M&H,
Jeff Ronne "The Boaphile" had experimented in his breeding program early on to get some breeding boas up to speed faster, size and weight by feeding the snakes a lot more food, and keeping them in higher temps. He stated the boas that were fed in that fashion were not living beyond 5 years of age.
I think power feeding can be viewed differently person to person, but from what I've seen in most boa care sheets is a 10-14 day time span between meals. And prey size should not leave a noticeable lump in the snake. feeding more than that and more frequently could be considered power feeding. I think there are extreme case as well.
I could be totally off here on this but when I saw the boa was a Hog Island locality and a male that measured 8" which is big for even a male Colombian, I had to wonder a little as to how it was fed. If the boa is 3 years old or under, I'd be leaning toward heavy feeding somewhere in the chain.
But I also want to make it clear I'm just guessing and throwing out possibilities.
I feel terrible for the owner especially since it sounded like the care on his/her end was perfect.
Really sad and we all are probably wondering why??
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