Feeding guidelines-Question

[Jus1More]

Hello friends... My female Hog Island Boa turned 2 yrs old this month and currently is eating one f/t small rat every 7 days. I have read that when a boa is over a year old they can be fed every 14 days.

My question for you guys is should I cut back my girl to feeding every 14 days instead of 7 days? ALSO, if I cut back to feeding every 14 days, would I still feed her one small rat or one medium sized rat? I know that boa's in general have a slower metabolism, but I want her to stay at a healthy weight as well as I dont want her to be hungry.

Thank you for your suggestions!

[jmcrook]

Definitely dial back the feeding frequency. ~2 weeks on small rats, ~3 weeks or so on mediums, ~3-4 weeks on larges. Fat builds up around their organs before there are external indicators of obesity.


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[Bogertophis]

I just wouldn't do it quite that abruptly though...

[CloudtheBoa]

I feed smalls every 2-3 weeks, mediums 3-4, and larges 4-6 weeks. Whatever you feed should be equal to girth, and not cause any scale separation immediately after swallowing. Once they're large enough for mediums/larges, I generally stop feeding based off of girth. So my 7' female's meals are closer to half her girth, but that has proven to be more than enough to sustain her, and has even allowed her to gain nearly a pound in my care. (My boas do also get various birds as well as rabbits in their diet, however, not just rats.)

She should be just fine going straight out to longer intervals. I started out feeding my first boa larges every week, and fed a few 1 lb rabbits before some users on here corrected me....he went straight from 1 week feedings to 4 week feedings, and had a short 2.5 month fast without any food. I've also not had any issues with any of my other snakes getting diet changes.

[brott.dave]

Follow Clouds advice on feedings and you should be golden.

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[Jus1More]

I feed smalls every 2-3 weeks, mediums 3-4, and larges 4-6 weeks. Whatever you feed should be equal to girth, and not cause any scale separation immediately after swallowing. Once they're large enough for mediums/larges, I generally stop feeding based off of girth. So my 7' female's meals are closer to half her girth, but that has proven to be more than enough to sustain her, and has even allowed her to gain nearly a pound in my care. (My boas do also get various birds as well as rabbits in their diet, however, not just rats.)

She should be just fine going straight out to longer intervals. I started out feeding my first boa larges every week, and fed a few 1 lb rabbits before some users on here corrected me....he went straight from 1 week feedings to 4 week feedings, and had a short 2.5 month fast without any food. I've also not had any issues with any of my other snakes getting diet changes.

Thanks Cloud- so every 14 days feed her a small rat or every 21 days feed a medium rat and so on... Is that correct? I tried to weigh her today since she just pooped and the scale said 1200 grams but she didn't stay still long enough to judge if that was a good read. But she just turned 2 yrs old this month... Thanks for your help!

[CloudtheBoa]

Thanks Cloud- so every 14 days feed her a small rat or every 21 days feed a medium rat and so on... Is that correct? I tried to weigh her today since she just pooped and the scale said 1200 grams but she didn't stay still long enough to judge if that was a good read. But she just turned 2 yrs old this month... Thanks for your help!

Yup. If she's 1,200 grams, she might be around the size I start feeding my boas mediums. Around the 4.5' mark.