Lilian, my new little BCI

[Gracana]

I went to the NVA Reptile Expo this weekend and got my first snake! This all happened pretty quickly; something snake-related caught my interest and I was researching the crap out of them for a while, then realized that this show was coming right up. Got a bunch of supplies on order, and now... well here, I'll show you!


Look at that little tongue flick! :)


I held her in my hand for a good ten minutes, it was pretty adorable but it soon got uncomfortable to hold my hand like that, hah.


Her grip is surprisingly strong! This was the first time she held on like that, before she would just wedge against my fingers and balance along my arm.

I've read that you're supposed to give a new snake some time to settle, and I have given her a lot of time alone in her tub, but on the other hand she seems quite comfortable roaming around in my hands and on my arms and on the floor. Tongue flicking, looking at everything, never a hint of aggression. I'm quite pleased!


Here's the setup. I'm using heater cable attached to a herpstat 1 set at 91F with the probe attached on the outside. Temps seem to be right on target in the bottom of the tub. I attached the cable to the cardboard using insulated 22awg wire as zip-ties, which worked out better than it sounds, but I will make something nicer and more secure with the heat tape I have coming in the mail tomorrow. Inside the heat lamp is a 60W ceramic heat emitter. The towel has flopped down a bit because I had the lid off, but I've been wrapping it around the back and right side to provide a bit of privacy, though Lily doesn't seem to care. I've seen her use both hides once, but generally she seems to just lay or coil up wherever she pleases.


Closeup on the RH/temp meter. 60% and 82F, measured on the cool side. I keep the apartment at 74 or so, with a humidifier to keep the RH at 50%. It has been dry and wintry here so it would be very low otherwise.

The woman I bought her from said she's been eating live mice, and was last fed on the 16th. She recommended I try feeding her on Friday. I have frozen rat pinkies, I'll thaw and warm the smallest one I can find (which should be just right), brain it and set it near her tub for a bit, then offer it to her. Does that sound good? Maybe it'll be no trouble at all, but I want to do my best to ensure I get a good feeding response out of her.

[Sauzo]

Awwww she reminds me of all my little gals when they were babies!! Enjoy it while you can, they grow so fast. As for feeding, you shouldn't need to brain the rat. Boas have very good feeding responses. All my girls will eat in the middle of a hurricane and the minute they smell their rabbits and rats coming in, they both are out in force. Its about the only time I see them actually make an effort to move quick haha. Also some boas are just more "outgoing" and so like to come out and explore. My girls love to come out and sit on me but I would try and limit handling on your girl until she has taken a few meals. You can judge it and if on first feeding, she goes bananas and eats immediately, you are probably fine then. Just remember, you want to give them a couple days after eating to digest so no handling for 2 days. And lol you think it got uncomfortable after 10 mins on that worm, wait until that worms gets 6' and wants to ride on you and try and sit on your head, that's uncomfortable lol. Anyways grats on the worm and now you are hooked. Ill talk to you in a year or 2 and see a list of boas you got

[CloudtheBoa]

If you can get a hold of some mice, I'd advise doing that instead of feeding a rat pink. Pinks are nothing but bags of water and fat, barely nutritious. There is also talk of boa constrictors being sensitive to milk belly because of the fat in the milk. I've heard of prolapses and death being attributed to milk belly.

A rat pink should be ok for the time being, but I'd try to get mouse fuzzies or mouse hoppers if you can, and waiting to offer rats until she's big enough for jumbo adult mice or rat pups/weaned rats. It's always best to feed as fully developed rodents as you can, since they have more calcium and other nutrients due to higher bone densities and more fully formed organs. Pinkies have rather underdeveloped organs and bones. Boa constrictors are not known for becoming attached to one prey item like ball pythons, so you should be able to make the switch easily when she's ready. You should also not have too much of a problem getting her onto f/t.

[Gracana]

> A rat pink should be ok for the time being, but I'd try to get mouse fuzzies or mouse hoppers if you can, and waiting to offer rats until she's big enough for jumbo adult mice or rat pups/weaned rats.

Oh really, I bought rats specifically because I heard they were more nutritious, but what you're saying about feeding as fully-developed a rodent as possible makes sense. It looks like my local petsmart carries "arctic mice" brand mice-icles, which are crazy expensive per-mouse, but still a lot cheaper than having them shipped. I'll see what other options are available around here.

[JoshSloane]

I am going to disagree and say to stick with rats. Hatchling boas should be able to eat a small fuzzy rat no problem. Most boas are fine switching between mice and rats, but I did have a couple boas that had a heck of a time switching when appropriate.

[Gracana]

According to this paper on whole prey nutrition, it seems like rats and mice are nutritionally very similar, and table 3 shows a higher calcium percentage for neonatal rats compared to neonatal and juvenile mice. I think I'm going to stick with feeding rats.

[CloudtheBoa]

I'm not sure about being big enough for a fuzzy rat, but maybe a fuzzy or hoper mouse. Even if you went off of the 10-15% rule (which is too much food for a boa), the bigger end is much too big. Mine came to me at a month old and 80 grams, quite a bit bigger than a newborn, and a rat fuzzy would still have been 12-24% of her weight.

Smaller meals are always best, so you want a meal that leaves a bulge with no scale separation for babies and no bulge for adults.


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[JoshSloane]

I'm not sure about being big enough for a fuzzy rat, but maybe a fuzzy or hoper mouse. Even if you went off of the 10-15% rule (which is too much food for a boa), the bigger end is much too big. Mine came to me at a month old and 80 grams, quite a bit bigger than a newborn, and a rat fuzzy would still have been 12-24% of her weight.

Smaller meals are always best, so you want a meal that leaves a bulge with no scale separation for babies and no bulge for adults.


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I've never been a big fan of weighing food items. I just go with what seems to be the right width. I also wouldn't call a rat pink a 'bag of water." Their protein to fat ratio might be more than a slightly older animal, but I can very much assure you that they have fully developed organs and are nutritionally relevant.

[CloudtheBoa]

Baby mice are born with slightly underdeveloped organs that mature after birth, and their bone density increases as they age as well. They mature rapidly but as pinkies they are still too immature for a proper food source for boas. There is more of a bone presence in rats than mice as I think was mentioned but the high fat content doesn't mix well with boas. All boas are rather sensitive to fat and high contents of fat can cause digestive issues, so the lower the fat the better.


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[JoshSloane]

Infant baby rodents have organs developed enough to provide nutrition.

Rats and mice prove to be nutritionally similar at relatively similar sizes. BCI boas aren't bps and can handle a bit bigger prey. From what I see in the OPs pic a small fuzzy rat should be fine.