New 2 year old Boa size

[CloudtheBoa]

It's spelled Colombian, and red tail is a separate species. Your boa would be considered a common boa constrictor (Boa imperator), I hesitate to use Colombian as most boa constrictors in captivity are mutts.


Yes, she is absolutely over-sized and overfed. My first boa reached 5'2" at 2 years old because I was unaware I was overfeeding him. When he was 2.5' at a year old, I panicked thinking he was stunted until I came onto this forum around the time he was 2-2.5 years old. I've been learning a lot since, and have gotten quite a few boas (and other snakes!) since. With my current feeding regimen, I have two (female) boas that will be 5 in June. One is over 4.5' and the other I'm guessing is over 5' but I haven't measured her in a year or more. Both of them are eating a medium rat every 3 weeks. At 5.5', if it's eating a large rat without a bulge, I'd go 4-6 weeks. She looks fairly overweight, but not as bad as I've seen.


I also don't feed my more mature boas during the winter. 2-3 months no food, plus a 5 degree temp drop. From 88-90F hot area to 85F hot area, and 80-85F ambient to just 80F.


Her temperament may or may not change. None of my boas have been all that affected by a diet change, but I see some who do experience it.


You should not be handling her at all until you've had her a week, and she's eaten at least once. After that, I recommend no more often than 2-3 times a week, besides 2-3 days after eating and while in shed.


You also really should be practicing quarantine. Your boa and bp should not have been introduced. I personally recommend 6 months to a year of qt, but many will recommend 3-6 months. That's keeping the snake in a separate air space from your other snakes, using separate feeding and cleaning utensils, and handling the new snake last. IBD is going around in boas, and they tend to either be asymptomatic or don't show symptoms up to 3 years. But besides that, there are a whole host of other diseases and parasites to be worrying about.