My new Fine Line baby girl

[surfimp]

Well, after about twelve years of waiting, four and half frenzied months of planning and development, and a killer last hour waiting for the UPS guy to arrive, my new baby boa is here!

I was so excited, I couldn't sleep last night. I can only compare the feeling I had to what it was like as a kid, waiting for Christmas morning. My wife thinks she is being replaced by a snake. My dog thinks I've forgotten him. Jeff Ronne's hand is tired and worn from holding my nervous and sweaty palm (metaphorically speaking) through these final 24 hours.

But it's all worth it for a face like this:

http://www.stevelange.net/boa/images/baby_face.jpg

My wife and I have decided to call her Angelica, which I'm hoping she'll live up to in the most non-ironic sense possible!

Jeff Ronne, you are THE MAN!

And thanks to everyone on this board and over on Clay English's forum for all of their help. I'm 100% positive you've not heard the last of me! :)

[morti]

That's a Mighty Fine snake you've got there Doc! I'm jealous!

-Morti.

[surfimp]

Thank you, Morti! Coming from you that is a compliment, since you've got a number of really sweet looking snakes yourself!

Her appetite is VERY good...she's having lunch right now :) :) :)

[surfimp]

I think Jeff was right...I'm probably gonna be posting TONS of pictures of my new girl...he said it would probably end up becoming the most photographed boa constrictor in existence! LOL ;)

Well, she finally settled down after her lunch as is now chilling out in the crook of the "branches" that I set up for her. She really seems to enjoy them; she's spent the majority of her time there since she arrived this morning.

http://www.stevelange.net/boa/images/naptime.jpg

Awww, what a cute sleepy-face! :)

[Brennan_Lane]

Wow, stunning snake! Nice choice.

[redtailboas]

Oh Yeah!!!!! I like those Fine Line Boas. They are the color of newspaper when they are young.

BEAUTIFUL!!!! ;D

[surfimp]

Got a couple more pics of her today...her first bona fide handling since I've received her. I tried to wait the full 48 hours after feeding her, but I only made it to 44.5...hope that's okay.

http://www.stevelange.net/boa/images/orange01.jpg

http://www.stevelange.net/boa/images/orange02.jpg

She really settled down nicely after about a minute or two, and just spent the next 15 minutes or so very happily poking around in my cupped hands. For a minute or so, she extended her head and neck back towards my face and looked me straight in the eyes from about 3" away. I guess she was just checking me out.

When I put her back in her cage, I had to do a little thermostat probe adjustment, so I put her up on top of the shelf. When I looked up, I saw this face:

http://www.stevelange.net/boa/images/scoobydoo.jpg

The angle that she had her head tilted at just cracked me up! I said, "What's up Scooby Doo?" LOL she's really fun.

[Mark]

That is a beauty! And you know they look way better than the pics even show.

[surfimp]

You're right, it's hard to get any good representation of their coloring with a camera...for example, she's got some very subtle light pink highlights all along her flanks, which you can also see a little bit in the white part of her cheek pattern. But you can't see it at all in the photos.

If it warms up enough today, I may try and outdoor photo or two...we'll see.

Thanks for the kind words! I'm happy beyond belief with my Boaphile baby!

[surfimp]

And, and just wanted to add that Mr. Jeff made no mention of these light pink highlights...but as usual with Jeff, you tend to get more than you expect, in the best ways possible :)

[surfimp]

Okay, here's one more pic of her, this time outside in the sun. I only had her out for about 2 minutes because I didn't want her to get cold, but the picture shows nicely how high-contrast her pattern is. I like that :)

http://www.stevelange.net/boa/images/outside01.jpg

[Brennan_Lane]

Hehe, you're making me jealous ;) !!!! Keep those pictures coming!

[surfimp]

Here she is, begging for food again:

http://www.stevelange.net/boa/images/feedme01.jpg

http://www.stevelange.net/boa/images/feedme02.jpg

This is, of course, like ten hours after I fed her this morning. She's still hungry as a pig! LOL! ;D What a cute little monster.

[surfimp]

And a couple more shots of her, "pouting" after she realized that I wasn't going to be feeding her:

http://www.stevelange.net/boa/images/branched02.jpg

http://www.stevelange.net/boa/images/branched03.jpg

You can sort of see the really pale pink highlights that she has on her sides in the above photos. Nothing to brag about, but like I said before, just one of the little "added bonuses" that seem to be fairly common with Professor Ronne's snakes! :)

[surfimp]

Okay, I promise that this is the last photo...for tonight, anyways..hehehehe

http://www.stevelange.net/boa/images/so_cute.jpg

Isn't she just sooooo cute? Gotta love those sleepy eyes...hehe

My wife is even starting to really like her...she touched her today...that's progress!

[kasper22]

Hey doc. nice boa. If you keep posting pics at this rate Jeff is going to have to get a sever dedicated just to your pics ;D

looks like the boa bug got you good. you know you can't stop at one!

[surfimp]

LOL all the pics are hosted on my website, it's okay! If my traffic gets too heavy I'll just have to pull them or resize them a little smaller, but seriously I don't think it's gonna be a problem ;) Thanks!