feeding schedule

[n8whitie]

my red-tail is around 32" long and I was wondering how 1 small rat every 4-5 days sounds.Is it too much.I want him to grow well but I dont want to do any of these power-feeding procedures as I hear it drastically shortens the life of your animal.

Thanks, Nate

[Colonel_SB]

I feed mine similarilty you have the schedual right as for the size as long as it puts a lump in her body then yeah it's all good.

[n8whitie]

Thanks for the info Colonel_sb. should I wait until he takes a dump?is better to it that way or does it matter?

[Derrick]

my hog only craps about once every 2-3 feedings and thats feed 1 medium rat ever 10-14 days. I've heard it said that boas are like that from more experience keepers and thats my experience.

[BOAS_N_PYTHONS]

NATE:

Sounds good on the schedule and great to hear you want a healthy long living boa from your responsibility to it.

Keep up the good work.

Cya...

Tony

[annieb_mice]

Hmmm..... guess I'll have to adjust my feeding schedule somewhat... LOL! I was told to feed my 2 1/2' boa once a week or so... which is what I've been doing.
(wanders off to thaw out a rat) Oh, Sheila... is mommy's baby hungry? Want a nice rat snack? :)
Take care
Annie B. <:3 )~~

[n8whitie]

Hey guys , Thanks for the replies. From what I have been hearing alot of people seem to like feeding their snakes the frozen rats opposed to the live.What do you all feed them.I gather that annieb_mice feeds frozen from the post. I have read an article on reasons to feed frozen and reasons to feed live,both bring good points to the table. It just seems that in the end that pre killed are safer.
Thanks again in advance, Nate

[BoidKeeper]

I fed/feed my 6 boas one item equal to their girth every 5 days for the first year and then once a week after that.
Cheers,
Trevor

[Derrick]

the only argument for feeding live that I've ever heard is that the extra excercise due to constriction helps decrease the rate of snakes becoming egg bound. This was in regards to cornsnakes and mice. A rat could kill you snake or at least hurt it quite badly. If you insist on feeding live never leave it alone with the rat.

I dint mention before that my boas get fed prey about 1.5 time thier girth at that 10-14 interval. There lot of different ways to go about feeding your snake.

[BoidKeeper]

Every time I want fish for dinner I don't go fishing I go to the ice box.lol It's the same for my snakes every time I feed them I go to the ice box. I keep the rats next to the fish.lol But seriously it's safer for the snake, dead rodents don't bite. Snakes don't always win in wild. Freezing also kills a lot of paracites that may be in the feeder. The list goes on and on but mainly it's safer for the snake, more convinient for the keeper and more humain for the rodent.
As for the exercise thing. A friend of mine always tease feeds with hemostats and wiggles the rat after the snake hits it so he has to fight for it. He feels that by doing this he is providing the exercise that they would get from killing their own food.
Cheers,
Trevor

[Derrick]

ya Trevor i just listed that thing about the cornsnakes because its the only time I actuall heard of someone switching from F/T to live. I belive i was the breeder who wrote the consnake manual. When you have hundreds of snakes you dont really have time to tease feed. Simon would never get any sleep:D

[bistrobob85]

I feed my 1.5 years old male boa every 12 days a mature rat. For my baby dumeril, i feed it every 5 days a 7 days old rat... I use a feeding schedule on which i write everything my snakes eat, so that if i feed my boa a prey smaller than usual, i feed it sooner after. Snakes don't eat on regular schedules in the wild and it is harmless for them to be fed so, as long as you stay resonable and consider the size of the last lunch to measure when you'll feed again...

phil.

[n8whitie]

I have been feeding my boa live rats but from what you said with the biting and all it sounds like an infection could set pretty easily. Im going to have to try the switch to dead rats. I hope the snake takes well to it. If not Ill tell my girlfriend to dangle and wiggle this rat infront of him.(dont worry, he wont bite.He thinks its a game) LOL. Anyways thanks for your guys input. As soon as I figure out how to resize the pics off my digital cam I will throw some pics on here.

take it EZ, N8

[Derrick]

There's some bite pictures. Infection would be the least of you worries with a rodent bite.
http://www.lbah.com/Reptile/snakeskin.htm#rb
http://www.anapsid.org/ratbites.html
http://www.proexotics.com/FAQ_answers_Why_do_you_suggest_feeding_thawed.html <<< this is an article and has a link to a particularly brutal bite and suggestions on switching to F/T

good luck with it