I just got an approximately 5 year old male Colombian who is lean and just the right size for me.
[[I'm 5'3"/100 lbs]

He has the proper "loaf of bread" shape and is not fat at all.

I read somewhere that "conservative feeding" would keep him basically at the size he is now.

I would prefer that but do not want him to feel "underfed".

Would feeding medium/large rats every 2-3 weeks maintain his current size without increasing it?
Or would small rats every 2 weeks be "better"?

A herp breeder I know has a 7 year old male who is not only "loaf of bread" shaped, it's also much bigger around than an actual loaf of bread.
[it's huge!]

He feeds the largest prey his snakes will swallow and they live in very tight spaces so I reckon they can't "burn off" their calories at all.

Some of his females eat live Bantam chickens and rabbits and look like they've swallowed a football after they've eaten.

I do not want that.

Is there any truth to feed more/grow more or has my male more or less "topped out" at his current length?

I've seen a lot of massively fat Boas whose owners could barely lift.

That's not where I want to be a year from now.

This is a photo of him at the seller's place:



And this is him in relation to me:



[sorry I look so awful...been fighting "The WV Crud" flu for over a month and he was crawling over my head and messing up my hair, to boot]

All I know of him is that the seller got him in a trade and that he's about 5 years old and a guesstimate would be around 5-6 pounds.
I don't even know what "kind" of Colombian he is.
[common? generic?]...

I also have a 7 year old Dumerils who's decided [after living a life of neglect and constant cold prior to coming here] that she is starving all the time.

A jumbo rat keeps her happy for less than a day and she's constantly "begging", now.

She's also about 5' long and I'd like her to "stay there", too.....

I have 11 BPs and don't really have this issue with them.

The biggest BP is still infinitely manageable.

I got the Dum because I couldn't stand to see her living like that any longer and the Colombian because I wanted a bold snake who wasn't nervous about being handled.

He's turning out to be a wonderful snake, in general, although he does tend to curl up on my shoulders and stare at hubby with his neck in an "S shape"...even though he'll then stretch out from me and cheerfully hop onto hubby's shoulders.
[but he still occasionally still stops exploring and looks at hubby with the "S shape neck" thing going]

Is that just their normal "curious examination posture" or is he thinking about biting hubby's face off?....LOL

He was not handled very much before coming here.

Is this just a "getting used to everything" phase?


[the "S" thingy makes hubby a bit nervous but he's an ex-snakaphobic while I've never been afraid of them and they seem to emotionally glom onto me instantly and become "mommy's snakes"]

Also, is it 'normal' for him to stick his head straight in the air every time we go under a light fixture?

He's obsessed with lights...any kind of lights...even drawn to them like a moth to a flame....maybe because he's always been in a tub with no experience with lights?

Sorry to be so clueless but the Boas are SO different from the BPs.