Boa Question?

i was wondering if there is a way to tell how old a snake is?

Once it's full grown, there's no easy way of telling.

id say mine is about 4.5 ft close to 5ft long maybe...female btw

Cut it in half and count the rings.

Because snakes grow at different rates depending on their environment, health, and feeding patterns, it is nearly impossible to say how old a snake is just by looking at it. For example...

My female Columbian Red-Tail boa is about 6-7lbs and is around 5-6ft long (haven't weighed or measured her in a while, but her shed is as long as I am tall (5'1") and her last weigh in was at the vet and she was over 6lbs). She was born in 2008, so that would make her 5 years old.

Now take my spider female ball python. She was such a problem feeder that she weighs around 200g. Do you know how old she is? 2 years! You read that right. She is 2 years old (hatched June 2011) and she is still small enough to fit in a 6qt tub. She's very very picky with her food and right now only eats live fuzzy/hopper asfs. Over the past few months she has grown quite a lot because she's been eating on a weekly basis. Actually I just weighed her and empty she is 217g.

So yea, feeding habits really influence a snake's size.

i have a male het pied that got his belly burnt causing him to stop eating...around 2yrs old and still eating large pinks.

Vergesseneins wrote:

i have a male het pied that got his belly burnt causing him to stop eating...around 2yrs old and still eating large pinks.

You can't make a ball eat by holding fire to it's belly.

YOU"RE DOING IT WRONG.

i was new to pets in general...didnt work with dog or fish

Ok i was just wondering cause i read that they have to be a certain age to breed but wanted to clear it up if thats true or not

Age is important but if the animal appears mature and is of a healthy breeding weight then I say go for it. My boa is five years old but I'm not ready to breed her yet as I've been told to wait until she's at least 9-10lbs. Most boas are that size, if not larger, by five years. If you are hesitant to breed the boa because you are uncertain of it's age, wait another year just to put some extra size on it.

Since you said boa I'm assuming BCI? Because a five foot female BRB should be a lot older than a female BCI, assuming neither was shorted food or power-fed.

FWIW a fellow breeder told me that my female BCI should be at least three years old, preferrably four, and six feet long before breeding her.

Whats the difference and how do i know