I can see it too Harald. HA HA
My first Boa was a Suri imported by Lloyd Lemke in 1975. She was estimated at 2-3 yrs old, and was about the size of my 3 yr old Boas now, roughly 4 ft+ I fed her every 10-14 days (basically as soon as she defecated) and usually a couple items, for her entire life. Which wasn't all that long. My mom always told me I was going to kill her feeding her that much, but you how us teens know more then anyone else does. So I kept on feeding her, she kept on growing, etc.
By 11th grade in HS, she was an easy 9 ft 35 lb animal, when she sadly passed away. A mere 7 yrs in my care. We opened her up in biology class, just because it was a good and different learning lesson, and her entire dermis was undercoated with a layer of fat, Her musculature was marbled with fat. Her organs, all of them, were marbled with fat. Problem is, I didn't learn anything from it as far as feeding goes, until many yrs later, when a friend shared some pictures of his Boa that died and was opened by a vet, who stated emphatically it was from over feeding. These pictures mirrored what I saw in biology class.
For a guy who loved his animals and thought he was doing the best for them, it was a wake up call for me. I haven't fed like that since, and never will. I can see the results in my animals, and I like what I see. Even if that means I gotta wait longer for litters.
I think where we go wrong is, we think like a human, on human terms, instead of like Toms says, thinking like a snake. Boas in the wild don't really actively hunt like many other species. They're an ambush predator, and might lay in wait for a week or more before it moves on because nothing came along for it to feed on, then wait somewhere else for a week or more, etc etc. They might get lucky and have 3 meals in a week come by, which they will gladly consume because they are also opportunistic hunters. After all, they may go the next 6 months with no meal at all. And that is what they are designed to do.
We put them in a cage, and everything changes. They aren't free to roam the same way they would in the wild. They are limited by the size of the cage, and often settle down after just a couple laps. So they do a sight more laying around in a cage then what they are designed for. We control their environment and often times they don't even get a proper temp fluctuation. Then we feed them more then they are designed to eat, and usually one type of item, rats. This alone is also working against them because they aren't getting the same variety of nutrients they would be from the various food items in their natural environment. This may cause deficiencies for all we know, and cause their system to not process this extra fat. Who knows. What we do know is that fat kills.
How about a medical/biological stand point not concerning fat. Some of you may recall yrs back a study done with Burmese python. During this study they found many things transpire during a feed response. For one, their heart rate speeds up, which in turn raises blood pressure. Likely an attempt to oxygenate the musculature for striking and constricting. Constricting further raised the blood pressure. When blood was drawn before and after, it was found that there were chemicals/hormones released into the system during the feed. These levels didn't drop for many hours after the feed. It's suspected that this flood of naturally occurring chemicals may have an adverse long term effect. Meaning if it occurs too often, it may harm the animal in the long run, much like too much testosterone in men causes baldness, and other physical ailments.
Even after all that is said, what really is a proper schedule for feeding a Boa? I know a guy who only feeds his Boas 4 times a yrs, and I never seen a picture of them where they looked malnourished. I'll wager his will out live mine too, because I just don't
at this time, wish to try that extreme end of this ever lasting debate.
I have had good results so far feeding every 3 weeks, with the occasional extra week or two thrown in for good measure. I start this regimen their first yr. at about 6 months old give or take. I rarely have refusals, but if I do, they wait till the next go around.
I also take into consideration each animal as an individual. I had a female Hog Island Boa that was getting visually FAT off 1 large rat every 3 weeks. For her I had to adjust things. 2 feedings at regular intervals of young rabbit, then a lg rat the next time. Which actually seemed to work for her too.
But I also say if you're happy with your animal living maybe a dozen yrs, when the longevity should be closer to 30, then go right ahead and feed them all you want. If I've been convinced of anything since I got my first Boa so long ago, it's that we as humans tend to over feed, (our dogs, our cats, our children etc) and are causing the early death of our Boas.
That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.
I don't claim to know...nor do I expect to know for certain in my time. It would take organized efforts over the course of 20-30 yrs to get the data; and I suspect it would still be inconclusive about what is "best".
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