Boa Morph Question

[BoaCow]

I have owned lizards for the past 15 years, but earlier this year I got my first snake at a reptile show. A young BCI. It was sold to me as a "Red Tailed Boa X Hog Island Boa" but based on pictures I've seen of Hog Islands I'm not entirely sure. No information on the Red Tailed Boa part, the vendor didn't even know the snakes sex (I am pretty sure its a female) or exact age, though they claimed the snake was under their ownership for a year (while also claiming the snake was about a year old) and stayed relatively the same size, so I'm assuming this snake is around 2 years old. The snake seemed healthy though and I just thought it looked cool so I took it. Currently around 51 inches long,


Regardless, I'm extremely uneducated on morphs and localities, so for the past few months I've been wondering what the heck my BCI is. Does this match up with a Hog Island cross or is this something completely different? (Also another question on here, I have been feeding it a small rat once a week, and I am just wondering if the snake is under or overweight, I believe I should up that to a medium rat but I just wanted to check because I want to keep the snake as healthy as possible).

[jmcrook]

Honestly no way of telling without details/lineages from the breeder.

Boas can be feed pretty sparing. I feed mine every ~14 days on average and they’re between 2-3yrs and on small rats. As the boa ages and food size increases the interval between feedings should increase as well.


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[BoaCow]

That's what I thought, didn't think I'd be able to get specifics. I was just curious since its darker brown colors don't look anything like a Hog Island. Looks more like a hypo to me, but like you said it's impossible to know exactly and I'm an amateur, I've just been doubting the Hog Island part.

[bcr229]

If I had to guess I'd say hypo, and no hog island influence in that critter.

By the time my boas are two years old they are fed every three weeks. A small rat weekly is too much; you'll have a fat snake in no time because boas digest more slowly than pythons.

[BoaCow]

Well thank you very much for letting me know. I'll downgrade her to bi or tri weekly. I was just wondering if I wasn't feeding enough due to the infrequency of her poops (she only seems to go like once a month) but if I was actually feeding too much then I'll make sure to cease doing that. Stay on small rats then?

[jmcrook]

Depends on the size of the prey item relative to the girth of the boa. Shouldn’t leave too large a bump if at all


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[bcr229]

Well thank you very much for letting me know. I'll downgrade her to bi or tri weekly. I was just wondering if I wasn't feeding enough due to the infrequency of her poops (she only seems to go like once a month) but if I was actually feeding too much then I'll make sure to cease doing that. Stay on small rats then?

That sounds fine. If a small rat doesn't leave a noticeable lump then you can go up to a medium, but every three weeks.

Boas are nice since they process food slowly, they don't make messes nearly as often as pythons.

[BoaCow]

That sounds fine. If a small rat doesn't leave a noticeable lump then you can go up to a medium, but every three weeks.

Boas are nice since they process food slowly, they don't make messes nearly as often as pythons.

That's definitely been the case for me, if anything she went so infrequently I was worried she wasn't getting enough.

Small rats have left almost no lump at all, so I think I will upgrade to medium rats every three weeks in that case.