Feeding regimen for all constrictors!! A MUST read and would love some input+discuss

[MichaelRobinson]

Feed your baby boa ONCE A WEEK. Big snake girl loves to tell people to feed a GROWING YOUNG boa sparingly but, any expert will tell you ONCE A WEEK. THIS IS THE INDUSTRY STANDARD. After one year feed every 10 to 14 days and through adulthood and as an adult, feed your boa " a meal that leaves a mild sized lump once every two to three weeks" (Vin Russo)

Heads up to the snake starvers: If you tell me that Vin Russo is wrong and you're right, i will probably just laugh.

[phenyx]

Ok, I have to say something. As a newbie who came to this site trying to learn how to feed my snakes, this constant arguing (and now, apparently, name calling) about feeding regimens across MULTIPLE threads is doing nothing but raising more confusion and stress and anxiety.

My baby BP skipped a feeding last week. She ate last night, but OH NO it was two weeks between feeds so is she starving because of it? No, I've been assured, she's not because snakes are built to go weeks/months without food.

My baby BRB has eaten exactly 2 pinkies (2 gms each) since I got him 4 1/2 weeks ago. OMG, is he starving to death? No, I've been assured, he's not because snakes are built to go weeks/months without food.

I read a thread from several years ago in which a baby CRB went a couple of months without eating a thing. Was it starving to death? No, because snakes are built to go weeks/months without food.

So if snakes are built to go weeks/months without food and survive just fine, how is it that BSG is "starving" baby snakes by feeding them every two weeks instead of every week? It doesn't track and is contradictory to everyone who told me that my baby BRB wouldn't starve to death if he missed 2, 3, 4 feedings while he was settling in.

I may not have much experience feeding snakes, but I do understand simple logic. If a baby snake can survive just fine without eating for several weeks/months while it settles in then it can most certainly survive just fine being fed every 14 days instead of every 7.

Obviously, none of BSGs boas have starved to death and even a newbie like me can tell from the pictures that they're *not unhealthy*.

We're all adults here. Name calling is juvenile and belongs on the playground.

[MichaelRobinson]

youre presenting a straw man argument. I never said a snake missing meals will starve I said that a young boa needs to be fed every week. missing a meal is one thing, missing 26 meals in the first year because you skip every week is another. your post about snakes missing meals settling in is irrelevant to this thread.

[phenyx]

Originally Posted by MichaelRobinson

I never said a snake missing meals will starve

Your exact words, and the name you called BSG, were "snake starver".

Other than that, all you've done is scream "feed every 7 days because Vin Russo says so!". So I googled him. I found no articles written by him detailing feeding regimens for boas anywhere on the web (including on his own commercial website!) That was unexpected considering you passed him off as the Be All, End All ultimate authority on Boa care. He doesn't even have care sheets on his website. Yes, he has a book on Boa care on Amazon, but there's a lot of boa care books Amazon.

What I did find online was this article. This is the exact first paragraph of the article:

"How often should the snake [boas] be fed? There is no general answer for this question. As mentioned previously, neonates [emphasis is mine] must not be fed more often than once every 10 to 14 days (must, not should!)." (The second paragraph did say to go to weekly feedings every week during the snakes second year, but I'm assuming that's a proportionally appropriate food amount split into 4 monthly feedings instead of 2. Hello math.)

I also found this on another page of the site. I'm referring to the orange box with the heading "Important Note:" TL;DR version: It talks about rampant overfeeding and obesity in pet boa constrictors and supports everything Big Snake Girl has said on that subject.

So after reading all this, and after reading BSG's thread that went into minute detail and photos regarding her feeding regimen for each of her beautiful, healthy animals as well as her other posts detailing why she feeds that way, I'm far more inclined to follow her instructions with my BRB (which were to feed every 7-10 days) than yours.

[TeamSlitherin]

Originally Posted by phenyx

Your exact words, and the name you called BSG, were "snake starver".

Other than that, all you've done is scream "feed every 7 days because Vin Russo says so!". So I googled him. I found no articles written by him detailing feeding regimens for boas anywhere on the web (including on his own commercial website!) That was unexpected considering you passed him off as the Be All, End All ultimate authority on Boa care. He doesn't even have care sheets on his website. Yes, he has a book on Boa care on Amazon, but there's a lot of boa care books Amazon.

What I did find online was this article. This is the exact first paragraph of the article:

"How often should the snake [boas] be fed? There is no general answer for this question. As mentioned previously, neonates [emphasis is mine] must not be fed more often than once every 10 to 14 days (must, not should!)." (The second paragraph did say to go to weekly feedings every week during the snakes second year, but I'm assuming that's a proportionally appropriate food amount split into 4 monthly feedings instead of 2. Hello math.)

I also found this on another page of the site. I'm referring to the orange box with the heading "Important Note:" TL;DR version: It talks about rampant overfeeding and obesity in pet boa constrictors and supports everything Big Snake Girl has said on that subject.

So after reading all this, and after reading BSG's thread that went into minute detail and photos regarding her feeding regimen for each of her beautiful, healthy animals as well as her other posts detailing why she feeds that way, I'm far more inclined to follow her instructions with my BRB (which were to feed every 7-10 days) than yours.

THIS!!! I am very sorry that your first exposure to this forum is the silly bickering that you have mentioned. I assure you this is not the norm. There is plenty of evidence to suggest over-feeding your snake will dramatically shorten its lifespan. There is a well-known breeder who had 10 female boas, all power-fed in order to get them to breeding size in 18 months. They all died by the age of 4. People don't think much about the effects of over-feeding their snakes because the damage is not as visible as something like scale rot. It's internal.

As for a baby boa "missing meals" for its first year...that's ridiculous. Boas in the wild aren't offered food every 7-10 days. I have a young Dumeril's Boa who, even as a baby, absolutely refused to eat any more frequently than 12-14 days. Then I spoke with a local breeder who told me he had a Dumeril's hatchling who didn't take it's first meal until it was 7 months old. 7 months. As Ziggy mentioned earlier, he had a ball python go off feed for an entire year with no ill effects. My Dumeril's is only a year and a half old and I'm lucky if she takes a meal every 3 weeks....then she'll fast for 8 more weeks.

Eventually, I just got another snake and he gets all her cast-offs In all seriousness, though, these feeding recommendations are irresponsible. I think the OP is realizing that, as well. And clearly, you have the deductive reasoning skills to come to your own proper conclusions about what's best for your animal. Kudos to you!

I hope your BRB continues to feed regularly, and that if he doesn't, you don't worry. As long as his husbandry is good, he won't starve himself. Because snakes are built to go weeks/months without food.

[bigsnakegirl785]

Originally Posted by MichaelRobinson

Feed your baby boa ONCE A WEEK. Big snake girl loves to tell people to feed a GROWING YOUNG boa sparingly but, any expert will tell you ONCE A WEEK. THIS IS THE INDUSTRY STANDARD. After one year feed every 10 to 14 days and through adulthood and as an adult, feed your boa " a meal that leaves a mild sized lump once every two to three weeks" (Vin Russo)

Heads up to the snake starvers: If you tell me that Vin Russo is wrong and you're right, i will probably just laugh.

That may be the industry standard, but it doesn't mean it's correct. I have said on multiple occasions that 7 days is perfectly acceptable up to 1 year old, just unnecessary.

On Vin Russo's advice...his podcasts, videos, and blogs more closely resemble the way I feed. I suspect that quote is from his book, which was published in 2007 and I've noticed his feeding regimen has changed somewhat. Based off of interviews I've seen and podcasts I've heard.

Also you need to keep in mind Russo also advises seasonal feedings...he advises fasting young boas (completely withholding food throughout the entire cold season), from their first winter, and feeding more heavily during the wet warm season. Most of the year, he's feeding his boas sparingly.

I personally wait until the boa has had their second winter before reducing feeding by half over the winter, and do not implement fasts until their 3rd winter. From there, I pick and choose if I fast or reduce feedings depending on body tone and whether or not I plan on breeding them.

He also advises in his book anywhere from 14-21 days, depending on the size of the meal, the snake's sex, and whether or not it's breeding that year. He also says monthly feeding for non-breeding (adult) pet boas to be acceptable. My feeding does not stray far from this, I just outline my feedings a little more precisely than he does for my younger boas.

Plus, the resources phenyx have provided you.

Originally Posted by phenyx

Ok, I have to say something. As a newbie who came to this site trying to learn how to feed my snakes, this constant arguing (and now, apparently, name calling) about feeding regimens across MULTIPLE threads is doing nothing but raising more confusion and stress and anxiety.

My baby BP skipped a feeding last week. She ate last night, but OH NO it was two weeks between feeds so is she starving because of it? No, I've been assured, she's not because snakes are built to go weeks/months without food.

My baby BRB has eaten exactly 2 pinkies (2 gms each) since I got him 4 1/2 weeks ago. OMG, is he starving to death? No, I've been assured, he's not because snakes are built to go weeks/months without food.

I read a thread from several years ago in which a baby CRB went a couple of months without eating a thing. Was it starving to death? No, because snakes are built to go weeks/months without food.

So if snakes are built to go weeks/months without food and survive just fine, how is it that BSG is "starving" baby snakes by feeding them every two weeks instead of every week? It doesn't track and is contradictory to everyone who told me that my baby BRB wouldn't starve to death if he missed 2, 3, 4 feedings while he was settling in.

I may not have much experience feeding snakes, but I do understand simple logic. If a baby snake can survive just fine without eating for several weeks/months while it settles in then it can most certainly survive just fine being fed every 14 days instead of every 7.

Obviously, none of BSGs boas have starved to death and even a newbie like me can tell from the pictures that they're *not unhealthy*.

We're all adults here. Name calling is juvenile and belongs on the playground.

They're worried about "stunting" the snake without truly understanding this species' needs. They are used to an industry where baby boas are being fed every 4-7 days, and adults every 1-2 weeks. When the vast majority of people are doing this, when literally any other pet we own has to eat at least a few times a day or per week, it can be difficult for people to understand just how little snakes need to thrive. Even owners who are used to the lowered food intake of snakes still tend to overestimate how much they need to feed them.

It can also be difficult to gauge what is healthy growth when:

1) growth is so extremely variable even within individuals in a litter

2) most people are vastly overfeeding their snakes, and as a result the average snake is growing much more rapidly than is healthy

Originally Posted by phenyx

Your exact words, and the name you called BSG, were "snake starver".

Other than that, all you've done is scream "feed every 7 days because Vin Russo says so!". So I googled him. I found no articles written by him detailing feeding regimens for boas anywhere on the web (including on his own commercial website!) That was unexpected considering you passed him off as the Be All, End All ultimate authority on Boa care. He doesn't even have care sheets on his website. Yes, he has a book on Boa care on Amazon, but there's a lot of boa care books Amazon.

What I did find online was this article. This is the exact first paragraph of the article:

"How often should the snake [boas] be fed? There is no general answer for this question. As mentioned previously, neonates [emphasis is mine] must not be fed more often than once every 10 to 14 days (must, not should!)." (The second paragraph did say to go to weekly feedings every week during the snakes second year, but I'm assuming that's a proportionally appropriate food amount split into 4 monthly feedings instead of 2. Hello math.)

I also found this on another page of the site. I'm referring to the orange box with the heading "Important Note:" TL;DR version: It talks about rampant overfeeding and obesity in pet boa constrictors and supports everything Big Snake Girl has said on that subject.

So after reading all this, and after reading BSG's thread that went into minute detail and photos regarding her feeding regimen for each of her beautiful, healthy animals as well as her other posts detailing why she feeds that way, I'm far more inclined to follow her instructions with my BRB (which were to feed every 7-10 days) than yours.

Thank you, I haven't been feeding my snakes this way for years (while still being quite active in multiple reptile communities, mind you) for no reason. I have experienced healthy, growing animals in my own collection, and have been seeing more and more evidence for a more mindful approach to feeding our snakes (not just boas, but that's where my interests mainly lie so that's what I focus on lol).

(I also suspect the weekly feedings during the second year to be advised because boas grow the most during their second year.)