How big to start on adult mice?

[Tarentola]

I have a 4 and a half month old Colombian Boa which eats on hopper a week, he is 2-2.5 feet and has a very thick girth and a nice body weight.

Could he eat an adult mouse

[Tarentola]

srry thats supposed to say he eats 1 hopper a week

[BoAddict]

i would try an appropriate sized rat , but is jmo
Mike

[Linds]

I agree with Mike. The sooner you can get them on rats, the better. Boas can easily take appropriately sixed rats from birth. Hopper mice are much too small for your boa to be feeding on right now. I would suggest trying small rats :)

[Invictus]

My baby boas got adult mice for their SECOND feeding. There is no reason whatsoever to keep them on hoppers. A 4 month old could easily take a rat fuzzy.

[Tarentola]

in the boa constrictor manual it says you are supposed to only feed fuzzies for the first 10 feeding because of there delicate/soft stomachs

[Invictus]

Well, I disagree with the boa constrictor manual then.

[BoAddict]

i 2nd that motion

[sweet]

why isnt there a care sheet on this site for colombians?

[BoidKeeper]

Jeff Rone also disagrees with the boa constrictor manual on that point as do I. Jeff Rone says that because of their delicate stomachs it is easier for them to digest a pinkie rat instead of a fuzzie mouse. He starts all his babies on pinkie rats.
In my experience any snake that when it is full grow can eat large rats is generally born large enough to eat baby rats. Rats are a better food sourse and your snake will almost never out grow them. Imagine if your snake developed a taste for mice. How many mice would it take to feed an adult boa 1 appropriate meal, 25?
Cheers,
Trevor

[Invictus]

I've never seen a boa become a stickler for any type of rodent. Usually, you either get a boa that will eat, or a boa that won't. I've never had a problem switching any of my boas from mice to rats and vice-versa. (Sometimes rats are in short supply, so I have had to use 2-3 jumbo mice in the past).

[Tarentola]

its weird too(I have started to feed with a rat pinkie) the rat pinkie*live* is cheaper then the hopper*frozen*

Thats weird.....................all well no mice for me anymore

[Invictus]

Personally, I don't think you should bother with the rat pinkies.. That is for NEWBORN boa constrictors. Yours is 4 months old. Pinkies are nothing but fat, and they don't have the calcium or protein that a 4 month old boa needs. Move up to rat fuzzies or, as I suggested before, adult mice. Trust me, you'll see a huge growth spurt.

[dave68]

I agree Ken, all my baby boas took adult mice for their first meal.If you have unusually small babies then you may want to start em on something a bit smaller, but in my experience they are eating machines and grow like weeds!!

Dave