I feed my boa two gerbils (depending on the size), because my 10 1/2 month old boa is a bit nippy if i give him just 1. Like hunrgy, nippy and just all around seems hungry by the way he acts, so i think you should upgrade to rats. I would but my local petstore doesnt stock feeder rats or any rats period. Rats are a good food to get them used to at a fairly young age because they'll be eating them when they're grown up anyways.