Poss Super Salmon

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Originally Posted by recycling goddess

you won't let him? LOL

ya i get it, you won't feed him much so he stays small - don't necc. agree with that practise, but it's your snake - not mine :D

he sure is beautiful though. really beautiful. i loooove the colouring!

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Basically, it just means we won't feed him more than he needs to be healthy and thrive. I'll continue to feed him every 7 days through his 2nd year and then extend that to 14 days once he gets past his 2nd year. Boas growth rate slows down after their 3rd year, so they don't really need that much food. I also won't increase his prey size larger than a medium rat Vs my females that get Jumbo rats. Sure, you can keep increasing the size of prey to a large rabbit and end up with a 8ft-10ft boa who is more than likely a bit over weight.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with this method of feeding health wise Vs feeding them too much or a lot more than they really need, which is what most owners do unfortunately. Honestly, do you think snakes in the wild eat a specific size rat each Sunday, every Sunday, all year round?

I even let them skip a meal or two each year. My breeding boas during breeding season; they may get a meal 1/4 the size of normal every 3 weeks. A female taking in a Jumbo rat every two weeks may get a medium rat every 2-3 weeks during the gestation period.

Trust me, your boa won't starve if he's kept at a certain prey size or if he misses a meal or two each year. :)

I do want to add that there is a difference between a healthy controlled feeding schedule or diet if you will Vs feeding a growing baby boa a small mouse once a month for 2yrs.

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Originally Posted by Evan Jamison

Stunning!!! I love boa morphs. Not sure why I haven't bought any yet.......

-Evan

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Me too man! But I know why I haven't. Lack of space!

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Originally Posted by ssscales

Basically, it just means we won't feed him more than he needs to be healthy and thrive. I'll continue to feed him every 7 days through his 2nd year and then extend that to 14 days once he gets past his 2nd year. Boas growth rate slows down after their 3rd year, so they don't really need that much food. I also won't increase his prey size larger than a medium rat Vs my females that get Jumbo rats. Sure, you can keep increasing the size of prey to a large rabbit and end up with a 8ft-10ft boa who is more than likely a bit over weight.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with this method of feeding health wise Vs feeding them too much or a lot more than they really need, which is what most owners do unfortunately. Honestly, do you think snakes in the wild eat a specific size rat each Sunday, every Sunday, all year round?

I even let them skip a meal or two each year. My breeding boas during breeding season; they may get a meal 1/4 the size of normal every 3 weeks. A female taking in a Jumbo rat every two weeks may get a medium rat every 2-3 weeks during the gestation period.

Trust me, your boa won't starve if he's kept at a certain prey size or if he misses a meal or two each year. :)

I do want to add that there is a difference between a healthy controlled feeding schedule or diet if you will Vs feeding a growing baby boa a small mouse once a month for 2yrs.

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Great post Gerry! Its good to clear up the misconceptions related to feeding. Power feeding vs normal feeding and controlled feeding vs. feeding meant to stunt growth and create a false "dwarf". I also skip a week a few times a year with my BPs and Boas. With my big BCI I stagger it between 10 days and 14 days. She was just too fat when I got her (being fed on 5 large rats once per month). Some feedings she gets 2 large, sometimes 1 jumbo, sometimes 2 jumbos.

gerry,

thanks so much for explaining that!

i was thinking you were speaking about withholding food so they don't grow... when i got my hoggie i was told to feed him and allow him to get to his potential and to not withhold food to keep him smaller (just during general conversation about feeding him) and so, i misunderstood and thought you were going to withhold food.

aleesha

I usually wait till they are out cruising the cage too feed. Sounds like a good plan. Have you noticed healthier looking and more muscular boas this way? I noticed that once I started waiting for them to come out for food. Their body is more lean and muscular aswell as they actually get exercise other than when you let them out. How much does A high quality salmon like him cost?

I can only speak for my snakes as they are more on the muscular side with a bit of fat Vs fat or bloated. You can also tell when a boa has been pushed by the small heads, kinda disproportioned looking.

A quality "K" and "KK" Salmon run between $1000-$2000.

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Originally Posted by ssscales

I can only speak for my snakes as they are more on the muscular side with a bit of fat Vs fat or bloated. You can also tell when a boa has been pushed by the small heads, kinda disproportioned looking.

A quality "K" and "KK" Salmon run between $1000-$2000.

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Wow, they are beautiful morphs though, Congrats

Thanks for the feeding advice. I bought a salmon hypo (that's her in my avatar) and the breeder I got her from here in the UK said exactly the same thing and regards feeding breeding males less than females (he said breeding is more successful if the males aren't overfed). His snakes (he showed me mom and dad and others he had) were all muscular vs fat as is the little one I have now. I've cut my BP down to just one meal every 10 days now she's a year old.

I'm interested in breeding my boa in a few years maybe (when she's about 4), she's a salmon hypo - not as intense coloring as yours I think, but if I got a male salmon hypo would that produce some super salmons? (I'm completely ignorant to breeding. Another type I like is the red pastel boa.

WOW!!!!!!! Gerry. You could go blind by that guy! What a HOT and GORGEOUS snake!


Looking forward to his and other future litters that you produce. < Guess it's time to start planning an entire other bldg. for just the boas...... :D :D :D >

Love the saddles and coloring on him. :love:


RuLyn

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Originally Posted by Razaiel

Thanks for the feeding advice. I bought a salmon hypo (that's her in my avatar) and the breeder I got her from here in the UK said exactly the same thing and regards feeding breeding males less than females (he said breeding is more successful if the males aren't overfed). His snakes (he showed me mom and dad and others he had) were all muscular vs fat as is the little one I have now. I've cut my BP down to just one meal every 10 days now she's a year old.

I'm interested in breeding my boa in a few years maybe (when she's about 4), she's a salmon hypo - not as intense coloring as yours I think, but if I got a male salmon hypo would that produce some super salmons? (I'm completely ignorant to breeding. Another type I like is the red pastel boa.

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My 600-750g BP's get a weaned rat every 7 days and soon we'll be moving up to a small rat every 7 days. I don't plan on moving them up to medium rats until they really need it. I might do the same thing and move the females up to medium rats and keep them there Vs the males will stay on small rats. I also plan on letting them skip a meal every 6 months or so regardless.

As for boas, absolutely true IMO that smaller/leaner males make better breeders. A 4ft male could easily handle an 10ft female and possibly a 2nd when he's done with the 1st. But, a 10ft male may #1 intimidate a 6ft female and #2 possibly wear himself out by the 1st round! Plus you would need a pretty large cage to hold two huge breeding boas!

Breeding your Salmon to another Salmon would produce a litter consisting of ALL Salmons. About 25% of those Salmons would be Supers.

Thanks Rulyn!
Your baby boy will be on his way this week; I'll confirm the exact day depending if FedEx is working Monday, Tuesday or starts back up Wednesday.
We may just wait till Wednesday to be on the safe side.