin and slow-grown. My guideline for feeding is:
- Up to 6 months old, weekly
- 6-12 months old, every 10-14 days
- Feed yearlings every 2 weeks
- Feed two year olds every 3 weeks
- Feed 3+ year olds every 4 weeks for females, and every 5-6 weeks for males.

Also once they get older their growth rate slows down so the whole "10-15% of body weight" guidelines goes out the window. My adults get a feeder that's about 3/4 of the girth of the snake, so the snake has little to no visible lump immediately after eating.

[alice40604345]

Wow! 15 years! That must be your best friend so you would gift her to ! And 11ft!!! Wow that's a very big girl! Does she have a steady growth rate and always grow in a slow rate in her all 15 years? So nice to know she's looking good after 17 years! Yeah I also saw some articles say they'll live 20-30years on average.

I kept a guyana bcc for about 15 years before gifting her to my a good friend who had always wanted a boa. When I got her she was close to neonate size, when I gave her to my friend she was 11ft 4in. Fed her weekly for the first 2 years, then once a month after that. Prey was about the thickness of her body. As an adult I was feeding her rabbits, not sure on the weight, back then I was not as precise as I am today.

I saw her last month and at 17 years she is looking pretty good.

Btw, anyone even know how long they live? I had heard about 15 years but apparently they can live much longer. Lol

[alice40604345]

Thank you soooooo much!!! So rabbits are much more nutrious than rat? Oh thank you for the way to read boas lol! Looks so useful! Recently I see he normally stays with his half body outside the hide and tails inside the hide. But just stay still. My ball pythons will often cruise after I sleep. I can tell by their substrate shape lol! I'll observe them more often!
Wow 5-6 years! They really grow so slow...lol! I'm curious how big will a 20-year old male BCC grow lol!
OMG!!!!!!!!!Your Gina is sooooooo gorgeous!!! So bright red!!! I just search Gus Rentfro but looks like he does not have these kind of babies available now... may I know how do you find the breeders and how do you know when some breeders have new babies? I wanted to get BCC for months but haven't find something on facebook group or just search BCC breeders. I went to a couple of reptile expo and finally get him. But he got mites and thanks for suggestions I get here with you guys I haven't seen mites for weeks. I'll keep treating him for another two months. But I just find some animals in reptile expo are not in good condition and hard to know what their parents look like... some of the sellers are not breeders I think. Wow I also want to buy snakes direcctly from breeders but not sure what's the best way to find them. Gina is really really stunning!!! I wish I could also have a snake like her!!!!

I feed my suriname girl every 7-10 days up to a year old. Then every 14 days until they are up to medium rats. Then every 3-4 weeks when on medium and large rats. Males get fed less.

They do grow pretty slow except they do have bursts when you upsize them a little. My girl is 1.7 years old and she just graduated to weaned rats. She's almost 3 feet long.

And i never go by the body weight thing for food. All my boas are fed just by the thickness of them vs the prey. Once they are adults, even that goes out the window and i just feed them a large rat or baby rabbit every few weeks. My big boas are all girls so i am a little more relaxed about their feedings and i also tend to feed a little more in the summer and a little less in the winter. It also depends on the food item. Rabbits are very dense so a little goes farther where as something like a quail isnt that packed with meat so i feed a little sooner if i give them one of those.

You can also read the boas. When they get hungry enough, they will start patrolling around. It's 4 days from feeding day for the little boas and my BCL and hypo BCI boys are both out at night cruising around lol. My suriname girl is in shed so she is quiet or else i would probably expect to see her out there cruising around at night too.

As for growth, most boas have a slow down at around the 3 year mark but they constantly grow throughout their lives. As for adult size, thats hard to say. I mean if you are considering 6 feet as an adult, then your boa probably wont reach 'adult' size until probably around 5-6+ years.

And here is a pic of Gina. She is a pure Rio Bravo Pokigron from parents from Gus Rentfro's 2006 litter.

[alice40604345]

Oh that's sad. I also saw some blog say overfed snakes will die young. Is that because their digest system is overwork or some disease caused by fat?

That's amazing.

I have known other snake keepers who were amazed that I managed to keep mine alive and thriving past 10 years old. I remember one guy who told me that his bcc grew to near 14 feet and died at 7 years old. After learning that he was feeding it jumbo rabbits twice a month I wasn't really surprised why it grew so large but died so quickly. Really sad.