Boas will NOT eat as much as you give them

[Sauzo]

I fed my 18 months male BCI a live jumbo rat(411 grams) 2 weeks ago. He pooped it out three days ago and two days ago in two batches. So his stomach was empty. And this is the time when he usually gets hungry. I feed him on average every 2 weeks a large live rat(300 grams). Today i brought him another Jumbo live rat(370 grams). I opened his enclosure and let him smell the rat first as i usually do. I know from his reaction whether he is hungry or not, whether he wants to eat or not. He did not react in anyway and showed no signs that he is interested in food. So i did not give him the rat. The reason for that obviously is that the rat he ate last time was bigger than usual. So his body did not require more food now. So he knows if his body requires food or not. This is not about overfeeding, its about that false claim that boas will eat as much as you give them and that they will never refuse a meal, that they can,t judge for themselves if their bodies require food or not

*Shakes head* The reason he didnt eat would most likely be because you ARE overfeeding him lol. A 411 gram rat every 2 weeks......even my retic doesnt eat that much in a sitting. I usually give him a large rat every 10 days which is about 250 grams or i give him a jumbo which is between 350 and 400 grams every 2 weeks. Now that is a 7+ foot python!!

And if you are referring to me saying boas are opportunistic feeders who will eat as much as given, then yes they will but you missed the part where i also added...'unless you stuff them like a turkey'. Any animal, opportunistic feeder or not has a breaking point on food.

And you are right in that the snakes body did not require more food after a 411 gram rat 2 weeks ago hahaha. The only snake i have that has eaten something that big my retic and he doesnt do that anymore as he has topped out in his growth and has thickened up so he is down to maintenance feeding like i said of a large to jumbo rat every 10-14 days. And none of my boas strike or anything. i can reach in and grab any of them any time and they are fine.

And all of my boas will eat any time i give them food. I have never had Rosey my 5+ year old 6.5 ft female ever refuse food in over 5 years. Have never had my almost 4 year old 6' sunglow female ever refuse food in in almost 4 years. In fact not a single one of my snakes has ever refused a meal except my BP during winter but she regulates her own intake and usually quits eating from about mid to end of Nov to around Apr or so.

I really dont know why i continue to even debate this topic with you as i will state with certainty that you have not kept boas long enough to know proper husbandry. Join any boa FB group and tell them you feed an 18 month old MALE bci a 400g rat every 2 weeks and they will run you outta the group lol.

I'm guessing this is your first and only boa which you have had for maybe a year? Nothing wrong with learning but dont give out bad info especially your feeding habits. You can ask ANY person who has had boas for years and they will tell you the same thing i have told you countless amounts of time...you are overfeeding. And the definition of overfeeding in your case is you are feeding the snake the maximum size food in a very short time period. Do you really think a boa in the wild is going to be eating a huge meal every 2 weeks like clockwork and not have to expend a single calorie of energy to acquire it? No. Boas in the wild expend LOTS of energy to find food and miss more food than they catch and in the winter, they go months WITHOUT food. Sometimes they will only eat maybe 4 times a year yet they do great in the wild.

Now we got our captive fat lazy sausages which dont have to expend an ounce of energy and some dont even have the cage space to expend energy if they wanted. Add to that, people feed them the max size item they can fit like clockwork on a schedule that they would NEVER encounter in the wild and then wonder why they would refuse food lol.

Again, not sure who is the bigger idiot, you for believing your nonsense or me for arguing the point with for the 100th time haha. Anyways, do what you want, it is your snake that will ultimately pay the price for your ignorance of their husbandry but dont pass that ignorance on to newer people who are trying to learn how to correctly keep boas or really any snake for that matter. None of them were designed by Mother Nature to eat as much as mammals or even lizards.