When it comes to pets, many people these days are looking for a change. Often times people will choose a dog or cat as their family pet, there are people however that looks for something a little different. Enter the Boa Constrictor; this lovely snake belonging to the first vertebrate class of snakes is native to Central and South America. It can reach lengths of approximately 13 feet and is grouped in the same class as its cousins the Anaconda and the Python.
This relatively calm and non-poisonous snake makes its home in the wild in holes in the ground, or high in the trees. When considering this fact it is advisable for you to develop some for of natural semblance to their native habitat. This will keep your Boa Constrictor happy for years to come. When choosing the right pet for your home, lifespan always seems to be a major issue. No one wants to get close to his or her pet only to have it pass away quickly. This is why Boa Constrictors make such a good pet, as they have general life spans of approximately 25-30 years.
In the wild, the Boa Constrictor feasts on such prey as birds, agoutis, and rats. There are now many places where you can find dead or live food for your Boa, as many pet stores in your area make provision for such pet owners. Many people are not completely comfortable feeding Boas live rats or mice, even less than appealing is the thought of feeding it a rabbit. For this very reason many people will shy away from the notion of owning one of these beautiful snakes as a pet. Should you be interested in getting a Boa Constrictor as a pet, you can get food for the Boa that is already dead from a reptile specialist. You can buy several rats for example and keep them in a bag in the freezer, when you need to feed you simply take the food out a day prior and let it thaw out before feeding it to the snake.
It is under no circumstances a wise move for you to try and feed your snake a frozen rat or other meal, as it could make the snake very sick or even kill it.
Boa Constrictors kill their prey in the wild by biting the prey first then coiling their body around it and suffocating the prey. This is what is known as constriction, and this species of snake is a pro at what it does. Whether in the wild or in captivity the Boa will use this method to feed, and it actually is quite the sight to see. Should you be someone with a rather week stomach perhaps it is best that you just drop the meal into the snake environment and let it do its thing on its own. Sometimes however, when the snake is very young you may need to force feed it by rubbing the snake’s nose on the food source itself. Again, should you not be willing to do so, you may want to reconsider the choice in pets that you are about to make. While this species is protected under the Appendices to the convention on international trade of endangered species, they are still actively bread for purpose of domestic pet living. You can find these lovely snakes anywhere reptiles are sold, and they have become a very popular choice among snake enthusiasts over the last 15 years.
Boa Constrictor will grow to the environment provided for them, meaning if you offer them a very large cage or tank in your home chances are the snake will indeed grow relatively large. When keeping Boa Constrictors as pets, it is always a very important thing to mind any other small pets that you may have traversing around your home. This is because the snake can and will make a meal of the other pet should they be left unattended for any length of time. This is due to the instinctual nature of the snake, and their natural drive to hunt prey. If you have a small cat or dog, it would be most recommended that you pay close attention to what they do and how close they actually get to the snake at any given time.
No comments:
Post a Comment