Small for her age?

My common boa is about a year old now and she's exactly 3 feet. Just wondering is this small for a BCI?
I know locality is an important factor but I have no idea what type she is I'm guessing some kind of mix. So I realise I probably wont be able to get a definate answer lol. I've had her 4 months now and she's grown roughly a foot. She's happy and healthy anyway and a complete monster for her food so its not too important to me I'm more just curious if she's a bit on the small side. Thanks

Hey Pickles,

You've almost said it all yourself, if this was a common ie Colombian BCI, it might rightly be a little larger [excuse oxymoron]...the truth is it may [as you intimate] just be a mix of a bunch of slightly smaller central american localities..this being the case your boa would be classed a CA Dwarf...and therefore not be particularly large neccessarily....

Get a photo up with an item that we might be able to relate to scale and I'm sure one or two folk will give you a sense of what you might have...

Best, T.

Thanks for the reply I was thinking she might be a bit small from seeing other 1 year old BCI's on youtube and such, another thing that was pointed out to me was that the guy in the petshop seemed to be guessing her age as 8 months when I got her... he didnt seem sure though so she could actually be younger.. or older who knows lol
I just took this picture today to use serpwidgits snake measure she came out as 91cm
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and her colouring is a bit more clear in this one
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First of all she is stunning. very very pretty indeed,love her.

If you are feeding her once a week lots of people will sugest every 10-14 days but diffenatly NOT more than once a week then she is growing fine. Let her grow at her own rate and she should grow into a strong healthy adult.
I personally see nothing wrong with her size and I would sugest that the similar aged animals on youtube are probably to big for their age.I have a yearling from last year here and I'll measure her later.

Nice clean, pale BCI you have there. Any details on its origin or where it was bought?

Keep in mind that many petshops / breeders will feed an animal only enough to keep it ticking over until it is sold, this is called maintenance feeding, and can contribute to a snake being slightly smaller than expected for its age.

I've bought snakes that were maintenance fed and others that were breeders holdbacks that were then sold to me, and there is a world of difference in their size.

It could also be down to individual metabolism and body size....not all animals attain their average adult size, some stay smaller, and the time taken to reach adult size varies individually too.

As Phil has mentioned other snakes on You Tube etc. may be power-fed, i.e. fed as much as they will eat to get them up to breeding size as quickly as possible. Slow and easy is the best option when growing-on most snakes as otherwise their lifespan can be greatly shortened.....you'd be surprised how little food the average snake needs to live and grow healthily.

Just measured my hold back yearling and she is 3.5ft. I'll tell you as well that a few of my friends have commented on how big she is for her age.

I don't mind if she does turn out to be small as an adult I love her to bits..I feed her once a week or every 8 days and she's a monster for her food once she smells rats she'll strike at anything that moves and whenever I turn the hairdryer on she thinks I'm heating up a rat and comes out and sits with her head resting against the glass waiting for it.. its so cute!

I dont know anything about her origins apart from which shop I got her in lol. I wont name the shop because I don't think she was kept in the best conditions.. no water, shed stuck to her head and retained eye caps. They also gave me really bad advice like that common boas only reach 4 or 5 feet and tried to give me a 1 ft box with her and saying it would last her for a year. They did say they were feeding her once a week but she could have been maintenance fed you never know. I kind of knew I shouldn't buy from them but she was so calm and sweet that I couldnt say no lol.

Thanks for all the replies guys and for measuring your yearling Phil.. I guess I'll have to wait and see what she turns out like

If shes happy, healthy and has a nice temperament you couldn't ask for a better boa And if she stays small that would be a bonus as smaller boas are so much easier to house, manage and feed.

morelia wrote:If shes happy, healthy and has a nice temperament you couldn't ask for a better boa And if she stays small that would be a bonus as smaller boas are so much easier to house, manage and feed.

I agree completely.. plus my family will probably be much happier if she doesn't get huge