Princess II

I hope that each one of my fellow blogger enjoyed my story of my Princess. My husband Herb and I enjoy having her very much. As an owner of a reptile there is a lot of responsibiltity with having this type of pet, I think more so than a cat or dog. The type of enclosure that we have her in needs to be cleaned often or she can get mites on her skin or even get sick if not properly cared for. The temperature on her enclosure needs to be seventy-five to eighty degrees of humidity to keep with her natural environment. The lighting in her enclosure substitutes for the sunlight outside. Yet, we still need to get her out often for proper sunlight, human contact, and be able to roam around for a little in the house. Also, with an watchful eye on our two cats Harley and Phantom, they both are less thrilled with Princess. My son Trevor thinks she is cool, but as a teenager he is not to thrilled with her either. My family who comes over to visit like Princess at a distance, so pretty much she is for my husbands and my enjoyment. Another responsibility of ownership of a reptile is their feeding, it is not like our cats where we put food in their bowl for them. With snakes you should feed them stunned mice or rats so that they do not bite the snake but with Princess she likes her prey live. She lays in her log as my husband drops the rat in the enclosure with her, she waits, she strikes then strangles her prey and then swallows head first. I have blogged on Reptile Conferences and Trade Shows, which I have never been to one but I can see the interest in it. Along with the previous blog, I shared about some of the states the have proposed laws and or laws being introduced concerning reptiles. I do to an extent understand some of these laws but as a responsible owner I do have a hard time agreeing with them. I understand there needs to be guidelines but as far as Rhode Island they want to ban ownership of boas and pythons, this I have a problem with. My opinion is that eventually this will happen country wide due to people who are unprepared or not responsible enough to own one of these amazing creatures. I guess time will tell, until then Herb and I will enjoy our Princess.

Northern American Reptile Breeders Conference & Trade Show meet once a year only in three cities across the country, Anaheim California, Tinley Park Illinois and in Arlington Texas. The reptile shows are run by two gentlemen Brian Potter of the Chicago Reptile House and Bob Ashley of ECO Publishing. At these conferences and trade shows you have reptiles for sale along with products and in depth knowledge of how to use them. Educational resources such as how to breed, care of your reptile, and if there are any problems with them. At each conference or via website (http://narbc.com/pijac_news_narbc.html) is updated information on Exotic Animal Laws on the states that have these laws. A few examples from the website above. "Illinois.  **INTRODUCED** Senate Bill 3264 creates the "Dangerous Animal Act of 2012"  which prohibits the ownership of certain animals without a permit and bans the selling, buying or bartering of animals defined as dangerous. This bill, which repeals the current Illinois Dangerous Animal Act, provides a list of "dangerous animals" which includes boas, pythons and anacondas. The Act also mandates recordkeeping requirements, microchipping, imposes harsh penalties and establishes the Dangerous Animal Advisory Council. SB 3264 has been assigned to the Senate Committee on Agriculture & Conservation where it awaits a committee hearing." (http://narbc.com/pijac_news_narbc.html) "Rhode Island. **SET ASIDE FOR STUDY** Senate Bill 2033 proposes a ban on the ownership of pythons and boa constrictions in Rhode Island. Anyone found in possession of these animals will face fines of at least $1,000. This bill was set aside for further study by the Senate Committee on Environment & Agriculture on February 15th." (http://narbc.com/pijac_news_narbc.html) I am unable to find anything as far as laws or regulations on reptiles for the state of Pennsylvania except for venomous snakes. Yet, the two examples above from the states of Illinois and Rhode Island, my opinion is that eventually this will affect breeders and owners alike country wide.

Breeding of Boas

Breeding of reptiles I find interesting, considering that is where Princess came from was from a breeder or a Herpetoculturist. An Herpetocultrist is one who keeps reptiles and/ or amphibians in captivity, sometimes(but not exclusively) for the purpose of breeding. This is in contrast to herpetologists,who are engaged in the scientific study of reptiles and/ or amphibians. Some herpetoculturists also practice Snake-holding besides herpetoculturism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herpetoculturist). Captive breeding of reptiles is very intense and having knowledge of it is very important to succeed. Researching online for captive breeding of Red Tail Boas, I came across The Boa Page(http://www.kingsnake.com/boapage/caresheets/boaconstrictorcare.html). In it gives a brief description of breeding and I'll go over just few high points of it. Male and female boas are to be kept in separate enclosures till mating occurs. Female boas are put on a breeding schedule where as their feeding intake should increase, so that the female is slightly overweight. A gravid Boa may not eat for up to 9 months so adequate reserves of body fat are essential.(http://www.kingsnake.com/boapage/caresheets/boaconstrictorcare.html) A temperature cycling should begin mid October where as to regulate temperatures in the enclosures for breeding purposes. Mating should take place from 3rd week in December to February. Boas give birth to live young, and litter sizes vary from 6-65, the young are independent from birth and should be separated from the mother as soon as possible, Boas are not usually cannibalistic, but the young can be crushed by the bulk of the female (http://www.knigsnake.com/boapage/caresheets/boaconstrictorcare.html). Being an owner of a boa, I did not know the involvement of the breeding process and the time it takes, yet I am grateful to those out there that have the patience to do this, so that I may have Princess as my pet.

Red Tail Boas

Red Tail Boas are native to Central and South America, the Boa Constrictor is full grown at approximately six to eight feet in length(www.rfadeventures.com/pet_boas.htm). Their colors are usually cream and black throughout their bodies with reddish brown in their tail in which their name Red Tail comes from. Boas as pets are usually docile and less aggressive in their mannerism. They start out in a small enclosure and as they grow in length they are in need of a bigger enclosure. The bigger enclosure needs to be built due to their proportion in size. The temperature and humidity in their enclosure needs to be approximently seventy-five to eighty degrees, and forty percent in humidity due to keeping to their natural environment. A container of of water needs to be in the enclosure for drinking, cooling, and humidity requirements. Their feeding habits are mice and rats as they are smaller in size. As they grow larger in size, for adequate feeding they eat rabbits and chickens (if the chickens are avaiable). Some people who have snakes as pets tend to breed for enjoyment and for income purposes.

Princess

My husband Herb and I have a Red Tail Boa, I named her Princess. I realize that Princess is not going to fetch a bone like a dog if you call her by name.Yet, she is part of our family so that's why I named her. She is a very docile reptile. We love having her. My husband has had a boa constrictor or two before as a pet.  I am used to handling and having Burmese pythons. I had a Burmese python named OSHA and she was eight feet in length. My husband and I obtained Princess through a neighbor of ours at a reasonable price. We have her in an aquarium enclosure with a heating pad beneath it, cedar chips at the bottom of the aquarium and lighting at the top, attached to the lid. We have a container of water for her at the other end of the aquarium away from the heat source for her to cool and shed. My husband bought her a hollowed log for her to be able to hide, especially for feeding time. Princess is about four feet long, the previous owner whom has raised snakes states she can grow to be about eight to nine feet long. We started her feeding out with a mouse once week to every two weeks. She has now been ungraded to a rat. He wants to feed her starting out every two weeks with a rat, and see how she does. As stated "Snakes should not be handled within forty-eight hours of feeding or when in a shed cycle. They have a slow digestive system and handling them too soon after feeding might result in regurgitation. Their skin is very delicate during shedding (http://snakesforpets.com/facts-about-the-red-tailed-boa/). We do enjoy having Princess as our pet and look forward to having her for many years to come.