Marty’s photo of the day #2205: On September 11, 2001, Eve arrived, via Federal Express, from a breeder in Ohio. All air traffic had been halted on that day, but somehow she made it through. She was so small, she fit into a fruit cup. Now at more than seven-feet-long, she is about a foot longer than books claim rainbow boas are supposed to get. In case you’re wondering, there is also an Adam. When they lived together in the same vivarium, they did what Adams and Eves do—they made babies. Lots of them.
Eventually we moved Eve to her own vivarium. I bring this up, because whenever Eve was pregnant, she would go about six months without eating. Now that pregnancy isn’t possible (unless the snakes have figured out how to escape at nights for conjugal visits), Eve, in theory shouldn’t go through long fasts.
Snakes, of course, make their own rules. For the past five months, Eve has been refusing all food. For a snake Eve’s size, five months isn’t excessive. In fact, even after a five month fast, she was still much heavier than a wild rainbow boa of similar length would be. Nevertheless, I was pleased when Eve finally ate two medium rats and three large mice yesterday. Or as she claims, “I ate a whole deer.” In this photo, Eve is preparing for a nice, long soak, while she digests her deer.