Took in Extremely unhealthy boa, need some advice

Hey guys, havent been on in awhile. Anywhoo, I was told from a friend that a guy had rescued a Red tail boa, and was giving it away free to good home. And yes, I knew beforehand the snake was unhealthy, but my god, some people shouldnt own snakes. Whoever he rescued it from, must have had a mental illness. This snake is 5 years old, and she is only 4.5feet long, has a scar on her head from a rat bite, and her ribs are showing. Im surprised at how tame she is, considering her abusive past. Im just curious, is there anything I can do to allow her to atleast get some meat back on her bones? Besides a higher rate of food. Maybe some kind of medicine? I plan on nursing this snake back to full health, making her a great member of my family.

I would recommend just taking it slow. The first step would be to make sure she's hydrated... maybe mix a little pedialyte in her water to get her some immediate vitamins. I would stress her out as little as possible, ie, no force-feeding or anything. Let her tell you what she needs, if that makes sense (if she acts hungry, feed her :) )

Yeah she actually feeds and acts no problem. Its just her weight is a major issue

Buy live rats and gutload them with nutritious foods cheese peanut butter veggies grains for about a week or 2 before feeding the snake. Worked for my rescue redtail she put on weight with in 3 weeks and 2 rats

Another very nutritious meal is a pregnant rat and I mean one that is about to have babies

As said take it slow.

You don't want to overstress her by giving too large a meal - start with a small rat and see if she keeps that down ok before moving up the prey size.

She should just naturally put on weight with a normal feeding schedule. Take it slow at first, and once she puts on a little weight and can handle it, feed her on a regular schedule. She should put on weight herself just by eating regularly. Good luck, and keep us posted. :)

Yeah she eats fine, actually fed her killed medium rat. I can feel her ribs and spine, so hopefully in the next few months I can remedy that. Unfortunately she will never be the size other Boa constrictors normally get. But hey, I've always liked the short girls.


No but really, its sad to see what kind of life she had before.

here you can see her face, with the bump on her poor headhttp://i1233.photobucket.com/albums/...ps7ccd3b54.jpg

the silly snake on my laptophttp://i1233.photobucket.com/albums/...psf599d7bc.jpg

Her whole body, notice her dwarf size for a 5yr old Boa Constricorhttp://i1233.photobucket.com/albums/...ps5a1752ef.jpg

A closeup of her body, revealing her ribshttp://i1233.photobucket.com/albums/...psfc296fb6.jpg


Poor girl has this scar forever, still a beautiful snakehttp://i1233.photobucket.com/albums/...ps205618b3.jpg

One day, she will be nice and healthy and happy under my care and excellent husbandry

She doesn't look too skinny to me, certainly not a reason to panic. I feed my adult boa 1 large rat every 3 weeks.

Boas don't need to eat too often, or they just get fat. So yeah, do as stated above and take it slow. 1 rat every 2 weeks is fine.

I can see her spine, but it's not terrible. Boas are more "boxy" in shape than BPs. They will never be round and fat like a ball (and if they are, they're obese!). A few good meals and she will fill out just fine. Pretty snake, looks like she's got some light pinks on her :)

I think the bump on its head is kind of cute besides the fact that it was a scar from a rat. It's good you helped out!

Normally what I will do with Lucy specifically is pre kill the rat and then Feed it to her. She seems to only accept medium rats. Smaller prey doesnt seem to float her boat too much.


I also spray her food with repticalcium and her water bowl is full of pedialite

by the way, is flavored pedialite okay to give to snakes?

If she's taking medium rats there's no need for the calcium, the bones in the rat will give her plenty. I would also stop the pedialite, I remember reading that snakes don't tolerate high levels of carbohydrates very well and that stuff is loaded with sugar.