December 6, 2012

  • Boa Constrictors

    The book I read to research this post was The Boa Constrictor Manual by Roger Klingenberg et al which is an excellent book which I bought from Amazon. An interesting thing about these snakes is their common name and scientific name is more or less the same. At one time it was thought they were one species but now they are divided into several species. They are found in Madagascar & throughout Central & South America. There are stories of massive boa constrictors in the Amazon jungle but these are probably anaconda. It's rare for a boa constrictor to exceed 14 feet. They can also live for twenty years & the record in captivity is fourty. In captivity they are generally docile especially if you have rared it from a baby. You should also get it used to being handled as you never know you may have to take it to the vets. For an adult boa constrictor the cage should about 6 feet long & this is a consideration if you live in a flat. Also most countries regard boa constrictors as a dangerous animal & you will probably have to have a lock on the cage. Statistics show you are much more likely to get bitten by a dog, cat or even a human than a boa constrictor. In captivity people have bred these snakes to be brightly coloured and many countries have restrictions on taking them out of the wild. A baby boa will probably eat pinkies or baby mice and rats. It goes without saying these should be dead before they are fed. As it gets bigger you move on to adult mice and rats & when it's fully grown you will probably feed it adult rabbits. The food shouldn't be any wider than the midgirth of the snake. You also have to give it calcium supplements. A lot of people like to set up a landscape in the cage complete with rocks and maybe a log & the snake will enjoy exploring it. Finally they are also nocturnal and they are the most commonly kept snake.

oldscratbag

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