Quote Originally Posted by Bogertophis View Post
I've heard of this method but never with "baby" snakes: the difference is that young snakes (of all kinds that consume rodents) are fed pinky mice or rats,
which are mostly digestible and produce very little "roughage" for stool, so what can happen is that it may take several meals to make one stool. When snakes
defecate, they also "lose" some water in the process, and snakes are adapted to minimize water loss as it's not always abundant in their natural surroundings.
I can't tell you how many times someone has worried & inquired on a forum about their snake NOT going often enough: "is he constipated?"

In my experience raising some baby snakes (including desert rosy boas but NOT the larger boas many here are keeping other than one BCI) I've never worried
or tracked when they 'go' & it was never an issue. I fed & still feed all my snakes at acceptable intervals for their age/size, but don't "obsess" over exact # of
days*, & have no issues. They 'go' when they go...and in captivity they (presumably) have adequate water & perhaps defecate more often than they would if
water is in shorter supply. (*younger snakes are fed more often, elderly ones less often than "middle aged" adults, etc.)

A keeper following the method you describe would have a very slow-growing boa, I would imagine. May I ask whose video this was? Because there are many
videos out there but not all should be followed, IMO. If it's from a recognized expert breeder in boas, that would get my attention, not if it's a random video.
Appreciate the info. I've never been too worried about putting a time on when a snake should defecate or shed as long as I know my husbandry conditions are where they should be. Here's the video I was referring to. It's mentioned around the 3:45 mark and to be fair, I don't think she explicit calls out the age of the BOA but since she talks a lot about young boas, I just assumed she was applying this 'guideline' to young boas.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkkyNjoy1Hc