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**SaKSTa** · 12-08-2002, 06:28 AM

Re: Dwarf boa or "underfeed" common boa? (long)

If you dont want a big Boa... Get a Rosy Boa, they are great lookin and very nice. I am not 100% sure but I think they only get 3-4 feet. But ask aorund.

**amandolin** · 12-08-2002, 07:58 AM

Re: Dwarf boa or "underfeed" common boa?  (long)

Thanks for the suggestion, but I want to get a BCI of some sort.

**SaKSTa** · 12-08-2002, 08:58 AM

Re: Dwarf boa or "underfeed" common boa? (long)

Yea but even if you dont feed a BCI as much as you should, it still might grow past 6 feet. My friend has one and feeds it once a month or so and it is 6 and a half feet. And he has no heat or nothing warming the boa, he really doenst know what he is doing but the boa still got very big.

**LORI** · 12-08-2002, 02:55 PM

Re: Dwarf boa or "underfeed" common boa? (long)

:'( s3.gif b10.gif

ARghhh.. PLEASE do NOT even comtemplate obtaining a snake and underfeeding it intentionally in order to maintain/reduce it's size at all !!! Mostly what you will be doing is to under/malnourish a living creature in order to suffice YOUR need/want[s] while endangering the snake's health & livelyhood is about all. :'( s27.gif s33.gif
I believe that the snake that his daughter has conformed itself to such a feeding regime as it is on and also wound up being a smaller snake than most do of it's specific ss. I do NOT believe that Jeff intentionally underfed the snake in order to promote a smaller one for his daughter..it just happened was all. I have one of the "dwarf" BCI's also .. that eats as it should but just does not grow past a length of 4 1/2' is all. This is not an intentionally growth stunted BCI at all..just turned out that way is all. To intentionally underfeed any living creature in order to stunt it's growth is just not morally correct imo.. not to mention that it is a form of animal abuse/neglect also.
If you want and also need to have a snake that remains under 6'..Then just go with one from the start that has a potential growth size of no more than 6' [ also keep in mind that there is always the possibility that you could wind up with a specific oine that does not conform to the noted size range and may grow larger than 6' also even possibly]. The Boa you mentioned would most likely be your best choice for your want[need[s] [ seeing as you don't seem to care for the Hogg isle one at all . not gonna get anything from me puching that ss at all.. they are not on my list of "wants" either :-/].
There are also MANY other snakes that are kept in captivity other than a BCI that fall within your size protocal also btw.. Maybe one of those would be a better choice for you even. Does it have to be a BOA ?

**amandolin** · 12-09-2002, 12:29 AM

Re: Dwarf boa or "underfeed" common boa?  (long)

Geeze! This is exactly the sort of message I was hoping to avoid! I do understand your concern though. That's why I posted the question. I DO NOT want to do anything that will hurt the boa.

I really wasn't that informed on Jeff's daughter's boa, so I guess I shouldn't have based my possible view on that one post I read.
Anyway, I guess I will just stick with the idea of getting a CanCun boa from Gus. I do really like them anyway!

Yes, it does have to be a boa. I currently have 4 colubrids now and have a wish list a mile long of all the snakes I would love to get. Right now though, (actually for the past 6 months) I have decided that the next snake (or pair) would be a BCI (not necessarily a common boa, but a BCI).

Don't worry Lori, whatever I do choose, I won't underfeed it just to keep it small. Like I said, I don't want to hurt the boa. ;D

Amanda

**Josh** · 12-09-2002, 11:40 AM

Re: Dwarf boa or "underfeed" common boa? (long)

In one of Jeffs videos he showed a boa that was like 3 or 4 years old and under 4 feet. Jeff said that this boa was only fed one food item no larger than a fuzzy rat once a month and I think that it was a female boa also. Jeff said that he did this because he he gets alot of call from parents wanting to know how big boas get. His answer to thier question was it all depends on how much you feed them.

Maby Clay can get Jeff to come on this forum and futher explain.
-Josh

**LORI** · 12-09-2002, 04:50 PM

Re: Dwarf boa or "underfeed" common boa? (long)

I sent Jeff an email and asked him to comment on this. He's a great guy [ not to mention the GORGEOUS snakes he produces in breeding hehe] and I am sure will set it all straight np as to what the exact circumstances are with that boa np for us.

One thing you could do is to "seek" out a boa that is/has maintained a small size under 6' that is already in the range of 4-6 years old possibly. it is possible to come across such.. i have one myself even ;D If the pic shows.. this is ADRIANNA.. She is approximately 6 years of age and is only 4 1/2' in length, and has always been that size since I got her about 3 years ago myself. She just chooses to not eat like most snakes do and that I am sure has affected her growth rate no doubt. She's got a great temperament [ long as I don't expose her to taking too many pics of her .. She hates that and will strike out at me when doing such..other than that she won't even so much as hiss at me at all..LOL].

**Ryan** · 12-10-2002, 10:56 AM

Re: Dwarf boa or "underfeed" common boa? (long)

get a hogg island boa, they stay small (4.5-6 ft) and they have great color. they are considered Bci's too.

**Red** · 12-11-2002, 07:19 AM

Re: Dwarf boa or "underfeed" common boa? (long)

I know what jeff has told me... He said in a e-mail to me that if you feed it a good healthy amount in the first year. You would be able to cut the feeding back to once a month after that.... Now he also stated that you would have to feed the proper amount of food once a month... not just what you have... no skipping..
Where lori is coming from is a place where almost all the boas she get's in( It seem's to me) are both dehydrated and under fed... You would have to be right on top of the weight problem that you boa would no dought have... and in the end the boa may grow over that amount any way's... I would go for another type of boa if I was you... I have a rosy boa. They are cool... But I would not recamend one to anybody that does not just want one.. They tend to be boring to people... 3' is the max size... under that for most... I don't know what the record is but it is more then that...
I think you should get one from rio... With snake's it seem's to be very important to get exacly what you want... This is not used car shopping... If what you want is to expensive then save for it don't get somthing that is going to be neglected...
Eric aka...Red

**Red** · 12-11-2002, 07:20 AM

Re: Dwarf boa or "underfeed" common boa? (long)

oh ya lori.. That snake look's like it is going to strike right there...lol
Eric aka...Red

**LORI** · 12-11-2002, 09:26 AM

Re: Dwarf boa or "underfeed" common boa? (long)

Where lori is coming from is a place where almost all the boas she get's in( It seem's to me) are both dehydrated and under fed...

LOL RED... There are quite a few that do come in like that here, but not all of them are like that though. We do get MANY that are 100% healthy and they get moved into a new home asap due to such also. It's prolly about 25% of them that do come in dehydrated and underweight though. So not really most of them actually. They are the ones that take up the most of our time though, due to their "issues". Most of what we have heandled as far as boas in rescue I do not post on at all. Being as they are usually placed either directly from a previous owner into their new home via us, or they are transported by us to their new home and we do not have them in our possession long enough that we get many pics of them is all basically. Therfore, there's less time of involvement on my part "stressing" over them is all , which results in less of me "witching" about them basically hehe.

I know what jeff has told me... He said in a e-mail to me that if you feed it a good healthy amount in the first year. You would be able to cut the feeding back to once a month after that.... Now he also stated that you would have to feed the proper amount of food once a month... not just what you have... no skipping..

That in summation does NOT amount to underfeeding at all of a boa btw ;D Which is a totally different thing IMO.

**Red** · 12-12-2002, 07:58 AM

Re: Dwarf boa or "underfeed" common boa? (long)

Well lori that is all he did to dwarf his lil' girls boa... of course he chose a runt to start with... Which is no problem to obtain if you just ask the breeder... Once again I want to say that even if you do this the boa has a chance of getting bigger then 6'... Probley a good one... Males have a lil' less of a chance of becoming monsters but I think that all of them have a good chance of getting 6'... From what I understand boas tend to grow there hole lifes... now after like the first 2-3 years it is cut down quit a bit... the longer you have a snake the longer they tend to get... not all but have you ever noticed that the really big snakes are like 6 years and up... it takes that long to get a realy big snake from a boa at least...
Eric aka...Red
P.s. I guess I only here about the bad one's... The good ones you don't say anything about... most of the time...
Well have a good one...

**amandolin** · 12-13-2002, 03:59 AM

Re: Dwarf boa or "underfeed" common boa?  (long)

Red...I have looked at Rosy Boas, and I probably would like to get one in the future (5-10 yrs from now). But like I keep saying the one that I want is a BCI.

I will most likely get one (or 2) dwarf species from Rio Bravo Reptiles, rather than trying a runt common boa. I wouldn't want to end up with an animal that was too big for me.

As for underfeeding, the reason my message says "underfeed" in quotes, was because I didn't really mean underfeed it in the way most people think. I was referring to a method similar to what you said Jeff did...

feed it a good healthy amount in the first year. You would be able to cut the feeding back to once a month after that

Anyway, thanks for the replies, I appreciate them.

Amanda

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