RTB Food

[ClarkT]

So I'm wondering what kind of variety of food can RTBs eat. Obviously mice, rats, and rabbits. But what about birds? Can they eat pigeons? I have a guy that will give me pigeons....

Also, can they thrive on any type of birds? (obviously appropriately sized...)

Has anyone fed cats to theirs? Not that I would or anything, I'm just curious on the variety of different animals they would be able to live on. Not just subsist, but grow and thrive.

Maybe these are silly questions...haha.

[mainbutter]

These guys tend to be ground dwellers and really have no opportunity to eat birds in the wild. As adults, pretty much all of their prey in central and south america is mammalian. I wouldn't feed any avians to a boa constrictor, particularly pidgeons. If I was feeding avian prey, I'd go with captive bred chickens, ducks, or possibly quail.

From a purely scientific point of view, I'm sure that feline species are just as nutritious to boa constrictors as rodent species are. In fact I bet there's been more than one jaguar kitten in the entire history of boa constrictor existence that has been eaten. I don't think we need a debate here about the ethics of domesticated cats as a food source, it's not the sort of thing you can usually convince people of one way or the other. You won't find anyone on here who will think it's "cool" to toss an abandoned kitten you found on the street and giggle while the snake kills it, but there surely are plenty who don't see cats as being more "special" than pigs, rabbits, or rats.

Just my two cents.

[rperry03]

Pigeons are just dirty! Don't know about farm raised. Yes they like chicks, have yet to find anything alive that a boa wont eat.

[ClarkT]

Yeah, I'm in no way condoning using cats. I'm just a curious type of guy.

Aren't pigeons referred to as the "rats of the sky"? I agree. They're dirty, but so are rats...

If boas won't really do very well on birds, so be it. I just wondered how much of a variety of animals they would/could eat and thrive on.