Vote for BP.Net for the 2013 Forum of the Year! Click here for more info.

» Site Navigation

» Home
 > FAQ

» Online Users: 3,042

1 members and 3,041 guests
Most users ever online was 6,337, 01-24-2020 at 04:30 AM.

» Today's Birthdays

None

» Stats

Members: 75,031
Threads: 248,489
Posts: 2,568,442
Top Poster: JLC (31,651)
Welcome to our newest member, isismomma
Results 1 to 8 of 8

Thread: Boa Food

  1. #1
    Registered User
    Join Date
    10-17-2017
    Posts
    10
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post

    Question Boa Food

    My boa imperator is 5 feet long and eating extra small rabbits. Her eating habits have recently been irregular, but I normally feed her about every other week. Should I try to offer food every week though? She's been only actually eating in strange intervals of every other week, then once a month. Not sure if it's a good idea to offer every week if she might over-gorge herself.

  2. #2
    BPnet Lifer Sauzo's Avatar
    Join Date
    11-26-2014
    Location
    Seattle Washington
    Posts
    6,011
    Thanks
    2,064
    Thanked 6,341 Times in 3,220 Posts
    A 5 ft boa should be eating equivalent of a medium rat every 3-4 weeks.
    0.1 Rio Bravo Pokigron Suriname BC-Gina
    1.0 Meltzer/Lincoln Peruvian Longtail het anery BCL-Louie

    0.1 Biak Green Tree Python-Pat
    ​1.0 OSHY Biak Green Tree Python-Alex
    0.0.1 Super Reduced Reticulated Gila Monster-Dozer
    0.0.1 Utah Banded Gila Monster-Tank
    0.0.1 Super Black Beaded Lizard-Reggie

  3. The Following 5 Users Say Thank You to Sauzo For This Useful Post:

    bcr229 (12-09-2017),Craiga 01453 (12-10-2017),GoingPostal (12-10-2017),Jus1More (12-10-2017),PokeyTheNinja (12-26-2017)

  4. #3
    bcr229's Avatar
    Join Date
    03-18-2013
    Location
    Eastern WV Panhandle
    Posts
    9,494
    Thanks
    2,888
    Thanked 9,842 Times in 4,771 Posts
    Images: 34
    I agree, hopefully these rabbits are 4-5 ounces. Your boa should only need one every three weeks.

  5. The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to bcr229 For This Useful Post:

    Craiga 01453 (12-10-2017),Jus1More (12-10-2017)

  6. #4
    Registered User
    Join Date
    10-17-2017
    Posts
    10
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post

    Re: Boa Food

    Thanks! They're very tiny rabbits - as tiny as they come. She has a little lump afterward but it's gone by the next day and seems to take them ok. She has been eating closer to every 3 weeks - she's gotten too big for medium rats but the vet says her weight is fine. She might be longer now honestly? I don't think she's more than 5.5 feet but she should get to 8 and she took a "colossal" size rat no sweat. It was still too small for her (barely matched with her girth) so I ordered the rabbits. Medium rats are something she graduated over 6 months ago and were so small for her that we could practically give two in one feeding. Again, vet says she's healthy (as of last checkup) and she's been doing great with eating the rabbits.

    I'll try every 3 weeks and offer every other week just in case then. Thanks!

  7. The Following User Says Thank You to jmont12 For This Useful Post:

    Dutti (12-10-2017)

  8. #5
    Banned
    Join Date
    03-16-2017
    Posts
    338
    Thanks
    41
    Thanked 46 Times in 37 Posts

    Re: Boa Food

    Quote Originally Posted by jmont12 View Post
    Thanks! They're very tiny rabbits - as tiny as they come. She has a little lump afterward but it's gone by the next day and seems to take them ok. She has been eating closer to every 3 weeks - she's gotten too big for medium rats but the vet says her weight is fine. She might be longer now honestly? I don't think she's more than 5.5 feet but she should get to 8 and she took a "colossal" size rat no sweat. It was still too small for her (barely matched with her girth) so I ordered the rabbits. Medium rats are something she graduated over 6 months ago and were so small for her that we could practically give two in one feeding. Again, vet says she's healthy (as of last checkup) and she's been doing great with eating the rabbits.

    I'll try every 3 weeks and offer every other week just in case then. Thanks!
    Thank you for this useful post. I have also 5 foot boa and i,m feeding him live large rats every two week. Sometimes he gets jumbo rats unintentionally as i can,t weigh the live rat at the shop where i buy it. And if he gets a jumbo rat his next meal would be after three weeks. Similar to your boa, medium rats are too small for him and if i wanted to feed him medium rats i will need two in one feeding.

  9. #6
    bcr229's Avatar
    Join Date
    03-18-2013
    Location
    Eastern WV Panhandle
    Posts
    9,494
    Thanks
    2,888
    Thanked 9,842 Times in 4,771 Posts
    Images: 34

    Re: Boa Food

    Quote Originally Posted by jmont12 View Post
    Thanks! They're very tiny rabbits - as tiny as they come. She has a little lump afterward but it's gone by the next day and seems to take them ok.
    Sounds like they're the right size then.

    Also bear in mind that a young rabbit is very lean and has bigger bones compared to an adult rat, so a rabbit that is outwardly smaller than a rat may actually weigh more. This is why I feed rabbit by weight and not the visual "girth of the snake" standard.

  10. #7
    BPnet Lifer Sauzo's Avatar
    Join Date
    11-26-2014
    Location
    Seattle Washington
    Posts
    6,011
    Thanks
    2,064
    Thanked 6,341 Times in 3,220 Posts

    Re: Boa Food

    Quote Originally Posted by jmont12 View Post
    Thanks! They're very tiny rabbits - as tiny as they come. She has a little lump afterward but it's gone by the next day and seems to take them ok. She has been eating closer to every 3 weeks - she's gotten too big for medium rats but the vet says her weight is fine. She might be longer now honestly? I don't think she's more than 5.5 feet but she should get to 8 and she took a "colossal" size rat no sweat. It was still too small for her (barely matched with her girth) so I ordered the rabbits. Medium rats are something she graduated over 6 months ago and were so small for her that we could practically give two in one feeding. Again, vet says she's healthy (as of last checkup) and she's been doing great with eating the rabbits.

    I'll try every 3 weeks and offer every other week just in case then. Thanks!
    A 5.5 ft boa took a colossal rat no problem? This is starting to sound like Dutti Jr lol. Even my 7+ ft retic doesnt eat colossal stuff. He gets 2XL guinea pigs or jumbo rats. Now i guess it depends on your source but for me, a colossal rat is around 500-600 grams which is a HUGE rat. And actually i take that back, I have fed my retic a colossal rat once and he was full for a couple weeks and it left a serious lump in him haha.

    And the problem with even though a vet says she's healthy, I'm not sure if you are aware but fat in boas from too much food builds up around the heart and liver first so a vet would not see that unless he/she took an xray. By the time you see fat rolls, the damage has already been done.

    My almost 6 ft sunglow female eats a medium rat every 3-4 weeks and my 6.5 ft normal female eats a large rat every 3-4 weeks. They also get rabbits, quails and rats.

    I'm not sure what the deal is with a lot of newer people feeding their boas so much food. Not sure if they are getting bad info from the start or just dont listen but hey, its all your snakes. Anyways here is a couple pics of my almost 4 year old 6 ft sunglow and my 5+ year old 6.5 ft normal.


    And to give you an idea of who does eat big food, here is my 7+ ft retic boy who gets the XL guinea pigs and jumbo rats. He is capable of eating 2XL or 3XL guinea pigs or colossal rats but i try and not stuff my snakes into a food coma.
    0.1 Rio Bravo Pokigron Suriname BC-Gina
    1.0 Meltzer/Lincoln Peruvian Longtail het anery BCL-Louie

    0.1 Biak Green Tree Python-Pat
    ​1.0 OSHY Biak Green Tree Python-Alex
    0.0.1 Super Reduced Reticulated Gila Monster-Dozer
    0.0.1 Utah Banded Gila Monster-Tank
    0.0.1 Super Black Beaded Lizard-Reggie

  11. The Following User Says Thank You to Sauzo For This Useful Post:

    redshepherd (12-11-2017)

  12. #8
    Registered User
    Join Date
    10-17-2017
    Posts
    10
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post

    Re: Boa Food

    Quote Originally Posted by Sauzo View Post
    A 5.5 ft boa took a colossal rat no problem? This is starting to sound like Dutti Jr lol. Even my 7+ ft retic doesnt eat colossal stuff. He gets 2XL guinea pigs or jumbo rats. Now i guess it depends on your source but for me, a colossal rat is around 500-600 grams which is a HUGE rat. And actually i take that back, I have fed my retic a colossal rat once and he was full for a couple weeks and it left a serious lump in him haha.

    And the problem with even though a vet says she's healthy, I'm not sure if you are aware but fat in boas from too much food builds up around the heart and liver first so a vet would not see that unless he/she took an xray. By the time you see fat rolls, the damage has already been done.

    My almost 6 ft sunglow female eats a medium rat every 3-4 weeks and my 6.5 ft normal female eats a large rat every 3-4 weeks. They also get rabbits, quails and rats.

    I'm not sure what the deal is with a lot of newer people feeding their boas so much food. Not sure if they are getting bad info from the start or just dont listen but hey, its all your snakes. Anyways here is a couple pics of my almost 4 year old 6 ft sunglow and my 5+ year old 6.5 ft normal.
    Checked the website. It was marked 300-400 grams. She must have had a jumbo. Also, I'm very aware of the fat buildup and I've discussed this with the vet. Like I said, she normally chooses to eat about once a month, has a little tiny lump, then its gone pretty quickly (at least by the next day). As I was explaining on another thread, I bought her from a man who couldn't take her of her anymore. She's SUPPOSED to be two, but she could be older. Vet agreed though that she looks to be about 2.
    And she definitely isn't eating anything NEAR the size of an XL guinea or rabbit. I got mediums for the far future and they look far too big. I know she'll grow into it but I can't even imagine her that large.
    Again, the rabbits I'm feeding her are very very tiny. Just babies. She stopped wanting to eat at all when I fed her rats, but she's been eating really happily and quickly with rabbits. I'm confident it's the right size. Her current rabbits are about 250-300 grams each.

    I don't think I'm feeding her the wrong size. I switched to rabbits for the better fat/protein content for boas specifically.

    Thoughts on this? I'd be glad to hear more from you if you have more input. (And I definitely did not try to feed her anything over 400 grams at any point - that would be awful to do to her considering her size. No worries, I'm very attentive with her eating patterns and track them as well).

    Thanks again for your input!

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v4.2.1