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First boa--rescue

skirtinthedirt

skirtinthedirt

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This guy was dropped off at a vet hospital for euthanasia about 6 months ago, skinny as a rail, because he "wasn't eating." A staff member instead took him home for an attempt at rehab and no such issues. He's put on a lot of weight and now lives with us as we have space for such a sizey creature. Originally I was going to finish his rehab (he still looks underweight to me) but is such a puppy dog we are too in love with him to part with him.

Knowing plenty about large constrictor care but not a ton about boa types I had a few questions: He appears to be a BCI or hybrid, rather than BCC, correct? Also, A few people who I have shown pics to have speculated that he might be a hypo, but I have no idea about that, even after looking at a bunch of pics. He does seem to have a sort of reduced pattern, as he only has little bow ties and less than 20 saddles, but again I don't really know. I don't care in the least about these things, as I am not aspiring to be a boa breeder, but was looking for some thoughts for you boa people out there. Thanks!
 

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He's a Colombian Hypo of some type (which does mean he has distant Panamanian Blood in him), but still BCI.

Nice looking little guy.

Glad you saved him.
 
Hypo for sure. And he doesn't look under weight either. Males are not as girthy as females. He'll live a lot longer if you keep him on the slimmer side, rather then bulky.
 
Thanks for the replies. I am still not sure about his weight. I don't think he's seriously under, but when your holding him his ribs are very apparent. The few times he's been out for pictures he tends to "puff up" a little and he looks bigger than he is. Again, I'm not doing anything other than feeding him a normal sized meal on a normal schedule, so it will work out. I actually am operating under the assumption it's a boy. I haven't probed "him" yet.
 
Good to hear you aren't going to deviate from a normal feeding schedule. His body structure honestly looks fine. He is a small guy, but he has a great square look to him and nice muscle tone, which is what you want in a boa. Congrats on the little hypo =)
 
Well done on saving this little guy! He looks great! I agree he looks fine weigh-wise. However, if you are still unsure, weigh him and post the results here...that way if he looks fine only because of the "puffing" you describe, someone should be able to confirm from the actual numbers.
 
cute little hypo and I agree, body weight looks fine to me, looks nice and square :)
 
Thanks guys. Im o.k. with the weight. I've been working with large constrictors and doing rehab for a goid long while and didnt mean to imply that I was concerned or felt he was unhealthy. All I meant was that if he continues to eat normal sized prey on a regular schedule he will fill out a little more naturally. That's all.
 
We're not doubting you, just pointing out something a lot of boa keepers find out the hard way. Boas don't handle fat as well as pythons do. So what's normal for a Python doesn't necessarily equate to normal for a Boa.

Anyway, I think by looking at his tail, he probably is a male. Also looking at the body structure, head and tail girth, he is likely a sub adult. Hypo's, even lesser quality ones often have the bow tie saddles, which yours has, as well as a reduction in black.
 
I have noticed that a lot of people really put the food to these guys. Pythons too. I've been a vet tech for 10 years and doing reptile rescue and rehab for as long as that and have never run across such frequent feeding schedules as when I started hobby breeding. We've axtually purchased animals that came to us so fat we had to put them on a diet.

In the 10 years I have been dealing with the public and their animals, other than outright abuse and neglext nothing bugs me more than fat animals.
 
I couldn't agree more. Animals other than dogs/cats can get FAT too. White's Tree Frogs can, Woma pythons as well as other snakes. I've never gotten the impression from field herpers that they have spotted overlay bulky animals for a species. I suspect that animals in the wild are actually MORE lean than many in captivity. I've seen pictures of wild specimens for my species of boa, and they were lean, not unhealthy mind you, just lean. I've kept my boa the same way.
 
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