First Feed and Question

[starmom]

Well I'm not at all surprised hon. I don't have a ton of boa experience but what I've seen in the 4 we've had/fostered/snake sat - they pretty much consider anything warm, furry and with a heartbeat as darn good eatin! Heck it doesn't even need a heartbeat - warm and fuzzy will do just as well! For us, it's been a real rare thing to get a refusal or any fuss about changing prey types from any of the boa's.

I agree with Jimmi, I'd try the same next feed then gradually bump up. If it helps you any, the female baby boa we are tending for Lynne Whipple was born June 07. She eats one good sized rat pup every 7 days - I'd say a rat pup of about oh say 20 days old or so (not a brand new, just opened it's eyes sized pup). If you need me to I'll happily weigh the pup for you next week as a comparison and get a new girth and weight measurement on Morgaine the boa. We just slowly moved her up to this size. Some weeks she took a couple of rat fuzzies as she grew and moved along in her prey increases.

One thing I've noticed with some of these boa's, they do seem to be more cage protective and more willing to have a go at you when you first approach their home. Once out though, they turn into busy, gotta-check-out-everything snakes. Maybe it's a boa personality thing. We've seen it in 2 of the 4 we've managed so far.

Well, Jo, it's good to know that Zelda isn't just a crazed maniacal eater!! I seriously fear for my fingers and wrists, forearms....! I'll coax her out with a hook this weekend and see if this helps her to not defend her territory. Next time you feed, could you weigh the pup? The one's I have are 27g. I have no idea how much Zelda weighs; Mike said that he doesn't weigh the snakes- it's a ball python thing to weigh all the time! I'm guessing she's about 2 feet long, though she seemed a lot longer when she was striking at me when she came out of the bag! : Thanks for your help..... Like I said to Jimmi, I'm such a weenie and all my balls are sooo gentle and even when they're being snotty it's in a gentle way.... oh give me strength!!!