Is Bessie A Dwarf Boa?

We’ve had our girl Bessie for around 3 years now, but I’ve noticed she hasn’t gotten much bigger since we’ve gotten her. Shes maybe 4-5 feet long, gets fed a small rat every other week.
The breeder we got her from said he thought she was around 2 years old when we got her.

VS when we got her:

Not the BEST photos for size comparison, honestly. I might have to try and get a pic of Robbie holding her so the comparison is a bit more accurate :joy:

But my question: Could she potentially be a dwarf boa? Stunted?
I don’t know much about boas so maybe I’m talking out of my rear, but I figured she should be much bigger after all this time.

Insight would be appreciated!

5 Likes

I have a couple of Central American boas, 5 years old, each around 4.5 ft., male and female. So the lengths are similar.

Are you sure she is a female and not a male? Males are not as thick as females. Also it seems that maybe a small rat every two weeks may not be enough. I would say a small rat once a week or a medium rat every 2 weeks might be better?

Others may disagree with what I have suggested in this post but these are the only things that come to mind regarding your question. But you have a very nice boa regardless. :blush::snake:

4 Likes

From what I can see palpating and popping, she seems to be a she.

Here’s another picture of her, is she a bit too on the lean side then?
I always heard that you shouldn’t feed older boas weekly, but I suppose I could try bumping her up to mediums every other week instead.

4 Likes

IMHO she looks a little lean. My breeder advised me to feed an appropriate sized prey weekly which is what I have been doing for the last 5 years. However, my female now gets fed 1 large rat around every 3 to 4 weeks.

Here is me with my male. And then my female.


4 Likes

There are some misconceptions about boas. One is how big they are, most are not that big especially if fed/grown slightly slower then you tend to feed other types of snakes. That being said the last pic on the chair, she did look maybe slightly skinny to me, but it could just be how she was moving on the chair at the time. I would try a medium every other week.

3 Likes

Here is another picture of my female:

5 Likes

@caron @banereptiles

Thanks so much for your feedback. Most of the boas I’ve seen in person were huge, so maybe my conception on how big she would get was a bit skewed.

I’ll try bumping her up to mediums every two weeks and see if that helps fill her out a little. Thanks again! :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

4 Likes

Well I will have to admit that my female, Kaluha, may be a bit “chubby” but she had an “accidental” litter of babies last May and she has not lost her baby fat! Lol! :upside_down_face::rofl:

4 Likes

Bessie is a beautiful boa. So is Kahlua. I won’t presume an opinion on Bessie’s dwarf or non-dwarf status, but I have to say that she’s a charmer.

3 Likes