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.