Feeding concern

I have a 6 foot boa that lately has become so aggressive at feeding time. He is just so wild when I try to feed him. I mean like striking the glass as I approached with the rat on tongs. It's like he goes freakin nuts.

Is this normal?? Should I maybe feed more often. I currently feed one rat every 10-12 days.

You should post a photo of him, my guess is that he is underfed. I would feed every 5 days, maybe increase the size of the rodent until he gets up to a good weight and chills out, then cut back again. How old is he? If he is still young he may need more food too until he gets a bit of age on him.

He is 2 years old. About 1800 grams I think. He currently eats approx. 65 gram rat every 10-12 days. I was warned not to over feed him. I guess I could start weekly feeding for him.

I will post a pic of him shortly.

Boas can be highly responsive to food and quite a few of mine strike the cage front on feeding day (and one strikes anytime he sees a shadow which is super annoying). I wouldn't really worry about it. The only thing that can sometimes happen if they strike badly, they can catch a tooth on a lip, normally I'll (with help) open their mouth to fix it for them, however this doesn't happen very often thank goodness. I wish there was a magic trick to get them to knock it off.

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Originally Posted by cchardwick

I would feed every 5 days

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No, please do not do that. Boas should not eat that often.

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Originally Posted by L.West

He is 2 years old. About 1800 grams I think. He currently eats approx. 65 gram rat every 10-12 days. I was warned not to over feed him. I guess I could start weekly feeding for him.

I will post a pic of him shortly.

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Underfeeding is also bad. Did anyone warn you of that? I would suggest that you continue feeding him every 10-12 days and increase the size of the rat. 65 grams rat is obviously small for a 6 foot 2 years old boa. At least the rat should be double that size, or even treble.

For boas, use the girth rule. Feed a prey item no larger than the thickest part of the body.

Before seeing actual pictures of the animal in question, I would say this is normal behavior....


Boas are EXTREMELY food responsive and it can trigger fast in an animal that has a better sense of smell or knows feeding time is approaching. I've never had one refuse a meal to put it lightly....and I've had hundreds of boas in my hands over the years.

At six feet long and two years old, I would be feeding a sizable rat every two weeks. I agree though, at six feet long, a 65 gram rat seems small for his size. A medium rat seems far more appropriate to me but I would need to see pictures of the animal. Considering my longer feeding schedule I will actually feed prey somewhat larger than the girth, but everyone does things differently. Of course, if you feed more often a smaller prey item it more appropriate.


Post a picture of your animal with a dollar bill next to his body so that we can judge how big his girth is.

I'm trying to post a pic but photobucket is not cooperating- ugh

Try Tinypic

Here is his pic

http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/n...psziexpath.jpg

He is wrapped around my leg