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Any downside to feeding Chicken hearts to boas?

Helenthereef

Helenthereef

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Just realised this is a better forum to post my question in than the general Boa forum, sorry.....:eek:

I have 3 small Fiji Boas, (Candioa bibroni bibroni) I'm in Fiji, far from normal food suppliers and specialist veterinary advice. They normally eat the local geckos, but are now getting a bit large for the the number I can provide (they are a small species, now about 2.5 years old, 3 feet long).

I have been supplementing with chicken hearts obtained from giblet packs designed for human consumption, with excess fat trimmed off. They still get whole geckos too. I know that heart muscle alone would be an inadequate diet.

Finally to my question...
Is there any problem with heart muscle in a relatively large proportion in their diet? Is there a maximum ratio of heart to whole gecko I shouldn't exceed to avoid malnutrition or build up of any unwanted element I haven't thought about?

Many thanks for any info or reassurance that anyone has to offer. Or suggestions for any other small food items that may be available in local supermarkets.....;)
 
I kept a Hognose alive on Dove hearts for quite some time when it had refused everything else. Everything. And any time it refused normal prey items, Dove hearts would always get a response. Of course I wouldn't recommend it as a full time food source, but I don't believe that it would be a bad thing as a supplement. After all, all of their normal prey items, icluding birds, have hearts.

I've had to resort to some pretty strange things to keep a snake fed.
 
Thanks MJ,
Yeh, my snakes just went for them as though they'd been eating them all their lives, no hesitation at all. I'm hoping I'm onto a good and simple thing.
 
I posted the same thing on here before. some snakes love them, and some turn away from hearts like you are pushing feces at them. I have two snakes that will eat them until they pop, but they will eat anything anyway, and the others won't even look at them. consider yourself lucky. you could also try gizzards and small fish.
 
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