Interesting read about boa & python feeding.

Thank you for clarifying and expanding on the subject Warren. And welcome to the forum. :)

We made the decision to stick with Small Rats with Damien for his entire life. We just feel that a small rat every 7-10 days will be far better for him than a medium or large every 2 weeks.

But we have no intention of breeding, our Ball Python is a family pet that we proudly display.

It's nice to be able to educate people on how gentle their nature can be, providing you do things correctly. I've already had 2-3 guests that would have never gone near a snake disappointed when the snake had to go back into it's cage :p

I think Warren's post should be stickied. Very valuable information for both beginners and more advanced keepers.

Thank you for that Warren, it's very interesting.

I would definitely be interested in any further developments on this subject, partly for the sake of caring for my pet as optimally as possible, but also just because it's interesting generally. My BP is a baby, which I got upon the death of my 18-year-old corn snake, but I hope to have him around for many years (no breeding plans).

I think it's also interesting to consider that just because an animal's instinctive response to food serves it well in the unpredictable natural environment does not mean that instinct is actually the best thing to listen to in an environment where it will always have access to what it needs. A case in point would be how we humans crave rich calorie-dense foods high in fat, sugar, salt, etc - ice cream, fried anything, candy, prime rib, potato chips, etc. Craving those things served to motivate our ancestors to eat up while they could, because they did not have constant access to that stuff. Obviously, our bodies need fat, salt, etc; but those were rarer commodities once upon a time, so we evolved particular motivations to get them. Now that we can have as much as we want and we don't have to do much physical labor anymore, our instincts aren't necessarily in line with our actual needs, so we have a national obesity problem.

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Originally Posted by Hammertime1977

We made the decision to stick with Small Rats with Damien for his entire life. We just feel that a small rat every 7-10 days will be far better for him than a medium or large every 2 weeks.

But we have no intention of breeding, our Ball Python is a family pet that we proudly display.

It's nice to be able to educate people on how gentle their nature can be, providing you do things correctly. I've already had 2-3 guests that would have never gone near a snake disappointed when the snake had to go back into it's cage :p

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The problem with that is it will still keep the snakes whole system enlarged in feeding mode. The size of the prey doesn't determine how long the organs stay enlarged, its the amount of time. Regardless of if you feed your snake a small rat or a medium rat, it still has to enlarge all those mentioned organs to digest the food. Now with that said, I still would keep the feeding in line with the size of the snake especially boas as they aren't as stretchy as a python. This is why Rosey is on a 1 month feeding and very soon, Vicky will be going to 1 month feeding. Dottie on the other hand gets food a few days after she poops which is usually every 2-3 weeks.

You can also look up studies and papers written by Todd Castoe and Stephen Secor. I looked up some stuff and started reading but its a lot to absorb especially late at night before bed lol.

Before people jump into a new feeding regime, I think the best thing they should do is start keeping detailed records of weights, shedding, defecation, and feeding. If you drop down to a more reduced feeding regime, monitor the snakes weight to insure it is not losing weight rapidly (assuming it is not overweight to start). Then adjust your feeding to compensate.

Warren

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Originally Posted by Warren_Booth

Before people jump into a new feeding regime, I think the best thing they should do is start keeping detailed records of weights, shedding, defecation, and feeding. If you drop down to a more reduced feeding regime, monitor the snakes weight to insure it is not losing weight rapidly (assuming it is not overweight to start). Then adjust your feeding to compensate.

Warren

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I like a lot of "serious" boa people. Gus Rentfro, Vin Russo, a host of others that REALLY know boas. DR. Booth is on the list.

I'm glad he is posting here and think people should take note of his posts.

Most boas in captivity are overfed, but if you are doing things the right way, don't assume your snake is, as noted above.

Thanks DR. Booth for adding to the topic.