Feeding Question

[bcr229]

While going off on a rant may not have been the best way for that Facebook poster to get his point across and perhaps he would benefit greatly from reading Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence People, he was absolutely correct: a large rat every week is way too much food for any adult boa, and yes in general boas have slower metabolisms than pythons do so they should be fed less often.

A general rule I like to use when feeding is to take the animal's age, add one, and that's the number of weeks between feedings. So, a one year old is fed every two weeks, a two year old is fed every three weeks, etc.

Once the critter is eating every four weeks I'll leave females on that schedule, males will get pushed out to six weeks, and I offer feeder rabbits (because they're low in fat) that are about 75% of the boa's girth so there really isn't a food lump visible after it eats.

[ShaneSilva]

People tend to do that more on Facebook 🙄

Anyways glad you were able to find the information you need. I feed my adult male no more than once a month but usually it's about every six weeks

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

[AbsoluteApril]

All those the "appropriately sized food." I had always understood appropriately sized food as food that doesn't cause such a big bulge that they might throw it up.

IMO "appropriately sized food" for a boa is something the same thickness as the boa. You don't want it to cause a bulge (it will bulge up a bit within 24-48 hours regardless). Pythons, specifically the 'giants', can handle food that leaves an obvious bulge. While boas *can* it's generally not a good idea.

My largest girl was just over 8' and I fed her two XL rats (f/t) at one time every 6 weeks. She could handle a small rabbit, which I did a few times but at that time my source was $10/lb and it was way too expensive. The one small rabbit would last her for 2 months before she needed to be fed again and left a slight bulge. The 2 XL rats didn't leave a bulge and she did great on that diet for over 10 years. My other adults (which are in the 6-7' range) do great on one XL rat per feeding.

I am also glad you are asking questions, we were all there once trying to figure out what was best.
One of my first posts on kingsnake back in the day was 'is my boa a BCi and BCc'

[MasonC2K]

April,

So this is what perplexes me. If it's ok to feed multiple smaller prey once every few weeks then why not one every couple? I am just wanting to understand it better.

[AbsoluteApril]

April,

So this is what perplexes me. If it's ok to feed multiple smaller prey once every few weeks then why not one every couple? I am just wanting to understand it better.

Check out the link I posted earlier.
Feeding causes their organs to swell which is taxing on their system.
One appropriate sized meal (if that is one item or two smaller items that make up the same amount) causes one digestion period.
One smaller item fed more often means they are having to go through the digestion process more often. The organs (heart, liver, etc) swelling up and going down much more often.
I hope that helps explain?

[chip07]

April,

So this is what perplexes me. If it's ok to feed multiple smaller prey once every few weeks then why not one every couple? I am just wanting to understand it better.

Its not. 2 XL every 6 weeks is too much. If I was two small it would be better but 2xl is a lot of food to feed consistently. I could literally not fed my 13 year old boa at all in the next 12 months and if she even lost a pound I'd be really surprised. Like mentioned before by someone I don't feed for about 3 months at all during winter.

This is my 13 year old 8ft girl. She gets large rats every 8 weeks or so with that 3 month fast in winter (which is really just an extra month between meals on this schedule). I do offer a 1-2lb rabbit about once a year now just to change it up. I had bloodwork done on her last year that came back exceedingly normal according to the vet. She was surprised since she's used to seeing issues from her clients with boas and they don't tend to be as old. I've had this one her whole life from when she was a month or two old from a pet store. I've fed her very little from the start. She started on mice then moved to rats. She's always been fasted too except for maybe the first year. I was lucky that when I was young a boa breeder took an interest and made sure my mother and I had the correct information.

[MasonC2K]

And here is another point of confusion. Just in this thread, there are 5 different "ways" to feed. Some are more than just "this is how I do it" but seem to also say "this is THE way to do it."

I did look at that article. But it didn't seem to be Boa specific but snake generic using a burmese as the example. And it didn't say anything was bad about that. If fact it seemd to imply it was good and they were trying to make it happen in mice and eventually people with medical issues.

I am going to start feeding less often again but I am not going to do months between just for rats.

[Gio]

This topic is actually excellent discussion and everybody is considerate of other folks and their methods. NO board should be filled with attitudes that make others feel slighted and dumb for asking questions.

Snakes are not rocket science, not at all but they are also very, very complex. Unless you are very well read, and researched as a keeper, you will more than likely fall in the middle ground of the feeding and husbandry scale. It's OK, there are always areas we can improve in our own setups and there is always new information coming.

I tend to dive deeply into the field studies and biology of the snakes I keep. I read several posts on this board monthly or even weekly about royal pythons refusing food. I asked the same questions years ago, but now from really looking into the wild lives of reptiles, it is crystal clear to me why the longest living snake, at least documented captive snake, was a royal python.

Royals live long because many, not all, will self regulate their feeding frequency. I'd put heavy, heavy odds on the older the snake is, the less it has eaten throughout its life.

Less food, and more exercise usually equals better health. Captive prey is much more fatty than wild prey.

I can only touch on a few things as the topic grows each time you add an element. For instance, breeding plays a part in this. I don't use any of my animals for that purpose. My male boa never experiences the hormonal cues a female boa will give off as I don't have a female boa in the house. His activity may be less because of that, and he may eat more often than refuse because of that.

Gus Rentfro told me personally that it was completely possible for my male BC to grow to the size of a female if I were to keep him as a pet only.

BTW, I started out slightly over feeding him in his first year and maybe 2 IMO.

Now, I rely heavily on information I read and have been told about seasonality and its relation to diet and activity levels in captive boas.

I drop my temps at night plus for an extended period in the fall when I will not feed from late October or early November until late March or early April.

If you were to see my male boa in person, you'd think he was made of steel.

I challenge him once in a while with large prey like a rabbit, but then follow up with an extended period with nothing and when the next meal comes his way it is something very small. In the wild he can't order from a supplier, and his millions of years worth of evolution supersede anything I decide.

Technically, you could feed 2 prey items at a time. I'm sure a wild snake, given the opportunity would certainly go for it. However it is probably rare and you have to make up for "doubling up" on the other end.

Do you see where this is going? Nothing is set in stone other than the fact almost all wild snakes run into a feast and famine situation.

My two favorite snake books are THE COMPLETE BOA CONSTRICTOR and THE COMPLETE CARPET PYTHON

There some other good books that are more field study oriented out there too. THE BIOLOGY OF BOAS AND PYTHONS

All of those books are worth reading. As a matter of fact read everything you can and see where it takes you.

Think long term when it comes to snakes.

The bottom line is still the quote I read from Gus Rentfro and posted earlier.

"While it is almost impossible to under feed a healthy boa constrictor, it is entirely too easy to over feed one."

[chip07]

I want this one next! One of the breeders I bought from posted it.
The Reproductive Husbandry of Pythons and Boas by Ross

First I have to buy the one about old world Ratsnakes I've been eyeing but that one is over $100 so I've been delaying a bit.

[JodanOrNoDan]

I don't keep boas but I am 100% with what GIO says. So many people get upset when balls fast. I do not. I love the fact that they self regulate. I have a couple that eat no matter what. It is going to be interesting to see if they have the longevity of the ones that go on extended fasts. I am going to talk to my vet the next time I am in and find out if there is a test he can run for fat comparing an animal that fasts with one that does not.