[Health-General] Growth help

[ron petri]

My female normal columbian boa is 7 mnths old and my male albino columbian boa is 5 mnths. the male (kenji) was typical three mnth old size when I got him the female (katana) was typical size also 18 in. I had a 100 watt daylight bulb(making it 88 degrees in the hot spot suggested by a petshop) on each of them turning it off at night with no heat till 12 hours later when I turned it back on. learning that I needed the heat round the clock and it should be higher, I installed a 150 watt infrared on 24 hrs. the hot spot is 100 degrees now. my question is that the female is still at the same size at 7mnths as she was at 3mnths and the male is larger at 5mnths than he was at 3mnths, did I stunt her growth from the low temps? and will she catch up now that shes at the right temp. I just see more growth in the male than the female. any info is appreciated and you guys are the only ones I ll ask cause you all rock. thanks. P.S. they both eat a rat pup each or a mouse when rats not available every thursday, So i can hold them on the weekend

[satyra]

Re: Growth help

idk why she would be the same size for 5mo, if im reading it correctly. most of my males outgrew the females for the first year to year and a half, then the females caught up and outgrew the boys after that. do you have a scale to weigh them? i keep weights on all my snakes, especially while they are young. find a scale and see if shes loosing weight. if she is, then there is a prob and she prob needs to see a vet. she may just be growing very slowly. can you post a pic of her right after she eats? im wondering if the food is a little too small. i try to feed all my young boas something that leaves a small lump, and the lump goes away after about a day or so.

also, is there a dimmer on that heat lamp? 100 is too high imo. i keep my hot spots around 92-93 during the day and do a 5-8 degree nightdrop for the young boas, during the warmer months. in cooler months i keep the basking spot between 87-88 with a night drop.

[ron petri]

Re: Growth help

satyra, I dont have a scale. she has a lump after eating. she is very muscular great health I just see more growth in the male. I was mistaken she s been 21 in. and yes i plan on the dimmer but no worries she stays away from the spot got there hides further from the spot. I read in the boa constrictor manual 95 hotspot give or take 5 degrees. but did i stunt her growth by making her cold at night?

[bladeblaster]

Re: Growth help

I don't believe that you will have stunted her growth with the temps you had.

I agree with the previous poster about the temps, I keep all my Bci basking areas at around 90 - 95, even at that they rarely use the basking area.

[satyra]

Re: Growth help

i doubt those temps stunted her. mine do like to make use of the heat, ive gone in there several times and felt them, they were pretty warm to the touch, then they move after they are done.

[ron petri]

Re: Growth help

ambient temp on the hot side is 95 its the spot thats at 100 she never goes to it and shes always cold to the touch. I might be thinking of the spot when I had a hide in the spot moved it to the middle oof the tank it was over 100 cause of the hight of it so the hot spot is now on the floor. I m gonna get a temp gun when I can. been borrowing one from work. but like I said the ambient is 95 hot and 80-82 on the cold side.I spray her and the hot side down a few times a day and put wet towels on the screen top too help humidity only half I ll be putting hole drilled plexi under the screen soon to help humidity. screen top tanks what a pain. so I guess shes just a slow grower. and she stays in the middle of the tank or at her cold hide back and forth. well thanks satyra and bladeblaster.

[jvarner]

Re: Growth help

My explanation is rather simple. As my boas grow, I see a lull in growth no matter what i feed them. It seems as though they stop growing, and all of the sudden they take off like wild fire. All my boas have shown this kind of growth rate, has anyone esle seen this?

[ron petri]

Re: Growth help

thats what I'm expecting to happen

[satyra]

Re: Growth help

i think between the 1 and 1.5 year old mark, they kinda slow down a bit, then they really start to pick up after that lol.

[emeraldtree]

Re: Growth help

I wouldn't worry unless she isn't eating well. I have noticed some of my snakes have had minimal growth throughout there first months. but they will blow up with a growth spurt. All boas have different growth patterns though. I might add that 5 months is long though but like I said if she isn't eating healthy I wouldn't worry yet.

[ron petri]

Re: Growth help

emerald yeah shes eating great the lump is digested and gone about 3 days before her next feeding. and Im sorry about your delema my plan is to make snow so id keep the snow. thanks for the input.

[Re4mer]

Re: Growth help

There are only a few possible explanations for this kind of thing that I have ever heard of. One is just genetics, the girl might not grow as fast as the boy. Another, unfortunately, could be some kind of worm or a parasite in the intestine. I don't mean to alarm you, its just that I have read about intestinal parasites that can stop growth and cause severe weight loss, over time. Perhaps you should find a sensitive scale that you can weigh small animals on (something that can measure in grams) and make sure she is at least not losing any weight.