New to boas and have a few questions

So I've kept corn snakes and ball pythons for awhile now and I just got my first boa about 3 weeks ago. She is a 2011 100% het anery 66% het kahl albino. Now my question are..

Can/do baby boas eat larger meals compared to body size then like corns and balls compared to their body size? Like I've heard the 10-15% of body weight rule for like ball pythons but this female boa is only like 120 grams and when I give her a 12 gram mouse she wolfs it down and looks for more so I give her another one the same size and down it goes no problem. Is this ok? Also i've notice people selling snakes online say they are feeding there baby boas (around 18") adult mice. Should I be feeding her adult mice instead of like hoppers?

My second question is about genetics... are the three strands of albino compatible like can you breed kahl albino to sharp albino and still get albino? and would that be consider a sharp kahl albino or just albino? Also I know their are two types of anery and I don't know what type of anery my female is het for... Does it matter or will any thing with anery pop out anerys?

Sorry I know this is really long and alot of people don't want to take the time to read all this, but I am new to the boa world and any tips or advice would help. Thanks in advance

First of all, welcome to the boa world!

Here is a great discussion on feeding frequency:
http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/foru...hlight=feeding

As far as size, you don't need to feed anything larger than the girth of the snake and only one item per meal.

There are two strains of albino: Kahl and Sharp. Coral albinos are Kahl, they were just selectively bred for color. Kahl and Sharp are NOT compatible. In general, Kahl and Sharp are kept very separate because it would cause complications if they were mixed together.

The two types of anery, if I understand correctly, are different sub-species of boas. Type I is the colombian anery and type II is the CA anery. So if you have a common boa, it's most likely type I. And I don't believe they are compatible either.

Hope that helps!

Thanks for helping to clear all that up i appreciate it

I agree with Rachel. When I feed my boas I tend to feed a prey item that leaves a *slight* and I mean barely noticable bulge. It's become apparent to me that many people that are breeding snakes are really in it just for production. Therefore they are feeding like crazy to get their snakes up to breeding size faster. Or powerfeeding if you wish. I'm not saying that this is the case with everyone, but this is just what I have learned from getting involved in discussions with well-experienced and knowledgeable breeders on this site. This is just simply my opinion based on what I have learned.

And Rachel you are correct about the two types of anery. I believe type two anery makes the eyes black as well, so that would be a good indicator on your snake. Also, if you said it was het albino and poss het anery, it should be a Colombian. Central Americans that are het for those genes are usually referred to as het blizzard. Which is just the CA version of snow. I dont believe they are compatible either. Kahl and Sharp are definitely not compatable.

I can't remember where I saw it but there was a really good site I was looking at that had some insanely helpful reading on boas and genetics. I hope this helps!

And as Rachel said, welcome to the boa world!
Don't be afraid to ask questions!

Thanks Jordan, I will say that my boa is already ten times more interesting then any of my ball pythons lol. So would the correct terminology for my female boa be 100% het anery and 66% het snow? also which is more sought after the kahl or the sharp albino?

Yes I will agree that your boa is 10 times as more interesting than your ball pythons.
You are correct. You could also say its a 100% het anery, poss het snow. Whichever way you wanna say it. Sharp is generally more sought after because they retain color much better than khaki strain. (Typically that is. I have seen some khals that I thought were Sharps and vice versa.)

Ok sweet thanks for the help guys

I think Kahls make better Sunglows though.

I was thinking about that earlier this morning Rich. When you think of a sunglow a Kahl is the picture in your head. Color wise at least. A really crisp, clean, Orange and white neo that turns into a deep red and pale Orange adult. Although I must say that Sharp sunglows are always lookers. The colors are just not what you would expect to see if you were looking for a sunglow.

Type 1 and Type 2 anery have proven compatible, the fact that they are from a Colombian and a Nicaraguan makes them look different. There is a black eyed anery, that is not a type 2 and that probably is not compatible, but it hasn't been done.

Chris