BCC Columbian RTB

[Gio]

First off CONGRATS on your new snake. Being happy with your animal is all that matters. Colombian, not "Columbian" boas are 99.9% of the time BCI. I believe Vin Russo and Gus Rentfro have only seen the BCC version of the Colombian boa. Neither has one in their collection and they are about as "Boa knowledgable" as it gets. There are however different opinions about BCC and BCI as well. Jeff Ronne, a respected breeder says they are BCC and so does Herpetologist Mark O'shea.

But I don't want to confuse things. The majority will agree that Colombian boas or "common boas" are BCI.

Female BCI boas can get huge, but 8-9 feet is a big boa for a Colombian BCI.

There are some 7 foot 30 pound male BCI's I've seen. Tom McCarthy's male Squeezer was a huge male BCI. (McCarthy Boas).

According to Gus Rentfro, the Peruvian BCC is one of the biggest of the boas. Also BCC from Surinam and Guyana. They grow slower but tend to get bigger on average. Gus Rentfro also states "The biggest boas are the oldest boas". So if you let your boa grow slow, it will live long and get big.

Here is my Colombian BCI male.

I don't claim to have anything rare or overly special. Gus Rentfro of Rio Bravo Reptiles breeds these and sells them every year but,,,, this boa is a true locality Colombian boa from the Barranquilla region of the country.

His friend, Vincent Russo, wrote about boas from this area and stated these boas are what a "natural cross" between BCC and BCI would look like. He did scale counts on them and apparently they differ from BCI boas.

Again, there is not a need to get really technical unless we are counting scales and getting deep into herpetology.

Your Female BCI will more than likely get to at least 7 feet. Don't be in a rush to get her there though.

Kali and the others have pretty much already stated what I've gone over here. "True Red Tail" = BCC. Red tail boa is more of a pet trade name that is used loosely and it can apply to all boas in that context with a few exceptions.

BCI's are very good snakes and they feed and breed in captivity second to none. Probably the hardiest of the BCC boas are the Peruvians. That's from Gus Rentfro so I believe it.

This is a good video explaining some basic differences. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kzp48...=TL138GtRj8DS4

Pardon the long winded explanation especially since the others here with more boas than I have covered this.

I just like to help : )

You have a great pet BCI and it will get nice and big. Enjoy!

[Evenstar]

Thank you all again.

She ate her first meal today which made me very excited. Hits "more accurately" and "more confidently" than the BPs it seems.

She weighed in at 70g's before feeding and I will have her on a 5 day schedule with my ball until she needs less frequent feelings.

I really wanted a big snake(why I got a boa instead of another ball) and I just hope she's big enough lol. I'm not ready, nor is our family ready, for a big burm, retic or conda, so she was gonna fill that size gap...

He really is an intriguing creature, and so different from the BP's I'm more accustomed to.

She def seems more "friendly" and most certainly not head shy in the slightest like my BP.

On a side note, I waked in the house today and saw my wifey holding her all on her own(normally terrified of snakes and very resilient to hold my BP) but she made me so proud lol.


0.1.0 Normal Ball Python
0.1.0 Red Tail Boa

Don't worry - your BCI will be a perfect snake to fill this gap. The females especially are very impressive serpents....

But as Gio stated, don't be in a rush to get her there. Feed very slowly and stick to smaller prey items. Boas have a slower metabolism than Ball Pythons do and they do better and are healthier if fed less frequently and smaller items. Most good breeders feed even neonates only once every 7-10 days. Your baby will get as big as nature intends for her and if you raise her slowly she'll be much better off for it.

[Expensive hobby]

Don't worry - your BCI will be a perfect snake to fill this gap. The females especially are very impressive serpents....

But as Gio stated, don't be in a rush to get her there. Feed very slowly and stick to smaller prey items. Boas have a slower metabolism than Ball Pythons do and they do better and are healthier if fed less frequently and smaller items. Most good breeders feed even neonates only once every 7-10 days. Your baby will get as big as nature intends for her and if you raise her slowly she'll be much better off for it.

So would a 5 day schedule be too frequent for my ball and boa? Should I go to a 7 or is there a prob for either snake being on a 5? I want her to grow more healthy than fast, but as fast as can be done healthy, if that makes sense lol.


0.1.0 Normal Ball Python
0.1.0 Red Tail Boa

[rocknhorse76]

Stick to 7 days til she's about 2 years old, increasing prey size accordingly as she grows. The prey item should be 10-15% of the snake's empty weight (weigh her after she poops). I generally go to a 2 week feeding schedule at around 2 years of age, and 3 weeks once they are eating jumbo rats.

My BP was on a 7 day schedule until he started eating medium rats. He's on a 2 week schedule from here on out.

[xFenrir]

So would a 5 day schedule be too frequent for my ball and boa? Should I go to a 7 or is there a prob for either snake being on a 5? I want her to grow more healthy than fast, but as fast as can be done healthy, if that makes sense lol.


0.1.0 Normal Ball Python
0.1.0 Red Tail Boa

I don't know how old your BP is, but usually people end up on 7-10 day schedules for adults, or sometimes even longer. As for your boa, 7-10 day starting schedule is just fine for now. I know that people say for BP's to feed them something that is about the same size around as their thickest midsection; don't follow that for your boa. The prey you feed her shouldn't leave any noticeable lump in her body. If you do feed something that's a little bigger every once in a while, don't worry. It's just not something that should be happening every feeding. Eventually you'll need to move her to a 2 week schedule (or even longer as she gets older; my girl eats every 3 weeks now) but that won't be for a little while. Like Evenstar said, slow-grown is best.

Don't worry about not having a big snake (in comparison to your BP); even a BCI will be a BIG difference from your Ball. Not only do they grow to a size of 6-8ft on average, but their attitude is a complete 180 from Balls. My BCI (in my picture) is outgoing, exploratory, and likes being out and held. She's even been used for educational presentations. BCI's are great transitional snakes into the big boids, imo.

[Expensive hobby]

Awesome. See I know fish, inside and out. I've successfully performed surgery on my fish, diagnosed and treated disease, developed husbandry techniques that were far from the norm, with amazing repeatable results, been flamed for it, etc. Bottom line is I knew what was up with fish, and even have a potential captive world record for size of a particular species that doesn't often do well in captivity...

Snakes, ya I'm learning snakes lol. But you guys are teaching me


0.1.0 Normal Ball Python
0.1.0 Red Tail Boa

[Gio]

Awesome. See I know fish, inside and out. I've successfully performed surgery on my fish, diagnosed and treated disease, developed husbandry techniques that were far from the norm, with amazing repeatable results, been flamed for it, etc. Bottom line is I knew what was up with fish, and even have a potential captive world record for size of a particular species that doesn't often do well in captivity...

Snakes, ya I'm learning snakes lol. But you guys are teaching me


0.1.0 Normal Ball Python
0.1.0 Red Tail Boa

It won't be long until you are schooled up. I think you have that knack learning all you need about your pets. It's a very good quality.

Enjoy!

[Evenstar]

So would a 5 day schedule be too frequent for my ball and boa? Should I go to a 7 or is there a prob for either snake being on a 5? I want her to grow more healthy than fast, but as fast as can be done healthy, if that makes sense lol.


0.1.0 Normal Ball Python
0.1.0 Red Tail Boa

I don't know how old your ball is, but if it's a hatchling, then every 5 days would be fine - for the Ball Python. But if it's an adult, you should stick to every 7-10 days. I feel my adult ball pythons every 2 weeks.

Every 5 days is far too frequent for baby boas. As I said before, breeders will feed even neonates (just-born babies) every 7-10 days. There is no way to feed so she'll grow "as fast as can be done healthy". Forget that idea. The more slowly your baby grows, the healthier she'll be. Boas naturally grow fast. You'll be surprised at how fast. In 2-3 years, she's gonna be quite impressive.

Awesome. See I know fish, inside and out. I've successfully performed surgery on my fish, diagnosed and treated disease, developed husbandry techniques that were far from the norm, with amazing repeatable results, been flamed for it, etc. Bottom line is I knew what was up with fish, and even have a potential captive world record for size of a particular species that doesn't often do well in captivity...

Snakes, ya I'm learning snakes lol. But you guys are teaching me


0.1.0 Normal Ball Python
0.1.0 Red Tail Boa

You will never know too much and will always be learning! We are all still learning! Ask away!

[Expensive hobby]

I don't know how old your ball is, but if it's a hatchling, then every 5 days would be fine - for the Ball Python. But if it's an adult, you should stick to every 7-10 days. I feel my adult ball pythons every 2 weeks.

Every 5 days is far too frequent for baby boas. As I said before, breeders will feed even neonates (just-born babies) every 7-10 days. There is no way to feed so she'll grow "as fast as can be done healthy". Forget that idea. The more slowly your baby grows, the healthier she'll be. Boas naturally grow fast. You'll be surprised at how fast. In 2-3 years, she's gonna be quite impressive.





You will never know too much and will always be learning! We are all still learning! Ask away!

My ball is estimated to be around 9 weeks old and is 113g pre feeding last feed. Your guess is as good as mine but 3 weeks ago a local breeder guessed she was about 6 weeks old, and was within a few grams of one of his 6wk old babies...

Well it sounds like I will be changing the feeding schedule a little bit.

Thank you


0.1.0 Normal Ball Python
0.1.0 Red Tail Boa

[Evenstar]

My ball is estimated to be around 9 weeks old and is 113g pre feeding last feed. Your guess is as good as mine but 3 weeks ago a local breeder guessed she was about 6 weeks old, and was within a few grams of one of his 6wk old babies...

Well it sounds like I will be changing the feeding schedule a little bit.

Thank you


0.1.0 Normal Ball Python
0.1.0 Red Tail Boa

So your ball, at 9-ish weeks old, could do fine on a 5-7 day feeding cycle. The boa should be on a 7-10 day cycle. If you want to feed them at the same time, I'd feed them both once a week. Just keep the boa's prey item on the small side (something that does NOT leave a noticeable lump in the belly) and give the ball something a touch bigger (something that DOES leave a small lump in the belly). There ya go - perfect.