Behira - 2016 Female Ivory Ghost - First BCI

[dakski]

Behira is having another growth spurt. She is now 3,830G dry.

Got a good picture of her in her 6X2' Boaphile. She may not be the most colorful boa, but she is a looker.

[Homebody]

Great pic. She's a stunner.

[dakski]

Not easy to get her to stretch out in her enclosure. This is as good as it gets. 6X2' Boaphile.

[dakski]

"In the right corner of the Reptile Area, weighing in at 4KG, the reigning "heaviest snake" in the Dakski collection, it's BEHIRA!"

Behira is now 4kg dry. She's a lot of snake but makes it easy with her demeanor.

Thank you to my beautiful wife for helping with the photo shoot.

[dakski]

Behira just shed and is doing great. Here she is with a friend of mine.

[dakski]

Behira got her first rabbit yesterday and she ate it like a champ.

She is about 9 pounds now and the rabbit was 240g, or about 1/2 a pound. The rats she was eating (large rats) were about 200-210g. I will not feed anything bigger than a large rat due to fat content. Boas like lean food and do not digest high fat prey well.

Rabbits have similar protein characteristics from a nutritional level to lean rats (large and smaller) but with a similar, or even slightly lower, fat content. This allows me to feed a slightly larger (and eventually even larger) prey item for Behira that is still healthy for her.

She is 9 years old in June, but still growing some and I want the best for her.

Big Cheese Rodent Factory now offers rabbits of all sizes. That's where I got these. Layne Labs sells rabbits as well but I have used Big Cheese for years and had good experiences so I went with them. For what it is worth, I have heard great things about Layne Labs, I just cannot speak about it personally.

[Bogertophis]

9 lbs in 9 years...a lb/per year. Nothing like a big, bold BCI- she's a beauty.

[dakski]

Behira got a 375G rabbit tonight. I am going to feed rabbits (about that size) every 4-5 weeks or so. The large rats weren't really making a dent, but I will not feed rabbits - at the size Behira is now - more than every 3-4 weeks minimum. Even the "Extra Small" rabbits (.5-1 pound) are about 10% of her body weight on the high end. I won't go bigger than that as a percentage of her weight, period.

As she grows, I might make the feedings more frequent without going bigger on the rabbits. If I do, it probably will not be by much though as she has had large rats (every 2-3 weeks or so) for years and is healthy and happy. She is 9 in two months and I am not going to start trying to grow her fast at this point (I never have). However, a nice lean rabbit is better than a large rat (probably getting a little small for her), or certainly a jumbo rat (as discussed earlier in this thread - fat = bad for boas).

I'll check tomorrow and make sure she's digesting well. I feed with the lights dimmed and put her drape back on after so as not to distract her or get a (or another) strike at the door. A quick peek made it appear she did get it down without issue, but it doesn't hurt to check.

[EL-Ziggy]

Queen B is a real beauty Dave!! I like seeing the differences in how folks keep their critters. It shows me there's more than just one "right" way to raise healthy animals. I think we feed on very similar schedules, but I feed just a wee bit heavier. I almost never weigh my snakes but since I've been trying to lose a few pounds myself, I've thrown them on the scale with me a few times, and the boas are both between 5 - 5.5 kg. The male BI eats mostly large rats and xs or small rabbits. I feed him pretty much like I do my carpets. My female BCO eats mostly jumbo rats, xs and small rabbits. She eats the same prey as my scrub and olive. I also like that Big Cheese is carrying rabbits now. I mostly use them and Cold Blooded Cafe. I've also fed the snakes large hamsters recently, which they love. The only prey type they haven't had yet is quail.

BTW- All of your snakes are awesome!

[dakski]

Some pics of Behira. She is doing great. About 6 weeks since her last rabbit. It was a big one at about a pound. I will feed again this week. My sister, the one who doesn't like snakes, has been staying with us and that pushed feeding out a little longer than I would like. I am sure Behira, and the other snakes, are no worse for it.

The ones with her on the bowl are my favorites. She's big and I don't want to clean all that water up! However, great picture (IMO). She was pretty chill but it kind of looks like she's saying, "Mess around and find out."