Sinestra, the hypo jungle

[AbsoluteApril]

looking so beautiful!
I don't use feeding charts or weights, I go by feeding something no larger than the thickest part of the snake's girth.
A small bulge is fine, you don't want a big bulge though (pythons are better at handling oversized items, not to say a boa can't... just in general)
A f/t adult mouse or f/t rat pup should be fine (I usually try to switch my boas to rats pretty quickly if they don't take them off the bat)

[MAC1]

Looks great.
On feeding from an excellent source. Baby Boas that are intended to be shoulder pets should eat an appropriately sized meal every 7-10 days. The meal should leave a slight lump in the boas body and should not be so large that it spreads the scales of the snake. The size of the prey item should increase as your boa grows, and the interval between meals also lengthen. For example , a sub-adult boa may only require food every 10-21 days.

This is the book to get

The complete Boa constrictor: a comprehensive guide to the care, breeding, and geographic races.

Russo, Vincent




















Complete Boa Constrictor: A Comprehensive Guide to the Care, Breeding, and Geographic Races

[COLOR=#555555 !important]Mar 21, 2007[/COLOR]
[COLOR=#555555 !important]by [COLOR=#555555 !important]Vincent Russo[/COLOR][/COLOR]

[richardhind1972]

Looking really great, nice clean markings

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[Jessibelle]

Hi everyone!!! I got a picture of Sin eating her hopper (11 grams). I’m really concerned that I’m underfeeding her. I can see her spine. She’s now 179 grams and 5 months old. I feed her one hopper every 7 days.

Should I bump her up to the next prey size? Or could I feed her two hoppers at once? Does she look underweight?

As always, thanks for all your help!


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[dakski]

You want Boas to be lean and muscular.

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...72#post2657072

Look at the pictures of Behira on this page of her thread. You can see her spine too, but it's not protruding. It doesn't look like Sin's is either.

Having said that, 11G's, or any hopper, is probably a little small.

I would bump up to weaned/small mice (14-19G). The meal should leave small lump and be gone within 48 hours (completely gone/unnoticeable). If the lump seems a little larger than normal, feed 10-14 days later instead. Boas have very slow metabolisms. As you can see, even though, at 179G, Sin's meal size has been on the small size, she's still growing and looks good.

Remember, with boas, better to feed smaller than larger, when in doubt. Big meals can be bad for them, especially if fed too soon after.

At 250G+, you can feed regular/adult mice.

Over 350-400G, I would start offering weaned rats. Over 500-600G, I would start offering small rats, but at that point, you should be feeding ever OTHER week.

Don't hesitate to keep asking questions. Also, feel free to PM anytime. I've learned a lot keeping, now, 2 boas, both from a lot of research, some trial and error, and from some good peeps on here.

[Jessibelle]

You want Boas to be lean and muscular.

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...72#post2657072

Look at the pictures of Behira on this page of her thread. You can see her spine too, but it's not protruding. It doesn't look like Sin's is either.

Having said that, 11G's, or any hopper, is probably a little small.

I would bump up to weaned/small mice (14-19G). The meal should leave small lump and be gone within 48 hours (completely gone/unnoticeable). If the lump seems a little larger than normal, feed 10-14 days later instead. Boas have very slow metabolisms. As you can see, even though, at 179G, Sin's meal size has been on the small size, she's still growing and looks good.

Remember, with boas, better to feed smaller than larger, when in doubt. Big meals can be bad for them, especially if fed too soon after.

At 250G+, you can feed regular/adult mice.

Over 350-400G, I would start offering weaned rats. Over 500-600G, I would start offering small rats, but at that point, you should be feeding ever OTHER week.

Don't hesitate to keep asking questions. Also, feel free to PM anytime. I've learned a lot keeping, now, 2 boas, both from a lot of research, some trial and error, and from some good peeps on here.

Thank you so much, Dakski!! You are always so helpful! I love reading your posts as you always go above and beyond to help people on this site. People like you are the reason, I and so many others, love this site.

Back to Sin, you’re correct that her spine is not protruding. She has been steadily increasing in weight, and I’m pretty good at keeping record.

But the past couple of feedings, I thought it looked a little small, so I will definitely bump her up to weaned/small mice.


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[dakski]

Sounds great and thank you so much for the kind words and compliment; I do my best. People like you, who want what's best for their animals, and are receptive to help, make it all worthwhile .

Also, great on the record keeping. I too am meticulous about that. Sin looks like she's growing well and now is a great time to move up on prey size.

One point of advice, especially with boas and pythons, who don't use the bathroom regularly, especially as adults. Weigh only after bowel movements. The readings will be more accurate, and you will still see a positive trend over time in a growing snake, or the opposite in a fasting, or ill snake.

Behira gets fed every 3 weeks now as she's on medium rats. She usually uses the bathroom a few days before feeding day and that's when I weigh her. With the corn snakes, it's less of an issue, because they go like clockwork, 3-5 days after a meal. The Ball Python is similar to the boas.

Anyway, enough about bathroom schedules.

Sounds like you are doing great with Sin and keep us posted and keep up the good work.

Glad you asked about her weight and were concerned, but equally glad, at least I think, that she looks great.

[cletus]

Beautiful snake. I love the hypo gene. Congrats!

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[richardhind1972]

Sinestra is looking great, I love the hypo gene in boas, really does a good clean up job

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[Jessibelle]

Had a pretty crappy day today, but I got home and after hanging with my husband and my babies, feeling much better. Here’s a pic of Sin hanging out on my foot. She’s the sweetest thing. And I put a cup in Suki’s enclosure and she loves it! I love my scalebabiessss


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