Food Size Question

[Bogertophis]

I think they all look great- they've got that "loaf of bread" look (fairly straight sides & curved top).

[Gio]

Thank you for refreshing this post with your question, ckuhn003. My eldest boa Genesis will also be turning 5 this year, and I was wondering some of the same things you were about making sure we're feeding our boas appropriately.

All three of my boas (the other two are close to 4 years old) are currently on medium rats, spaced every 2-3 weeks. During the winter months, from the beginning of December through the end of February, I space their feedings further to every 4 weeks, or approximately monthly. I haven't yet done a full-blown winter fast like Gio described, but may consider it in future years. Since all three are males with smaller localities in the mix, I do not anticipate that they will ever need to go above medium rats for prey size.

Also @Gio, my boy Genesis has been especially restless this spring too - the drive to find a "girlfriend" is very noticeable in him this year compared to previous years.

My "aesthetic" posts aside, I had been meaning to ask you guys for your feedback from a health standpoint too - is the trio looking okay, body condition-wise? I just have the photos from the recent photoshoots for now, but I can take additional pics to get better full-body shots if needed.

They look great.
A friend of mine who doesn't post here often did tell me a story about the internal fat that can develop around the liver and other organs of a boas.

I can't recall if it was the personal experience of a friend of his or not unfortunately. The info was about a boa that passed on for no apparent reason. The boa was by all appearances healthy, lean and muscular.

They opened up the snake to get some answers and the was filled with adipose (fat) tissue internally.

Outward appearance probably in general is a good sign that an animal is healthy.

This subject has a lot of depth. The same friend of mine helped another keeper get a very overweight boa back in shape, at least the outer appearance of the snake.

I spoke to Nick Mutton (Inland Reptile) and asked a bit about the metabolic actions in snakes.

Unfortunately there are no real studies on the subject regarding fat metabolism.

I would assume that the winter break I give my adults allows their bodies to metabolize some reserve, fat energy but I don't know how much. Another assumption is that exercise may assist in the metabolism of fat.

I mentioned earlier that our captive prey is more fatty than wild prey. I am a strong advocate of quail for variety. They are certainly less fatty than rats.

Having said all of that, there are hundreds of keepers that have boas that are older than my 11 year old. I consider 11 years old a young adult. I don't know what or how everybody feeds. I do know Gus Rentfro had a female boa over 20 years old that was still producing healthy litter. Gus used to run Rio Bravo Reptiles and is a good friend of Vincent Russo. Both experts in the boa constrictor filed.

Keepers have different ways of doing things. I adopted what I think makes the most sense. Gus Rentfro's seasonal feeding schedule seems to work well for me.


A quote from Gus Rentfro went something like this.

"It is almost impossible to underfeed a boa constrictor and entirely too easy to overfeed one".

[RedRabbit]

Thank you, Bogertophis and Gio. While external appearance may not be fully indicative of health, it's probably the best we can go off of, along with making sure the prey items offered aren't excessively fatty. I agree that Gus Rentfro is a trustworthy source of guidance, and I myself have used Vin Russo's book as a guideline for shifting my boa feeding schedule into a more seasonal pattern.

The exercise component makes sense too. I have basking shelves and perch rods for them to climb in their enclosures (and it is amusing to watch how they negotiate the perch rods in a way that is very different from truly arboreal snakes like GTPs). However, I wonder what else would strike a good balance of providing them more opportunities for physical activity without causing them too much excess stress.

[Bogertophis]

...I wonder what else would strike a good balance of providing them more opportunities for physical activity without causing them too much excess stress.

You should dump the nice furniture, plant some trees*, sturdy shrubs, & put in a fresh water pool with rock ledges.. *Might need a skylight for sunlight too.