David EATS Goliath! (video)

[Gio]

I always feed on a schedule, to ensure the snake is getting time for their organs to return to a normal state and stay there for a bit. Even feeding my boa a large rat every 4-5 weeks and fasting him 90 days, he's still getting more food than he would in the wild, but spacing it out like that is much healthier.

Until he turns 3, yes, 10-14 days is appropriate. But as Sauzo mentioned, I would err closer to 14 days than 10 days with that size of a meal. It's not overly large, but it's not something I personally would feed my boas of his age every feeding. The older they are, the smaller the bulge you want to see.

Males reach sexual maturity at 18 months, and reach physical maturity at 5-6 years, maybe even up to 9 years. Females reach sexual maturity at 4 years, and physical maturity at 5-6, up to 9 years.

This is solid info.

It is extremely important to let the snake (boa constrictor in particular) empty out completely. There are several important chemical and organ size changes that occur during feeding and digestion. It is critical that a BC has the time to enter, process, complete the entire cycle and stabilize for a time.

Gus Rentfro is my favorite authority on boa constrictors. He is world class when it comes to knowledge of these animals and has deep knowledge of the feeding habits in captivity and in the wild.

Vin Russo (friend of Gus's) states in his book, THE COMPLETE BOA CONSTRICTOR that he found BCs to grow more when they are NOT fed over the winter.

The largest of the boas are found in the wild and they are the oldest snakes. That is according to Gus Rentfro.

You may hear of big boas in captivity, but many of them are on the fast track to a short life and will probably not reach their true size potential.

A HEALTHY, large BC should have no problem living into it's late 20's. Breeders, like Rentfro, have had boas nearly 30 years old produce perfect litters after breeding.

So as far as feeding goes; I most certainly would let your BC completely empty out before feeding again.

If you feed large once, allow some time and then feed a smaller meal next. Mix up your prey type for variation in diet. Rats, quail, small, small rabbits, (if it can handle them in time), and use variation in prey size as well.

The "schedule" I follow is actually no schedule at all. The boa's digestion process and activity level dictates how I'll feed. If you want a more active BC, feed less. You will see hunting behaviors and a lot more moving around than what a "fat and happy" BC would show you. This is very similar to snakes with very high metabolisms. They eat, clean out and start moving. Boas will hunt and forage, but they need to be hungry to do it. There is absolutely nothing wrong with a hungry BC.



Once fully mature, I'd drop your temps in the winter and skip feeding through the season until spring.


Gus once wrote that he felt it was very easy to overfeed a BC, but almost impossible to underfeed one.

OK,

That was my rant.

Have fun and enjoy your boa!

Neat video too.