Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi,

I have a red tail boa that was a year old April 15. When I purchased him (at birth) he was 18 inches and 3.3oz. He is now approx 3.5 feet and weighs 1 lb 13 oz. Is this the right size or should he be bigger or smaller. I just want to make sure I am feeding him correctly and not too much or too little.

just a tad bit larger than yearlings I have and maybe the average yearling... but that's not to say this is good or bad.

Different boas have different growth rates...

I remember a group of boas I had... at one year, 2 females were almost 4 feet long, 1 was about 3 feet long and the 4th female was not even 2 1/2! It was as if she hadn't grown at all!

Good news is, at the 3rd year, they were all 5.5 - 6' long.

Anyway, what are you feeding him/how much/how often?

Thanks, Joe
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Thanks and take care - Joe Rollo
'Tis not the stongest of the species that will eventually survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change' Charles Darwin

It is better to judge by what you're feeding, how large, how often, and by whether the boa is thin or fat, than to go by the length. Are you feeding multiple rodents? How often do you feed? How big is the prey compared to the boa? A pic would be usefiul too.
Sounds like you might be either feeding too much or that you have a boa predisposed to being very large. I have two yearling suri girls that are 3' and I consider them on the large size for their age. A lot of people recommend just one rat, the same width of the widest part of the boa. There are always stories about boas getting huge fast, by excessive feeding or force feeding, but these boas tend to be less healthy. If you are thinking of feeding more to breed sooner, that won't work either. When they can breed has more to do with maturity than size. You might not be overfeeding either, like people, boa are individuals. Maybe you have a basketball player of the boa world there in your cage. Good luck.
Caden

First, he will never brrd as he is my pet not to make money from. I was feeding him 2 mice every other week, but I have switched to 1 small rat every other week. His body is very thick, 1.75 inches. His head does not look small for his body. I don't know if his parents were big as I purchased this snake from a pet store. The store received the babies right after they were born from a local person whose snake had babies and he did not want them. I gave him his first meal. I can post a pic but I do not know how too.

here is a pic