The rest of them!
I've mostly been posting about Thomasina lately because she may be pregnant, but I thought it was time to give the others some attention.
It's the end of summer here, and they are eating like machines. Currently they are taking frozen (thawed) geckos and chicken portions every week. In winter they sometimes won't eat for a month or longer, but right now they are slamming it down and getting fat! They are also shedding their skins every 2.5 or 3 months, and putting on both length and weight.
First, the original trio from Taveuni Island, two males and a female born in captivity in late 2006. One of these is (hopefully) the father of Thomasina's babies.... The Taveuni snakes have a very diamond shaped back pattern (Thomasina is from Taveuni too) , a lot like the Solomon Island Boas. These three are similar colours, but all can be very changeable. At the moment they all seem to want to be dark brown, but they are capable of changing to pale pink at times. They're about 1m long and weigh between 225 and 275 gms.
Next four small males from the main Fijian island of Viti Levu. These guys were wild caught sometime around 2007 or 2008. Their back patterns are very different from the Taveuni snakes, more blotches than diamonds. I love the colour variations - two dark orange, one brown and one almost silver. Three of these four have "stumpy" tails, probably as the result of some injury or a badly shed skin when they were wild. Consequently they aren't as long as the Taveuni trio, between 70 and 90cm, and weigh between 160 and 250 gm (the silver one is FAT!)
Finally the two larger females from Ono Island near Kadavu. These were recently wild caught by a 10 year old boy, and have been easily handled since then, which just shows you how docile they are. After only a couple of accidental snaps (mistakes at feeding time) they settled in and you'd think they had been captive all their lives. These have a less marked blotchy pattern and plain bellies, are about 1m 60cm long and weigh around 1,200 gms.
It's the end of summer here, and they are eating like machines. Currently they are taking frozen (thawed) geckos and chicken portions every week. In winter they sometimes won't eat for a month or longer, but right now they are slamming it down and getting fat! They are also shedding their skins every 2.5 or 3 months, and putting on both length and weight.
First, the original trio from Taveuni Island, two males and a female born in captivity in late 2006. One of these is (hopefully) the father of Thomasina's babies.... The Taveuni snakes have a very diamond shaped back pattern (Thomasina is from Taveuni too) , a lot like the Solomon Island Boas. These three are similar colours, but all can be very changeable. At the moment they all seem to want to be dark brown, but they are capable of changing to pale pink at times. They're about 1m long and weigh between 225 and 275 gms.
Next four small males from the main Fijian island of Viti Levu. These guys were wild caught sometime around 2007 or 2008. Their back patterns are very different from the Taveuni snakes, more blotches than diamonds. I love the colour variations - two dark orange, one brown and one almost silver. Three of these four have "stumpy" tails, probably as the result of some injury or a badly shed skin when they were wild. Consequently they aren't as long as the Taveuni trio, between 70 and 90cm, and weigh between 160 and 250 gm (the silver one is FAT!)
Finally the two larger females from Ono Island near Kadavu. These were recently wild caught by a 10 year old boy, and have been easily handled since then, which just shows you how docile they are. After only a couple of accidental snaps (mistakes at feeding time) they settled in and you'd think they had been captive all their lives. These have a less marked blotchy pattern and plain bellies, are about 1m 60cm long and weigh around 1,200 gms.
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