Feeding schedule?

[riddick07]

I've seen some varied opinions on this one.

I feed mine one jumbo rat every 6 weeks or so with a couple fasting months in winter. She was 22lbs last time I weighed her and she is around 7ft. She is 12 now. She is active and has the nice rectangular/square shape going on.

I've seen some people feeding their adults a couple smaller rats a week. I remember reading that they weren't built to eat that often.

So I'm just curious how often and what everyone feeds their adults?

[Tsubaki]

Would be useful info to know what animal this is about? Age would also useful.. Also how many are a couple a week? 2, 3, 5?

[riddick07]

Sorry I put it under the BCC and BCI forum I thought that would indicate the type of snake? I have no idea what locality my girl is so I can't really give you that one. I also mentioned she was 12 in the post and a couple means 2. I've never heard of a couple meaning five?

[Tsubaki]

Alright i see where this confusion is coming from, try not to see this as a way to bash you i am just stating what went wrong. So we can pick up where we left off. :)

First of all: Subforum only tells me the Species, nothing about your specific animal. Not every Boa Constrictor subspecies should be fed the same. There are more Boa Constrictors than just BCI/BCC (And even in those there are massive differences in localities, which equal different feeding patterns)

That including that my personal mistake, misreading her age as the way it was written confused me. It had me believing you meant your snake was 7ft before, and 12ft now as i did not see the '12' referring to an age. (Hence my asking for clarification, i did not want to imply you were wrong about anything). Which i now agree, after reading again i see what you mean. I would advise to be more clear in your initial description, it was silly of me to misread but it was also in my opinion a bit easy to misread.

I will now assume you have a Colombian or a Colombian mix, as those are most common. If she's in good health, and your discription indicates she definitely is. Your schedule is good. Twice a week is overfeeding, and you are right they are indeed not build to eat that often.

Also, not to pick a fight. But one thing i do not believe i was at fault with. Even being a non-native English speaker. I've heard the phrase 'a couple' only strictly referring to two when speaking about 'lovers' or items that come two of a kind.. But informally for miscellaneous items it can mean a random low number. Do me a pleasure, google image 'A couple of stones' and see how many of the pictures show more than two stones? Just saying, be specific. 'A couple' is not specific.:p

[riddick07]

I got ISIS stoning people when I googled that phrase...I don't think that was what you were going for haha. I get what you were trying to say though. I wasn't blaming you for anything...or saying you were at fault lol

I'm pretty sure my girl is colombian too but I'm not definite on it.

[Tsubaki]

Ai, that's not what you would want to find on google haha! I just get a lot of pictures.. of.. stones... Not being thrown at people. Anyway glad we understand each other, and i checked your other topics and found the girl you're talking about. She looks Gorgeous, in perfect condition. She does have Colombian influences for sure! There is no way to tell for sure though without knowing her exact heritage. :p

[riddick07]

I'm guessing I get the ISIS stuff because everyone can't stop talking about the topic around here.

I honestly not sure where my mother got her from since she was a present after I worked on mother for quite awhile about allowing me to have a boa. I was 12 years old at the time but my mother has always refereed to Lucky as a colombian boa. So I'm guessing that was what the seller told her! She does have all the characteristics/markings that I read about:)

[Minkness]

Probably...

[bigsnakegirl785]

The schedule I use for my boa constrictors are:

From birth to 1 year: every 7-10 days or 10-14 days depending on growth/body tone; my 6 month old is eating every 10-14 days

1-3 years: every 10-14 days

3+ years: every 3-6 weeks

All meals either leave no bulge or a bulge with no scale separation. I also fast my older animals, which right now will only be my boa constrictors. I'm debating on fasting my BRBs, too, but I might not. Definitely not fasting my retic or my garters because a hungry retic sounds like a bad idea and I don't have the means to properly brumate the garters.

I've been told by owners/breeders of all boa constrictor subspecies that the schedule I use above is applicable to all subspecies and locales, and that it should be changed slightly by individual. So I assume it is.

[DLLNP]

The schedule I use for my boa constrictors are:

From birth to 1 year: every 7-10 days or 10-14 days depending on growth/body tone; my 6 month old is eating every 10-14 days

1-3 years: every 10-14 days

3+ years: every 3-6 weeks


Ya that is pretty similar to what I've seen lots of experienced owners/breeders recommend.

Does anyone think a prey size of 10-15% of total body weight is a good measure of determining prey size? I usually see the "10-15%" rule when discussing ball pythons but I haven't seen anybody use it when discussing boas. I just find that to be a much easier system to follow rather figuring out the widest part of the snake etc..especially when dealing with a growing snake. It'd be nice to have a clear cut system of when to increase prey size.

Dillon

[bigsnakegirl785]

Ya that is pretty similar to what I've seen lots of experienced owners/breeders recommend.

Does anyone think a prey size of 10-15% of total body weight is a good measure of determining prey size? I usually see the "10-15%" rule when discussing ball pythons but I haven't seen anybody use it when discussing boas. I just find that to be a much easier system to follow rather figuring out the widest part of the snake etc..especially when dealing with a growing snake. It'd be nice to have a clear cut system of when to increase prey size.

Dillon

I personally go off girth, and they happen to be about 6-7% of my baby BCI's weight. My adult boa's meals tend to be about 3-8% of his weight, depending on what he gets. So in my experience, not even babies need 10%.

There are a few people who use it for boas, but I feel it's not necessary, and would constitute a huge meal for what I would offer my own personal animals.

It's all up to what you're aiming for (whether it's lean pets or heavier breeding animals that breed every season, or something else).

[riddick07]

Thanks for posting what you feed the younger ones! I was just looking at my little one going hmmmm I wonder if I should be feeding you every 10 days or so. She isn't getting pudgy looking yet but its a close thing:D

My big girl doesn't even have a crazy feeding response anymore like she did when she was younger. She is still alert during feeding time but she doesn't attack it anymore.

[DLLNP]

Ya I definitely want to aim for a leaner, healthier animals as I am not interested in breeding.

Right now I have a little 6 month central american bci.. he is on 9-10g hoppers every 10-12 days.. he weighs about 75g. Maybe the hoppers are too much? They hardly leave a bulge at all, and I definitely wouldn't put them thicker than his widest girth.

I guess if anything I will keep him on the hoppers longer than I originally thought I would. Thanks for the advice!

[bigsnakegirl785]

Thanks for posting what you feed the younger ones! I was just looking at my little one going hmmmm I wonder if I should be feeding you every 10 days or so. She isn't getting pudgy looking yet but its a close thing:D

My big girl doesn't even have a crazy feeding response anymore like she did when she was younger. She is still alert during feeding time but she doesn't attack it anymore.

No problem! It's up to you, as long as she isn't overly chubby, it should be fine continuing with 7 days if you don't feel comfortable moving to 10 days quite yet.

Neither does mine, he'll strike and come out after his food, but he hardly ever hits his food that hard, and only half-heartedly coils. He's fed every 5 weeks atm, and this will be his second year where I fasted him for 90 days. Even right out of his fast, he didn't act all that hungry. He coiled a little tighter, but that's about it.

Ya I definitely want to aim for a leaner, healthier animals as I am not interested in breeding.

Right now I have a little 6 month central american bci.. he is on 9-10g hoppers every 10-12 days.. he weighs about 75g. Maybe the hoppers are too much? They hardly leave a bulge at all, and I definitely wouldn't put them thicker than his widest girth.

I guess if anything I will keep him on the hoppers longer than I originally thought I would. Thanks for the advice!

If they hardly leave a bulge, they should be fine. I got my girl at 80 grams and hoppers left a bulge, but not that big of one. She's ~130 grams now and still happily taking hoppers. I'm probably going to move her and my BRB up to adult mice at the same time in the next couple of months.

[DLLNP]

Awesome! Thanks @bigsnakegirl! So an adult mouse would be the progression you go with after they grow out of hoppers? I wasn't sure if I should switch to rats after the hoppers.

I love how infrequently boas feed, nice on the wallet!

[riddick07]

I love how infrequently boas feed, nice on the wallet!

I know what you mean! My adult Chinese beauty is eating 2 small rats every week and has hardly gained any weight. He still acts hungry after eating the two:shocked:

[Andy_G]

The larger the prey item, the more spaced out the meals should be. I had one huge female that would take a guinea pig or small rabbit once a month or jumbo rats every 2-3 weeks. I would switch back and forth for her. The bulk of the other boas would get a medium-jumbo every 2-3 weeks.

I would also get a boa on rats as soon as possible. They are born large enough to take pinkie rats and don't really ever need to be offered a mouse unless it's the choice of the keeper for some reason (cost, availability, etc.).

[bigsnakegirl785]

The larger the prey item, the more spaced out the meals should be. I had one huge female that would take a guinea pig or small rabbit once a month or jumbo rats every 2-3 weeks. I would switch back and forth for her. The bulk of the other boas would get a medium-jumbo every 2-3 weeks.

I would also get a boa on rats as soon as possible. They are born large enough to take pinkie rats and don't really ever need to be offered a mouse unless it's the choice of the keeper for some reason (cost, availability, etc.).

The more formed the prey item, the more nutritious. Also, the milk belly can cause stomach upset in boas. It's not overly common, but it's common enough I've seen a lot of breeders completely avoid nursing rats/mice with their boas after losing a few babies to it.

They switch incredibly easy, so it's best to feed mice until they can eat jumbo adult mice, and then make the switch rats. Which I think should be weaned rats?

[Andy_G]

The more formed the prey item, the more nutritious. Also, the milk belly can cause stomach upset in boas. It's not overly common, but it's common enough I've seen a lot of breeders completely avoid nursing rats/mice with their boas after losing a few babies to it.

They switch incredibly easy, so it's best to feed mice until they can eat jumbo adult mice, and then make the switch rats. Which I think should be weaned rats?

I always did just rats, even with "fresh into this world" neonates and it's not something I had an issue with, but something to think about, I guess. They are definitely the easiest to switch over.

You'd be looking at pup to weanling size.