Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a female Columbian red tail and I've had her for more than a year and she's about 2 and 1/2 feet long. Is this a 'normal' size for her?

I feed her four-five adult mice every time she defecates which is maybe once every month or two. Should I start feeding her smaller amounts more frequently?

Another thing is, how do I get her to shed faster? Since I've had her, I think she's shed about 7-8 times. The most recent ones were done without my help because I used to have to peel her old skin off or she'd shed in patches.

Am I doing something wrong so that my snake isn't growing?

Well let me give you MY OPINION on this.

Most people feed their boas on a weekly basis or every two weeks - yes there are others that will only feed after they have defecated their last meal.

Personally I think 5 feeders is too much. You should move up to Rats and feeder larger prey more frequently than so much at one time farther apart. This could be why your boa grows slowly.. mice are not as hearty of a meal compared to rats

Your snake is not sheeding correctly becuase your humidity levels in your cage are not high enough. Your snake should not retain any of their old skin.. it should come off in one nice piece. UP your humidity levels and this should fix it

As far as shedding more... feed her more =). If they are not growing.. then they wont shed

np

first of all the size for a yearling is about right, the feeding , I would probably offer 1 small rat each week and skip when its in shed, the shedding inpatches is due to low humidity, offer the snake a large water bowl to soak in, that will help a lot, snakes normally do not need help shedding, it usually comes off in one good shedding. Make sure the snake ALWAYS has access to clean fresh water, large enough for the snake to fit its entire body in.

Hope that helps.

She doesn't have a problem with retained sheds anymore. I guess it was a 'phase' or she didn't have the right type of decorum in her cage. Now she has a large fake jaguar skull and the teeth are just sharp enough for sheds to catch on.

As far as rats go, I've been hesitant about them because they can cause lots of damage to a snake if offered live and she refuses to eat f/t or prekilled. I've tried to get her to eat prekilled but she ignores the mouse.

Is there a safe way to offer live rats without risking my snake's life? Would rat pups work just as well? Or do I need to move into adult rats ASAP?

Is there anything else that I could give her to increase her growth?

And finally, is it normal for her to change colors, like becoming lighter and darker? Is this some type of sign I'm not reading?

you need not worry the speed of growth on your snake. you need not worry what to add to the food to make it grow faster...
Rats are more protien type food and will get her growing BETTER. not FASTER, if you try to power feed your snake you can cause other problems. All snake will eventually eat pre killed prey. You may want to try a small rat and let it run around while you are observing, never leave them unattended, if the snake is hungery she will constrict and eat if after 5 minutes or so she won't eat then remove the rat.

As far as sharp objects to shed on ,, that is not needed but for decor purposes, if the snakes have a watering bowl and addiquit humidity the shedding process is easy for them to do without objects to rub on.

Hope this helps somewhat.

Nick

Yea you can take a pair of plyers an snap a rats teeth out then it will be safe,LMBOOOOOO!Sry couldnt resist that one!Have you tried putting it down in their while its still in its death throughs!Just an idea![Hypoboa]

As sad as the "tooth snapping" sounds.. I know a guy that totally refuses to feed his boas F/t so he gets adult rats, and clips thier teeth off with toenail clippers. I feel that is pretty inhumane... he seems to think its funny.... different strokes i guess