Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Thank you very much for you advice. I will change my feeding schedule. Here is the entire story. A dealer sold her to someone who kept her for 4 weeks and brought her back she would not eat and was hissing and striking. My Friend who trades in snakes took her back and a few weeks later she had 7 babies and 22 slugs. When we went to his house he offered her to me just to get her into a warm nice place. He had no room in his regular snake room so she was in a colder area. I brought her home and she was skinny like a fat person that lost weight too fast. We put her in a different room from my other snakes until I was sure she was OK. No bad signs and about 1 week later she made a perfect shed. I than gave her a small rat( like an appetizer I guess) she ate. She ate very voraciously 3 small rats 5 days apart. Than I fed her a large rat, kind of gray squirrel size. She pounced on that. Than 5 days later I gave her another one. Another pounce. Now when ever I enter the room( she is in with my collection now) she follows me everywhere waiting to see if I am going to give her another prey. I guess I feel bad like she is starving. I do want to do things right, because I think she is beautiful. I always wanted a boa or python. I love their heads and beautiful eyes. I was lucky to get her and I worried that my husband would let me keep her. We had a bad experience with a Macklot..5' laid into my arm and My husband said bye to him...real fast. I want to make sure I take every care with Sheela so he does not become leary and dislike her.
Last question How can you tell their age?
Thank you for everything
Nancy
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All creatures great and small we are to care for them all.
5 Corns,7 Kings,4 Milks, 1 Everglade rat,1 German Shephard,1 Cairn & 1 Giant Schnauzer

To the best of my knowledge you really won't be able to. You can guess..........But, it really is hard to say with adults. I had a 9 foot normal that I tried to rescue. I had no idea how old it was. I guessed around 10 years at her size and muscle maturity. But, all it was....was a guess.

Remember, if you don't have a snake hook already. That should be one of the first things you go out and buy. They are invaluable!!!!

Best of luck with you and your new boa buddy.
John
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"To be the best..........You must lose your mind."

On the list...first thing would be feeding tongs! (I can always throw a towel over their heads,if they get cranky,but,when it's feeding time,I don't play around,and,neither do they!!!) I remember a couple of days ago somebody posted a pic of their mothers hand,after a luncheon gone awry! the scar from that will mostly be psycological!

>>On the list...first thing would be feeding tongs! (I can always throw a towel over their heads,if they get cranky,but,when it's feeding time,I don't play around,and,neither do they!!!) I remember a couple of days ago somebody posted a pic of their mothers hand,after a luncheon gone awry! the scar from that will mostly be psycological!
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"To be the best..........You must lose your mind."

Ah! A bit clearer on the story now. First I'd like to say I misunderstood on the feeding from your phrasing and was thinking 2 jumbos & 3 small/mediums (all together) every 5 days...Wow! - though I do know a couple of mine would & could down that much per sitting. In that case, the every 5 days isn't as much as I thought, however I'd still move it out to a least every 7 days. It also makes a difference (at least to me) if she's post birth. When my female gave birth in 2000, her post-birth feeding schedule for the first few weeks was 1 prey item every 7-10 days (usually closer to 10 days in her case) and once her weight started moving back up, stretching out to every 14 days until she was back to normal and resumed the normal schedule with my other adults.

From my very limited experience with post-birth females (my girl in 2000 and my best friend's boa last year), they soon return to their normal sweet selves within a short time after birth and the initial hunger is sated (just a few days in my experience). In fact, of the 5 adult boas I own and the two my best friend has, all of them are quite docile creatures and adapt to handling well, even the ones that hadn't been handled much before I got them...three of my five adults were gotten once they were grown and both of hers were adults when she bought them. Like any creature they can have their grumpy days, but most of the ones I've encountered are either already tame or settle down with gentle handling. Snake hooks are a good tool, and one that I use on a regular basis, but I agree with Rainshadow that feeding tongs are even more important if you don't already own them. As for Macklotts, I've only handled a Savu (closely related to Macklotts from my understanding) and she attached herself to the end of my nose - I opted not to purchase her no matter how pretty those silver eyes were. lol From those I've talked to who own Macklotts and Savus, they are a bit more tempermental whereas boas tend to be pretty calm creatures overall. In regards to telling their age, there really isn't any sure way that I've ever heard of. Not counting a pair of yearlings I have, I currently have one 3' juvenile female who's 3 years old, two 7' adult females who are 4 yrs old, a 6' adult female who's 10 years old, a 7' adult male around 8 years old, and a 7' adult male that's 12 years old...basically size and age are quite variable.

At any rate, it sounds like your girl has a good home now and someone who cares for her well-being. I hope you enjoy her for many years to come. I love the boas (hence why I have so many of them! lol), they're just great snakes all around.

Raven