Bci male or female and general feeding tips

[William Snakespeare]

Hi guys, i am planning on getting a male bci boa but first gettinf the cage and everything setup.
I was just wondering, how big will males get. Will i have ro feed rabbits?

And what are your feeding schedules like?
I heard boas in general are slow growers and have soow metabolisms. So how often should i feed?

I am planning on getting a baby so it can grow up with me

Thanks guys!

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[Randall L Turner Jr]

You will rarely have to feed rabbits to an Imperator, especially a male. Over the past 25+ years of keeping Boas I don't recall ever feeding rabbits to them. (did feed Guinea Pigs and small chickens occasionally).

Regarding feeding schedule I mix it up with varying feeding rather than feeding on a set schedule. I usually feed anywhere from every 5 days up to every 3 weeks. (usually the feedings span around 2 weeks between feedings). If you want to go with a set schedule going 10-14 days between meals is a good set point to go with.

Regarding how big males get, they tend to stay smaller than females, but can and will grow to a fairly large size, I believe Gios male is approximately 7' and he's a good example of a well kept adult male and his potential size.

[William Snakespeare]

Awesome, do you have any pics?

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[artgecko]

I agree with the post above. Most males will probably be around 6' but some can have the potential to grow much larger. it is best to ask for size of the parents...that may help give you an idea.

My ~5 year old male BCA is roughly 6' (or close to it) and he may still grow throughout his life.

For feeding, you slow down the feeding schedule as the boa ages. Boas are ravenous and will feed given any opportunity, so it's your job to basically keep them in good shape and not allow them to become fat.. Feeding too much too frequently can cause a shorter lifespan.

I have fed my boas basically the following schedule: 1 year or less- every 7 days 2 years- every 2 weeks, 3 years-every 3 weeks, 4 years+ every 4-6 weeks depending on size of meal and to maintain correct body shape.

Note that you can feed differently from time to time and that the times I listed are the basic guidelines I follow. For example, some people do every 10 days for boas that are 1-1.5 years old.

I try to rotate out what I feed, but mostly feed f/t rats. My biggest boa takes medium rats. If I have to feed him a larger rat, I will give him a longer break before he eats again.

This is a picture of my largest boa from last year, when he was about 5.5' long.

[Randall L Turner Jr]

Here is a link to one of Gios threads showing off his beautiful boy.

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...-stretched-out

As far as pix of my males, my current batch of animals are still growing (had quit keeping back in 2010 for a few years) so none of them are big (my biggest male at the moment is a toss up between my adult sonoran boy whos just over 4' and my Sharp albino boy who is right at 4' as well.)

But here are a couple pix of males I had in the past.

Male motley that was about 6 1/2' or so back in 2009/10
https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8169/2...a73e7e13_o.jpg

A circleback laddertail male I had, he was a little over 6'
https://c2.staticflickr.com/2/1694/2...8bdfc070_o.jpg

[paulh]

Biggest male Bci that I've had was several inches under 8 feet. Biggest female was several inches over 8 feet. Another male boa was under 6 feet as an adult, so they can vary tremendously. Parents' sizes are the best guide to a baby's potential size, as artgecko wrote.

I have fed a rabbit to a 7 foot boa constrictor once. Because I had a free rabbit and needed to get rid of it. Rats of appropriate size have been the staple diet.

There is much good information here:
Clay English, Ultimate Boa Constrictor Care Guide, https://www.madaboutboas.com

Good luck

[William Snakespeare]

Ok guys thanks for the tips

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[Dutti]

Biggest male Bci that I've had was several inches under 8 feet. Biggest female was several inches over 8 feet. Another male boa was under 6 feet as an adult, so they can vary tremendously. Parents' sizes are the best guide to a baby's potential size, as artgecko wrote.

I have fed a rabbit to a 7 foot boa constrictor once. Because I had a free rabbit and needed to get rid of it. Rats of appropriate size have been the staple diet.

There is much good information here:
Clay English, Ultimate Boa Constrictor Care Guide, https://www.madaboutboas.com

Good luck

"Parents' sizes are the best guide to a baby's potential size", i disagree with this statement. The father of my 17 months old BCI was 5,30 feet and the mother was 5,60 feet and my boy is 4,80 feet at 17 months old.

[AbsoluteApril]

Some great advise already given.

I keep most of my males on the smaller side, around 4.5' or so, feeding ft medium rats, one every 4-6 weeks on average. My largest male is just around 6', I got him in 2002 (he's a '98) and he hasn't grown much since then. He gets a jumbo rat on the same schedule. Picked him up with his sister, both were power fed by the original owner and the sister died a couple years ago sadly. Here's a pic of my big guy (old pic!)

The father of my 17 months old BCI was 5,30 feet and the mother was 5,60 feet and my boy is 4,80 feet at 17 months old.

yeah but you're powerfeeding him with large rats already.

[artgecko]

"Parents' sizes are the best guide to a baby's potential size", i disagree with this statement. The father of my 17 months old BCI was 5,30 feet and the mother was 5,60 feet and my boy is 4,80 feet at 17 months old.

Feeding regimen can have a lot to do with this. I have two ~3 year old boas (male BI) and both are around 4' now. I'd slow down your feeding to at least once every 2 weeks if he is growing that fast. That said, parents' sizes can't tell you everything, the boas could be carrying genes for larger animals in their background and it come out in the offspring.

Now, it does stand to reference that boas continue to grow throughout their lives and the size of a breeding-age animal (say, 4-5 years) may increase as it ages past that point, although growth signifigantly slows down past 5.