Quote Originally Posted by Sauzo View Post
If it works, great. Me personally I prefer to feed smaller prey. Vicky who is just a smidge over 4' was on weaned rats, I just upgraded her to small rats. And Rosey who is my 6' girl has just upgraded to small rabbits. Regarding feeding though, 10 days to me is way too soon for such a big meal. Like I said, I feed all my gals smaller prey on a 3-4 week schedule except Dottie who just recently started eating again after her 5 month winter fast. I'm feeding her on a 2-3 week schedule. If you read a post I put up about how snakes change physically after eating(heart can get 140% of normal and their lungs, liver and everything else doubles in size as well and the effects can last 2 weeks), definitely makes you rethink how often to feed them. Especially the guy who fed his boa a squirrel he shot in backyard once a month and that boa lived into its 40s. That's crazy.

i just read the article and thread, both very interesting. Let me throw this at you (and everyone else): My understanding is that my boa is at an age of major growth (almost 2 years old) and that 10 - 14 days between relatively big meals (right around the size of the mid body) is healthy up until sexual maturity is reached (5 years or so), at which point 3 weeks to a month between meals is sufficient. What do we think? Also, regarding the metabolic processes involved with digestion - is there any correlation in time between deification and preparedness for the next meal? Irwin poops 7 days after a meal like clockwork, this seems like a good thing (as Scatman said, "Ya' gotta keep regular if you want to be happy!") but i really dont know.
And let me ask a newbie question, how the hell can i tell if my snake is hungry? I am slowly learning his communication cues, at this point all i can really read is "I am pissed off" and "I am not pissed off". OK OK, in all seriousness, i do feel like i am getting a feel for his subtler moods, but hunger is tricky.