Tyree
Tyree is a stunning boa whom we’ve had since he was a tiny baby. Hog Island Boas are not commonly available in Scotland and so a trip to Leeds was made to collect him from a fellow reptile hobbyist.
He was named Tyree after the Gaelic name meaning “island dweller”. Hog Island boas are thought to be extinct in the wild and so captive breeding is important. At the moment there is a healthy captive population of these boas thanks to the efforts of reptile hobbyists across the world. Tyree will get a girlfriend at some point in time though we are waiting to purchase a pure bred Hog Island.
When we first got Tyree he was just under a foot long and was quite a timid little snake unless he could smell food. The first few times we fed him he struck at his food, coiled around it then hissed loudly at it. He bit a couple of times when he was very young but has not bitten for over 3 years now. We have to be very careful at feeding time as he enjoys his food and will strike at anything that moves (though this is true of most snakes). Tyree gets one large adult rat every 14 days and this is dusted with calcium and vitamin power once a month. As with the rest of our snakes he has never been fed live rats or mice and most certainly never will. Tyree usually goes off his food around the end of October until the end of December as this is his mating season.
Now he is more or less fully grown at 4 and a half feet long and he is very strong. His body is thickset and it can be difficult to remove him from things he has wrapped himself around. In saying this he has never shown any threatening behaviour since he was baby and although he likes to “hold on tight” he is really a big pussycat.
Tyree cureently lives in a wooden vivarium with a ceramic heater guarded by a metal bulb guard. We hope to upgrade Tyrees viv in the near future as his hide takes up rather a lot of room.
Hog Island boas are one of the few dwarf boa species which do not get as large as the common boa constrictors. We had always been interested in keeping boa constrictors due to their beautiful markings and docile natures but felt we did not have the room for a 7 – 12 foot snake.
Tyree at the vet
Tyree has visited the vet in the Autumn of 2009 for a problem with his nose. A scab formed over one of his nostrils so we took him for a check up. He was given antibiotic injections for 2 weeks as our vet thought there was an abcess forming inside his snout.
Unfortunately after an operation to repair the tissue around his nostrils Tyree caught an infection and his nostrils closed up completely. The result is that he now breathes through his mouth and will sometimes make a slight hissing noise when picked up.
