When can I start feeding rats

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I have a Central American Boa.
It likes to eat two mice at a time and would probably eat more if I offered it.
How soon can I start feeding small rats?

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Its about 30 or so inches long.

https://postimg.org/image/pdeha17nv/

https://postimg.org/image/gb69jgd3x/

[Serpent guru]

A guide to kinda figure out when he needs one size bigger mouse or rat is when u ant seeing a bulge in his or her stomach.so that being stated u want something basically as thick as the thickest part of its body if not a tad bit bigger to where u can see a bulge.i would stick to one mouse thats a perfect size for him once every 5-7days if he's a yearling after a year I would stick to every 7-10days

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I've been feeding one mouse every 7 days, but made a feeding video yesterday so I fed both my Corn and Boa two mice each as a treat, and so I had more content to show on Facebook.

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Even two mice didn't really leave a lump. I've had the boa about 4 months or so, but it was pretty decently sized when I got it. Its about 30 inches or so now.

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My account is too new to post pic's.

[Serpent guru]

Well I mean it will just leave a longer lump if anything.and u don't really want a massive bulge in him when offering a size bigger mouse.but if u can barely see it then u might wanna go up a size.kinda hard to explain how big of a meal u want something noticeable in his stomach but not nothing that looks like a huge freaking lump.

[Serpent guru]

And I think u have to verify stuff with ur email if I'm not mistaking I'm not completely sure if a moderator sees this I'm sure he will tell u how to fix it because when I first got on here I was able to post pictures instantly

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It think it has something to do with my post count, so at least talking to you I'm getting my post count up haha.

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I don't know what the magic number is though, as far as how many text post I need to make before I can post pic's.

[Serpent guru]

Um I truly have no idea.i can't really help u with that.ig just wait till a certain time or a moderator See's this

[bigsnakegirl785]

Small rats generally are best for 4'+ boas, if your boa is only 30" it's probably not quite yet ready for rats. Give it another half a foot and I'd start it on weaned rats.

When a boa is 1-1.5+ years you want to start seeing zero bulge. So you want something roughly the girth without being able to tell the snake has eaten right after swallowing. Juices and gas does build up after about 6-8 hours, so at that time you'll probably see a bulge.

No rodent eating snake should be eating more often than every 7 days, and especially not boas.

Birth-1 year: 7-14 days, I personally save 7 days for hatchlings taking their first 2-3 meals, after that I'd move them to 10-14 days

1-3 years: 10-21 days

3+ years: 4-6 weeks, but for a dwarf you should be good going 4 weeks

For your reference, my sunglow is 36"-37" and 300 grams eating a jumbo mouse but should be able to take weaned rats once she puts on a little more size. My ghost is 3.5'-4' and 500 grams and eating weaned rats, and should be going on smalls soon.

Both snakes can easily take the next size up, but just because they can doesn't mean they should. You want to see a small or nonexistent bulge in older snakes, the older they are the more important it is there shouldn't be any bulge.

[Serpent guru]

I'm curious why u only feed 4-6weeks per rat?when over a 3+ year old boa?I feed mine every 7-14days and he is 5-6years old.im not saying ur wrong the way u bring up ur animals just curious

[bigsnakegirl785]

Originally Posted by Serpent guru

I'm curious why u only feed 4-6weeks per rat?when over a 3+ year old boa?I feed mine every 7-14days and he is 5-6years old.im not saying ur wrong the way u bring up ur animals just curious

Because anything more than that is drastically overfeeding. According to Stephen Secor's research, it can take a snake a minimum of 7-18 days to digest a meal, and snakes require additional time in between meals to allow their bodies to return to a resting ("fasting" as he words it) state. An adult boa constrictor does not metabolically need to be eating every 14 days, and it puts great strain on their systems to be doing so.

His research was on pythons, but boas have proved to have far slower metabolisms and a lower threshold for fat metabolizing, so it's even more pertinent here.

I can tell you as an owner who has been feeding their 6.5' boa a large rat every 4-5 weeks and fasting him for 90 days a winter for a good 2.5 years, it is not underfeeding. I also have had many experienced keepers/breeders give me that same advise, which is why I began feeding him in this way in the first place.

Once a boa turns 2 years, its metabolism harshly drops, and continues to drop marginally over the next several years.

[Minkness]

-bites tongue-

Feeding is always an argument here. =/