Reptile & Amphibian Forums

last may i bought a female argentine rainbow boa, im not sure on her weight i need to weigh her, but she is about 3 to 4 ft.

how big do the argentine rainbows get i know smaller than brb.

is she fully grown?

Raisnok,
...Most adult Argentinians are between 3.25 and 4.25 feet long. I did have one imported female many years ago that was 5.5 feet long. All others I have seen have been less than 4.5 feet long. They seem to be reproductively mature at around 40 inches for males and 42 inches for females.
Jeff

>>last may i bought a female argentine rainbow boa, im not sure on her weight i need to weigh her, but she is about 3 to 4 ft.
>>
>>how big do the argentine rainbows get i know smaller than brb.
>>
>>is she fully grown?
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>

ok my next question is, she was eating small(just weaned rats)

i ran out, and went and bought a "small rat" from the pet shop, this rat was more a medium to me, she took the rat and the next day regurged, i waited 2 weeks and tried with a small weaned rat from my breeders and she has done fine.

should she be eating bigger than the small weaned rats?

this was her 5th regurge, i took her to the vet.... and he recommended increasing the heat to 90, i had it at 82, i raised it and she moved from the heated side, so i dropped it back to 85, she seemed ok with that. but he also thought she should be eating medium rats, which i never gave her because she regurged it they were lager than a 8 week old rat.... if i didnt have the size i knew she could handle i would buy mice, and let her have 2 mice and she did ok....

so im thinking i should stick with 6 week old rats or mice, but nothing bigger?

am i correct thinking that?

IMO, if she's regurging if you go past a certain size, then by all means, DO NOT go past that size. Each time she regurges, there is risk of damage to the esophagus, too much damage and it could become permanent.

Maybe she should be eating larger, but if she (as one individual snake) can't handle it, then you have to adjust her feedings to compensate for her digestive system.

One other thought, you said this is her 5th regurge. Over how long a period of time? A typical feeding regimen for recovery from a regurge would be nothing for two to three weeks. Then half sized meals at twice normal interval for 3 to 4 feedings. Then working up to normal sized prey at normal intervals. Could easily stretch across 3 to 6 months. Any regurge during this recovery would be back to the beginning and start over.
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Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC)
0.2 kids (CBB, selectively bred from good stock)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:
12.25 BRB
12.14 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

One other thought, you said this is her 5th regurge. Over how long a period of time?

first regurge was in may, i waited 15 days gave a mouse and she did fine for 3 feedings.............

4 more feedings she did fine eating 2 small mice...

then she was given a small rat weanling a day after pooping, and regurged the next day, waited 20 days fed a small rat she did ok, no regurge.

ate 4 more feedings of weanling rats, with no problems...

gave a "small rat" from the pet shop and she regurged, waited 20 days gave a mouse and she did fine for 3 feedings

then regurged a large mouse....

waited for 21 days and tried another "small rat from the pet shop and she regurged the same day....... waited 25 days and gave a weaned rat, and no problem, im staying with mice and my weaned rats.

i have had less problems with that.

and i have also been giving my snakes some empty time between meals.

Raisnok,
..I think you found one of the idiot veterinarians. Argentinian Rainbows are from way south of the equator and they do not need or tolerate high temperatures. I keep mine in the low to mid 70s all the time. This subspecies also does not eat big meals like some of the other subspecies. I feed adult mice and fuzzy rats to mine. Except for females that are putting weight back on to reproduce this subspecies needs very little food.
Jeff

>>ok my next question is, she was eating small(just weaned rats)
>>
>>i ran out, and went and bought a "small rat" from the pet shop, this rat was more a medium to me, she took the rat and the next day regurged, i waited 2 weeks and tried with a small weaned rat from my breeders and she has done fine.
>>
>>should she be eating bigger than the small weaned rats?
>>
>>this was her 5th regurge, i took her to the vet.... and he recommended increasing the heat to 90, i had it at 82, i raised it and she moved from the heated side, so i dropped it back to 85, she seemed ok with that. but he also thought she should be eating medium rats, which i never gave her because she regurged it they were lager than a 8 week old rat.... if i didnt have the size i knew she could handle i would buy mice, and let her have 2 mice and she did ok....
>>
>>so im thinking i should stick with 6 week old rats or mice, but nothing bigger?
>>
>>am i correct thinking that?

your right on the idiot part...............

thats why i adjusted the temps, now she is doing better with lower heat....

i think he was thinking, red tail, because he knew i also keep red tails.....

she did alot better when i fed 2 mice 14 days apart.

She didn't like the temps, so you lowered them now she's happy.

She pukes up large meals, feed her smaller ones.

Unless there is an actiual illness, many times our herps are telling us what they want.

Out and about - maybe looking for food hungry
always at cold end - temps too high
always at warm end - temps too low
shed in tatters - humidity too low
-----
Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC)
0.2 kids (CBB, selectively bred from good stock)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:
12.25 BRB
12.14 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

this snake has taught me alot, as far as food, humidity, and regurge..............

my bps eat rats small to med sized they dont care.

my 4ft red tail will eat any thing i drop in the tub with her, live, p/k, f/t, snake steaks....she doesnt care.

my 8ft red tail would try to eat you if i push you in the tub with her.....j/k ....LOLbut she has grabbed the feeding tongs and refused to let go.

my corn snakes will only eat p/k mice

Exactly my point, and something not all can seem to grasp is:

1) Not all species are the same. Duh, seems obvious

2) Not all specimens within any given species are the same. Also seems obvious

3) Pay attention and you can learn form your herps. Not as obvious but should be

In reply to your post about time line for all these regurges. IMO good job, I honestly was afraid this could be another one of those cases where "it threw up, we need to feed it before it starves" cases. In your attempts to work out what this animal needs, you did wait between attempts to let it recouperate. Now that you've gotten to the understanding it does better on small infrequent meals, your regurge problem should go away.

LOL, pretty much all of my Boa's (BCI and BRB) are eating machines. I too have a few that just don't have the same strong feeding response. All of those, they get a "special" diet tailored to their needs/wants. They are all growing, just not as fast as their siblings/counterparts. Ah well, I'd rather have a slow growing, slow maturing drop dead gorgeous specimen over a pigging out not so great looker any day.
-----
Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC)
0.2 kids (CBB, selectively bred from good stock)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:
12.25 BRB
12.14 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

well i spent 3 years researching what types of snakes i was interested in, before i ever bought my first which was a corn...

each plan to buy a snake was after the enclosure was already set up and in working order.............

over the years i have kept ferrets(took in un wanted ferrets)

raised rabbits, guinea pigs, rats, gerbils, chinchillas and sugar gliders.

kept iguanas (had a 10 year old boy named max who was 6ft, was doing well til i moved and the power went out during a storm and the heating to the cage didnt come back on, but the ac in the house did and he got an ri............)

since that episode i have started building a snake room out of my spare room.

i believe you should learn all you can before getting an animal, for me they are a life time commitment