Boa constrictor feeding schedule

[NCHornet]

Wow!!!! What a thread with all sorts of opinions. Here's mine.
I have a BCC and a BCI both within a month of your boa. As a matter of fact your male looks exactly like my female and just a tad bit smaller which is totally normal. There is no way your snake is to skinny, anyone who says so doesn't know what they are talking about and probably are power feeding so they can walk around main street and show off their big snake to everyone, whether they want to see it or not, ok off my soapbox, sorry!!!!!
I highly recommend switching from pet store rats to quality frozen. Can't tell you how many people get mites from pet shop food and usually they aren't all that healthy. I use to use pet shop rats until one day and they were out and I was leaving on vacation and needed a rat. They sent me to the man they bought them from, one whiff and I knew it was going to be bad. Over crowded, dead rats in cages being eaten by others, the cheapest dog food from WalMart for food and filthy water. Not feeding anything like that to my snakes, sure not all pet shops are lie this but why risk it. I only buy from The Rat Deli and they are the highest quality feeders that I have ever used and I have used most of the big suppliers. I buy a year at a time and if you know anyone close to you who also has snakes you can place a larger order and save on shipping.
My snakes have been on XL Rats for 6 months now and eat every two weeks, neither of them have ever turned down a meal. Here is what I do. Rat comes out of freezer and is wrapped in a couple paper towels and placed into a sandwich sized zip lock and thawed at room temp all day. I will then take two bags and place them into a gallon sized ziploc bag with a weight in the bottom, I also squeeze out as much air out as possible. I fill a 5 gal bucket half full of hot water and submerge the bad for 12-15 min. By using two bags very little water enters the inner bag if any, and I use new bags each time I feed. If any water does get in the paper towels absorb it. I always feed at night just a few minutes before the timer shuts the lights off. The rats are placed on a Styrofoam plate and placed in each cage opposite where the snake is. Timer is advanced so lights are off and I leave the room and turn off all lights. Boas don't need UV lights and lights should never be used as a heat source 24 hours per day. I don't recommend using them as a heat sourc at all, but that is me. Snakes are most active at night so use this to your advantage. With mine around the 10-12 day they are cruising around the cage much more, so I know they are hungry. Dry rats mean little chance of ingesting substrate, which I use nothing but Aspen and the boas love it.
By the next morning the late is always open. My snakes no longer coil the prey which shocked me, they cruise up to it, open their mouth when they find the head and down it goes. But if I placed the rat on tongs and moved it in front of them it would be a different story!!!!!! Your temps and humidity are fine, light should be roughly 12 on and 12 off, I don't plan on breeding so I keep this a constant. I feel there are way to many people breeding that shouldn't be, why add to the mess we have in this hobby?
In the wild snakes can go a very long time without eating, you think a rat walks by them every 14 days? It is also far better for your snake to feed one properly sized food item than multiple smaller items. Not saying it will hurt your snake because again in the wild they aren't to picky on what they will eat, but it is healthier for them.
I would also feed in the cage, it is very stressful on the snake to be moved right after eating. Don't sit there and stare at them, this can also stress them out. Turn all lights off and vacate the room.
By the end of the year I will be moving up to small rabbits. Rabbits have more fat so you want to extend feeding times out to 3 to 4 weeks. All in all you are doing a great job, I wish everyone would take care of their snakes like you. Keep up the good work your boa is gorgeous!!!!!

[bigsnakegirl785]

Originally Posted by NCHornet

Wow!!!! What a thread with all sorts of opinions. Here's mine.
I have a BCC and a BCI both within a month of your boa. As a matter of fact your male looks exactly like my female and just a tad bit smaller which is totally normal. There is no way your snake is to skinny, anyone who says so doesn't know what they are talking about and probably are power feeding so they can walk around main street and show off their big snake to everyone, whether they want to see it or not, ok off my soapbox, sorry!!!!!
I highly recommend switching from pet store rats to quality frozen. Can't tell you how many people get mites from pet shop food and usually they aren't all that healthy. I use to use pet shop rats until one day and they were out and I was leaving on vacation and needed a rat. They sent me to the man they bought them from, one whiff and I knew it was going to be bad. Over crowded, dead rats in cages being eaten by others, the cheapest dog food from WalMart for food and filthy water. Not feeding anything like that to my snakes, sure not all pet shops are lie this but why risk it. I only buy from The Rat Deli and they are the highest quality feeders that I have ever used and I have used most of the big suppliers. I buy a year at a time and if you know anyone close to you who also has snakes you can place a larger order and save on shipping.
My snakes have been on XL Rats for 6 months now and eat every two weeks, neither of them have ever turned down a meal. Here is what I do. Rat comes out of freezer and is wrapped in a couple paper towels and placed into a sandwich sized zip lock and thawed at room temp all day. I will then take two bags and place them into a gallon sized ziploc bag with a weight in the bottom, I also squeeze out as much air out as possible. I fill a 5 gal bucket half full of hot water and submerge the bad for 12-15 min. By using two bags very little water enters the inner bag if any, and I use new bags each time I feed. If any water does get in the paper towels absorb it. I always feed at night just a few minutes before the timer shuts the lights off. The rats are placed on a Styrofoam plate and placed in each cage opposite where the snake is. Timer is advanced so lights are off and I leave the room and turn off all lights. Boas don't need UV lights and lights should never be used as a heat source 24 hours per day. I don't recommend using them as a heat sourc at all, but that is me. Snakes are most active at night so use this to your advantage. With mine around the 10-12 day they are cruising around the cage much more, so I know they are hungry. Dry rats mean little chance of ingesting substrate, which I use nothing but Aspen and the boas love it.
By the next morning the late is always open. My snakes no longer coil the prey which shocked me, they cruise up to it, open their mouth when they find the head and down it goes. But if I placed the rat on tongs and moved it in front of them it would be a different story!!!!!! Your temps and humidity are fine, light should be roughly 12 on and 12 off, I don't plan on breeding so I keep this a constant. I feel there are way to many people breeding that shouldn't be, why add to the mess we have in this hobby?
In the wild snakes can go a very long time without eating, you think a rat walks by them every 14 days? It is also far better for your snake to feed one properly sized food item than multiple smaller items. Not saying it will hurt your snake because again in the wild they aren't to picky on what they will eat, but it is healthier for them.
I would also feed in the cage, it is very stressful on the snake to be moved right after eating. Don't sit there and stare at them, this can also stress them out. Turn all lights off and vacate the room.
By the end of the year I will be moving up to small rabbits. Rabbits have more fat so you want to extend feeding times out to 3 to 4 weeks. All in all you are doing a great job, I wish everyone would take care of their snakes like you. Keep up the good work your boa is gorgeous!!!!!

The rats I get from the pet store are frozen, and as I've stated several times, I am doing this because both of my breeder females recently passed away. I've put up ads looking for replacements, because I don't trust the ones from the pet store, but no one is answering the ad. And as far as the sizing, I believe just the size of the large rat is making him feel full, so should I wait a little bit to up him, or go ahead with it? As it is, he seems to eat later and later every feeding I give him large. The first time he was late feeding, it was one week late, the second two weeks late. Right now he's 4ft 10in. I'm hoping to switch him to rabbits soon as well, but I'll take the advice in this thread and wait until he starts eating normally again. And thanks! It's been great having him, after my ball python. He's not picky at all, and besides the few feedings, he's never missed a meal! Such a relief. lol Too bad there aren't snake role models, otherwise he might have been able to influence Bud. XD Although, even Bud is beginning to eat normally now.