new pastel salmon.

i decided to take a little trip up to furless friends, not intending to come back with anything but a lock for the viv. but i instead came back with this. georgeous little pastel salmon female. 4-6months old. came from germany guessing andy's trip to hamm.
just two years or so to wait to decide wether or not to breed her to my hogg male.

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nice looking wee boa,you got a full dorsal pic?

not yet jus took couple quick snaps on my fone while i was transfering her to the rub. ill see what i can do in couple days when she settles in.

Cool snake! I also can't wait to see some full body shots. What are you feeding him/her on?

havent fed her yet shes only due tomorrow, but id say itll be a large fuzzie for now, mind not be long n shell be on a fair bit bigger. lol im gona try stunt her growth a little so she doesnt get to huge. my other half doesnt want anythin over 5ft. but she shouldnt be too much bigger around 6ft ish, but then she doesnt like holding the snakes much so shell hardly be able to measure her!! lol

to be honest mate i think anything but a normal healthy feeding regime would be unwise,i certainly dont agree with trying to stunt boas.The snakes health should always be the main priority.

I agree with Phil here. Also a Boa at 4-6 months old should be eating fuzzie rats or adult mice at least.

This little girl is 6 weeks old and taking either rat pinkies or small adult mice every 4 days with EASE. However saying that I don't think mice make a suitable meal for a Boa Constrictor if you have rats available.

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Another thing is that a 6-7' Boa doesn't look that long to the untrained eye.

each to there own opinion!!
its not that ill be badly stunting her growth, i said a little, jus more controlling it, power feeding a snake is by far more detremental to there health than feeding her less often, and studies have even shown this.
she wil not be under weight nor will she be in any harm by doin this.
she will be getting fed exactly the same as my hog n thats once a week on an appropiate sized food item, which in her case is a large fuzzie or small mouse for now, or a small rat pup, what ever i can get. im not taking any chances with a new snake regurging.
i dont mind her taking longer to get up to size, i didnt get her to purely breed her for money! shes a pet first and foremost and will be looked after like shes ment to!!

Fair enough but neither myself or Phil power feed nor did we mention it. I feel very strongly against power feeding.

You can find a pretty good guide here: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

that post only confirms what iv just said. lol
"As a guideline, the size of the prey item should not be greater that the girth of the boa at mid body."
which is what i will be feeding her
"Don't push the limits on your boa. Newborns should be fed "fuzzy" or just weaned mice or "pinkie" rats. And then graduate with the growth of the snake"
"If you feed prey items that are too large, you are asking for the boa to regurgitate! This can lead to many health problems, and even regurgitation syndrome"
also "Juvenile boas - 2 to 3 feet - 3 to 12 months Should be fed Fuzzy or Pre-weanling rats. They can be fed one food item once a week. (7 days)"

if you take the first part and last bit above into account, what i will feed her is correct, i was told she is between 4 and 6 months, andy wasnt completly positive as she came from germany, her mid body would be a bit larger than a small mouse, but as i said the last thing i want is a new snake regurging on me!! hence the smaller meals until she is settled with me.

the only thing i can think of is, if she definitly is 4-6 months, that perhaps she has more dwarf blood in her than we think!! in which case i wont need to worry at all about watching her size!! lol

feeding the appropriate sized meal once every 7 days in fine,thats a healthy feeding regime,the way you post sounded you where going to purposly feed her less to effect her growth simply because you want a samll boa,its maybe just the way you worded it.

Most breeders and shops will only feed snakes they are going to sell on a maintance diet which may explain why she is small,she may also be younger than 6 months

Phil wrote:feeding the appropriate sized meal once every 7 days in fine,thats a healthy feeding regime,the way you post sounded you where going to purposly feed her less to effect her growth simply because you want a samll boa,its maybe just the way you worded it.

Most breeders and shops will only feed snakes they are going to sell on a maintance diet which may explain why she is small,she may also be younger than 6 months

Aye that's what I thought too Phil. Judging by the size of the snake in the pictures something around the size of an adult mouse or fuzzing/pre weaned rat would be spot on. A fuzzie mouse would be WAY too small.

Where has the edit button gone?

After a second look for that snake, personally myself I'd for for Pinkie Rats or failing that small adult mice. Any thing smaller (such as a fuzzie mouse) is boarding on under feeding.

Okay I really need that edit button back!

Feeding a slightly smaller meal for a feeding or two untill she is settled if fine, but get her onto something decent sized (1-1.5 times the snake at mid section) as you'll have a much healthier Boa in the long run for it. The reason it's best to start of on Rats is because some Boas get hooked on mice and wont change over, resulting in an Adult Boa needing ALOT of mice per feeding rather than one adult rat.

i think youll find i said i was gona feed her something small for now as i didnt want to upset her n make her regurge!! iv had her 4days n dont know her feeding habits!!! she may well take something bigger but im not taking the chance!! she will be fed what she needs when she needs.
As for the stunting her growth i ment slightly 6ft approx. was so i wasnt going to end up with an 8ft boa!! this i would end up having to get rid!! not because i couldnt handle it but because the other half would have my life!!! she may not be totally in the know, but would notice 6ft against 8ft!!

sorry obviously that was posted after your last!! lol was busy chasing after my wee one!! son that is not snake!!

Beautiful boa you have there Chappers!

On the eventual size thing.....she would eventually get to maybe the 8ft mark but that would take quite a few years on an ideal feeding regime, especially if your erring towards feeding her slowly and steadily - so theres plenty of time to wrestle with the notion of an 8ft boa. Also the salmon influence, which is from a dwarf boa (Panamanian boa), will help keep her size down a little below that of a straight Colombian Common boa.

few more photos for yous of her back, again taken with my phone as cameras batterys dead.

dont know if its the same as a corn but shes got the same sort of motley thing going on. all the way down her back to the last couple saddles before her tail. 3rd one downs a side view just after her head showing the saddles all joined as i say like a corn motley!! again i dont know if this is the same or now, please let me know.

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her pattern is a pretty normal boa pattern,she isnt a motley.The pattern is a little unusal for a salmon hypo as their patterns are usually reduced to some degree

ah well didnt think so but anywho, i think shes georgeous with some great colours especially her tail, im sure shell make some beautiful babies. when paired with whatever little boyfriend i get for her!! lol my hogg or another salmon. lol god im gona get shot thinking like this!!! lol

she is very pretty,should colour up nicely