Well, figure I'll jump in again lol. The problem isnt the size of your boa. The problem is the amount of food you are feeding said boa for his size. A 4' boa should in no way be eating a large rat. Most 4' boas are on small rats. Now this is assuming your larges are the same as most everyone elses larges which can vary from source to source. But for me, larges are around 220-250g. That is what my 6.5' boa eats every 3-4 weeks.
And like i said before, just because the time frame you feed is acceptable, the size of the prey might not be. That combo will still equal to overfeeding. You need to balance out the size of the prey AND the time frame you feed.
Also, boas are ALWAYS hungry. They are opportunistic feeders. They will pretty much never turn down a meal as they dont know when the next one may come. In the wild they sometimes go months without food. This trait in them makes them both a pleasure to deal with and a pain at the same time. My boas always act hungry. The minute the doors are slid open, they perk up and think dinner is coming. When they realize it's my hand and not a juicy rat, quail or rabbit, they sulk and continue on. You cant judge your feeding based on the snake as you will end up going broke from buying food and have a scaled stuffed sausage with a head that dies in 5-10 years.
And like Gio said, overfeeding can manifest before it shows up externally. Meaning that boas build up fat around their organs first, then it shows up on the body. So by the time you see your squarish boa turn into a stuffed sausage, they damage has already been done internally on the liver and heart.
But anyways, like i was more or less trying to say, a large rat for a 4' boa is WAY too much. Even a medium rat for a 4' boa is too much. My 5.5' sunglow like i mentioned eats medium rats every 3-4 weeks. People are just trying to shed light for you but some people just have learn by hands on. If you continue feeding the way you are, you are going to have a very thick boa with a tiny pinhead that will require rabbits or 3 large rats to fill up by your standards.
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