This could be careless...

[sweety314]

First off-----!!!!

Your question isn't out of line. If you go to the main forum page and scroll down, you'll find a forum of threads that are general boa, and then broken down into some of the other species....biiiiiig and little.

Here are a few caresheets that you'll want to read and study:

http://www.ball-pythons.net/modules....warticle&id=13
(for Red Tails)

http://www.ball-pythons.net/modules....warticle&id=15
(for Brazilian Rainbow boas)


There are also stickies at the top of the forum for some FAQs (like what does BCC & BCI stand for?), etc.

I have balls and boas. My bigger boas are all Colombian redtails of ages from (almost a year) to adult. My very smallest boa is a Kenyan sand boa. From your thread, since you're interested in the redtails, Hera is about 5.5-6' (I'm not quite sure ) and close to 20-25#. I hefted her last night, but haven't weighed her for a while. < I plan on doing that as we move to our new house.> She's the adult female. Wrigley is the next closest, and he'll be 2 in July. He's about 3-4 feed and MAYBE 2-3#. He's still got a ways to go. Pinky turned a year on Dec 9. The other two Colombians are just under a year old. Hera and Wrigley are normals, and Pinky, Apollo and Petey are morphs or hets.

They all eat FT rats of the appropriate size once a week........meaning Hera's was XLG/ 1 a week, until the breeding plans for this season fell through. Now it's going to be a large every other week. The others are meds or larges every Sunday. So far, the only time any of them have refused is during an occasional shed cycle. Otherwise, they're little piggies.

No matter the snake species or age, you want the prey no bigger (and better to be just slightly smaller than) the thickest part of the snake's girth. So NO, a ball python won't need a rabbit or small chicken. (But to try, Hera did eat a .75# rabbit w/o any problems). If the prey is too big, or they're handled too soon after eating, OR fed too often, it could lead to regurgitation problems or fasting problems (irregular eating habits). If the snake has been fed too heavily, he'll stop eating altogether until his body is back where it needs to be.

Humidity and temps are the same as balls. The Colombians are a little more forgiving as to fluctuations, but you still want to keep them no cooler than the 82* (unless you're bromating for breeding). 60% humidity during shedding.

Some ppl don't use hides for the bigger boas, but Hera would still be using hers if I still had them in the tub. Wrigley is always in his, as well as the babies. Petey mainly lived in his tree for the looooongest time, but he's grown so much and so thick, now he's under his bowl or burrowed in the bedding.

They'll stay in hunt mode for a while after eating, even if you've given them the right size. Sometimes it takes them a little while to crawl into the hide and start digesting. If you're not sure, compare the size of your snake. If the prey is TOO small, then yes, he'll still be hungry and looking for more. My baby balls are 8/6/06's and they're eating fuzzies right now. She's really picky and pi$$y, so I'm being conservative, but in a month or two, they should be the size to take rat pups.

I hope this helps a bit.

Glad you came. This is an AWESOME site!


RuLyn