A Question on Feeding my Garbage Can

Leonard continues to get gorgeous :) And this week I had occasion to use his services as a garbage can. Since he's passed 6 months of age I moved him to an every-10-day feeding schedule, but last night my female KSB refused her dinner (she's deeply in blue; 9/10 times she'll eat that way but last night she thumbed her nose at me, so to speak) so I fed him a tiny dinner a day early.

I know the mouse he ate last night is too small to constitute a full meal for him -- it was an 8 gram mouse, and his dinners tend to be more 18+ grams at this point. So my question is, when/ how much can I feed him again? I almost took out his dinner to defrost last night, but then I started thinking 2 days in a row could be overkill, and perhaps I should toss him a smaller mouse (10-12 grams as opposed to his usual -- I've got a selection of frozen mouse sizes thanks to my lunatic sand boas) on Saturday instead, or wait a bit longer and feed him his usual size.

Anyway, thoughts? I'm still learning with him and I don't want to tax his digestive system. Okay, and because I can't resist, here are two pictures of the little guy after his most recent shed. I think he's awesome :)

On this overhead shot, you can see the asymmetry of his head thanks to his micro-opthalmia:
http://i1285.photobucket.com/albums/...ps10eb5078.jpg

And here he's just hanging out :) Please ignore the horrible piles of books on my end table in the background. I've somehow managed to find myself in the middle of about 8 books (okay, 10). It's gotten ridiculous.
http://i1285.photobucket.com/albums/...psa9be9d1f.jpg

Awww, what a cutie!!

I think you could probably just skip one meal - at least that is what I would do. Then continue with the regular feeding schedule.
However, if you think you are going to utilize him as a "garbage can" for unwanted food items, I would just do more frequent meals at smaller sizes.
I think there are many ways you can go about this, though.

Good luck :)

Thank you! And you're right -- there probably are a number of ways, thankfully :)

Ultimately, I want to keep him on his once every 10 days schedule in part because the 10 days are hard for my aging brain to remember so I have the entire six months printed out on calendars and posted above his enclosure to ensure I don't screw up and forget a feeding. I'd hate to re-do them all... I prefer to retain at least some ability to be a slacker, LOL.

My hope is that I can toss him another small-ish mouse on Saturday or Sunday, then continue on his established schedule which would put his next feeding on Monday, December 2nd. I am terrifyingly regimented with my snakes, which makes it challenging when things happen to throw me off schedule :)

I would just wait until his next meal. He will be fine. If not a bit hungry by food day.:p If he gives you that "feed me I'm a neglected boa" look, you could feed him his regular meal a day or two sooner. Imo, less is better than too much with boas.

i personally would not go 10 days until he is taking 70 gram rats. once he starts taking medium rats move to a 14 day feed. How much does he weigh? he looks about the size of my arab and im feeding her 45g rats.

He weighs 251 grams empty as of Thursday; near as I can measure, he's just shy of 30 inches long. His normal food at this point is around an 18 gram mouse. From what I've read (and I know there are a thousand opinions on this) up to six months boas should be fed every 7 days; 6 months to a year feed every 10 days, and after a year go with every other week. Some snakes will require less food; others more.

Of course, with the boas' tendency toward obesity my understanding is that it's better to be more cautious. That said, I don't want to underfeed the little dude. But on the 10-day feeding cycle he's put on 15 grams in 2 weeks, so it doesn't appear to be stunting his growth?

10 day schedule is just fine, and I don't offer a refused feeder to my boas just because I know they'll eat: like it's been said it's better to be cautious with these guys IMO.

It is virtually impossible to underfeed a boa unless you don't feed it at all (which I know you're not doing, lol). Stick to your 10 day feeding schedule. Less is more with boas. :gj: