Pip, The Dwarf Colombian
 

http://reptiliandreams.com/misc/pip.jpg
http://reptiliandreams.com/misc/pipb.jpg


This little fellow was born June 5th 2003 as part of a normal litter of boas.<br>At birth, he was only 7" long, while all of his siblings were in the 15" range.<br>Now at 4 months of age, he measures in at just under 10 inches.<br>He has never missed a meal (of course he can't manage anything larger<br>then a pinky mouse) and has increased in girth, but very little in length.

I have produced and raised runts before, but this animal is quite different.<br>It is my belief that he is a dwarf.<br>Has anyone else here ever produced a boa like this?

Pip is a male. I would be very interested in finding someone who has a similar female to explore the genetic possibilities in a few years.

Thanks,

Cute little guy... I would like to see him in a few years... See how big he gets.

Watch.. he will turn into a monster, and end up being a 10-13 footer...lol

That's a weird looking corn snake baby! Just kidding. He sure is tiny. I wonder how big her will get. Are you going to try to keep him small by resricting his diet?

No, I'll let him grow as much as he is able. He has been on a steady diet since birth. The only difference is the size of the prey. He just switched from pinkys to fuzzies.

I'll let him become whatever it is that he is meant to be. If it's in his destiny to grow large - so be it. Personally, I don't see that happening. His girth has steadily increased, but his length has not changed all that much. I really believe that he is a true dwarf.

I'm thinking about taking him to the Tampa show to show him off a bit and get opinions from other breeders. Any of you that come to Tampa, be sure to stop by and say hello. I'll be sharing a table with John Schmitt of Suncoast Herpetological.

Thanks,

what ever happened to him??

Pip - Update!
 

Pip is now 6 1/2 months old and is doing very well. He now measures in at 13 1/2" long and a whopping 40 grams. He has continued to eat steadily and his girth has continued to increase. Proportionally, he looks like a normal boa, he is just considerably smaller.

I'll get some updated pictures of him taken over the holiday and post them here.

Thanks for asking.

New Pictures
 

As you can see, he is still quite small.

http://reptiliandreams.com/misc/pip1.jpg
http://reptiliandreams.com/misc/pip2.jpg

Thank you,

Mike,
Sorry, I don't see any of the pictures.

Updated Pictures 2/22/04
 

Pip is now 9 months old. He has continued to feed well, but except for some additional girth, he is not really increasing in size. Here is a picture with one of his siblings for comparison. The female sibling is what I would consider to be of normal size for a 9 month old boa.

http://reptiliandreams.com/hold/erispip2.jpg

How's Pip doing?
You have GOT to breed this animal, even if it is to a sib just to keep any possible gene aliv3.