Boa Growth

[EmsFather]

I was just curious. Does a RTB grow all it's life? If so, at what point does their growth slow? I know the first year is a very rapid growth period but was just curious about the rest of their life. I had one that was still growing at age 13, obviously slower than when she was a baby but she was definitely growing. Are certain snakes that tend to be bigger eaters as babies tend to grow bigger as they mature? I would love some replies.

Bob :o

[surfimp]

Well, I'm no expert, but according to Mr. Ronne I'm a Doctor, so I'll just say that from the research I've done, it appears that boas continue to grow for their entire lives, although it slows down quite a bit as they get older. It would seem that most lengthwise growth occurs from birth until about three to five years of age, and then from there they tend to start "filling out" and adding muscle mass. (Yeah, like the 30 pounds I've gained since I was 21 years old are all muscle...ha! Guess I'm not a reptile) However, it appears that they never stop growing longer, even though it seems to slow down by quite a bit.

Also, it would seem that the frequency with which they are fed when they are adults would tend to influence the degree to which they continue to grow (both in terms of length and "heft"). I have absolutely no idea regarding a correlation between strong feeding response as a neonate or subadult corresponds to maximum attainable adult size. Sounds like I've got some more research to do :)

[cb76]

theyn do grow through out their enire lives.
the first 2 or 3 yrs is where the boas have their max growth spurts.

in that time feeding plays a big part. feed to little, like i see too often, you'll have a smaller snake.

[slkrik00]

in the many boa books i have read they vary in the first 2.5 - 4 yrs are supposed to be the highest growth seasons for many varieties of boas ???

[Panama_Red]

I would like to here more about the boas that were big eaters in their first year. I have a male albino that I picked up as an 4 year old adult. He was power fed to get to a breeding size, he was about 7' and even though he has been on a strict diet for the last 2 years he is over 9' and fat. He doesn't look as fat because of the added length but he actually has some fat rolls near his tail!

[NavyHM]

In my observations their growth tends to really slow down around 6 yrs. After this age seeing any significant growth is rare.

[Doug]

HI,
 I have been reading some european forums that discuss reptile feeding and some of it makes sense.
 We shouldn't power feed snake because they can out grow their organs and actually cause premature organ failure from their excessive size. Thats why some power fed snakes die at 6-7 years.
Another point is that reptiles expend a large amount of energy digesting, recycling stomach acids, and moisture. If your power feeding you cut short that feeding cycle and the snake may prematurely expel his food (poo) without recovering all the moisture and acid, and this can disrupt his normal flora by moving that stomch acid too far down the tract.
  Snakes need a slight time out between feeding  a little rest break before that next big meal comes along. really young snakes may be the exception, becaue they are in that really rapid growth phase but after 2 years they should start to slow down on feeding frequency.
 here's and article about digestion that sort of sums it up.
I posted a shortcut because of copyright laws.
its the last artice on this page. under the heading
Zoologists at the University of Jena study digestion process of giant snakes
http://www.boa-constrictors.com/com/News/News.htm
Herman has a great web page about boa's location's and orgins . Interesting idea's about breeding, oh well most of its useful..


.

[smiley]

doug - thanks for that link. i've read similar information before. i'm going to see if i can contact that author.

on a side note - that article mentioned using MRI and the like to monitor the digestion progress. i have seen (long ago) a collection of snake xrays - showing the digestion of a mouse. for the life of me i can't remember where i saw this at... has anyone seen these pics (or similar pics)? very interesting and i'd love to see them again.