Time to bump up food size? Opinions needed

Hi, I have a female Columbian BCI. I got her on September 25, 2010, and have been feeding her adult mice from Petco/Petsmart once a week, almost without fail (went on vacation once). I think the mice from Petsmart might be getting a little small for her but it's difficult to tell. I know, I know, the rule is that the prey should be as big around as the snake is. These mice are approximately 20 grams, according to the packaging. The next size greater of food is the small rats from Petsmart, which supposedly are 40-50 grams. I don't know exactly how big they are in comparison to my boa since I didn't want to buy them if they were too big. I was hoping that someone with experience using Petsmart frozen rats could take a look at this photo and video and give their opinion. Should I keep giving her adult mice for now? Ordering rats online seems a little inconvenient, especially with the high shipping charge.

View video here - provides better frame of reference than the photo below

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5042/...5649bf4db6.jpg
Boa Constrictor by jason.granger, on Flickr

I don't see a problem with her taking smalls. Bump it up! :gj:

Alright, I'll give it a shot. Only thing that worries me is that small rats are double the weight of what she's eating now. But I'll try, and if it looks way too big then I'll reconsider.

Yeah, it looks like she could probably take a small rat no problem. A lot of times those small rats really aren't that big, but you could always open the box and check them out before you buy them. Also, you can technically bring your snake into Petsmart too so you could actually check the appropriateness of size that way. I can understand if you wouldn't be comfortable doing that though haha

I hate when they're in that in between size when adult mice are too small and sometimes small rats are too big. If you think the rats are too large, I'd say she would still be good on adult mice for a little while longer. Very pretty girl too!! :)

I don't know how old ur boa is but my bci is 3-4 mo and she is on rat pups every 7 days she's almost 200 grams I think 180 ish, but if u think a small is too big try a weanling, If u can get them

Thanks all for replies.

As for how old she is, I don't know except that she's a 2010. Didn't ask for an exact DOB. The only access to rats I have besides Petsmart is this mom-n-pop store in the mall, and those are only live. Not sure how well those rats are taken care of, either.

OK, went to Petsmart and got small rats. They look to be as thick around or probably a little thicker around than the snake. Plus, they're longer than the adult mice.

Too big? Take a look:

http://i.imgur.com/hORZwl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/9YXIpl.jpg

I feed my Costa Rican BCI the small PetSmart rats. He is at an in between size and they are a little larger than what I need. I have found that they vary between 40-60grams each. I usually take my digital food scale and weigh them. They leave a noticable lump in his belly so I just leave him alone for 3-4 days until it goes down.

Ok, just trying to avoid any regurgitation. I suppose I will thaw one and give it to her tonight. I'll see how it goes. How do you prepare them? I usually put the mouse in a bag with hot water, let it sit for 10 minutes, then take it out. This does usually make the mouse bleed from its mouth or nose, though. Should I just put the rat in warm water, not scalding, and leave it for 30-60 minutes?

(sorry, can't edit previous post)

Everything went well! Thanks guys. Fingers crossed for no regurgitating, but honestly I don't think she had a problem.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JasonGranger

(sorry, can't edit previous post)

Everything went well! Thanks guys. Fingers crossed for no regurgitating, but honestly I don't think she had a problem.

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I'm glad it went ok. I would leave her completely alone for about 36 hours and then check for a regurge each day and don't handle her for about 3 days or so until the bulge goes down. Usually, if they are going to regurge, it will be within the first 36-48 hours...

Small update: I fed her a small rat two Saturdays ago and last Saturday. Opened up the lid today, and I heard the first hiss from her that I've heard since the first week I got her. She didn't open her mouth but I definitely heard the hiss when I started touching her with my snake hook. I'm going to assume that means she is in shed because she's also been sitting on the hot side of the cage all week, and she never does that. So, I guess those rats must be working. :P She is so weird with hides—I had two plastic hide boxes in her tub that were getting too small for her, so I put in a rock cave hide that I had laying around. She's just sitting next to it, not even going in it!

I leave frozen prey to thaw at room temp for eight hours or more, if its really big. Then I do a warm water soak for ten min before feeding.