reduced growth rate

i read about a reduced feeding regimen that apparently slightly stunts a boas growth with females topping out at 7 ft. is this true? because 7 ft would be perfect for my female im prepared for bigger but 7 is good. how would one implement it? the article didnt give specifics it just said as long as the snake doesnt lose weight it wont harm its health, opinions? is there a health risk?

Think about what you are saying......if I underfeed my child, is it going to slow down his growth, but still keep him healthy?? Common sense would tell you otherwise, wouldn't it? You can SLOW their growth rate by not overfeeding, keeping them on a heathy feeding schedule, and not powerfeeding to achieve maximum growth in the minimum time frame, slow growth is actually much healthier for them than growing too quickly. But to starve them of enough nutrients to successfully stunt their growth permanently simply cannot lead to a healthy animal. That's like the guy at the pet store telling you that if you keep a Burm in a 20 gallon tank, it will stay small.

There ARE boas that stay small naturally, if you want one that stays under 7 feet, just get one that is supposed to stay that small.

thats why i was asking. i dont have indepth knowledge of boa anatomy or how there body works i am after still new at this. i dont want to negatively effect my boas health, probably alot worse than you dont want me to. isnt it better that i asked than just trying to figure it out on my own? or going ahead and doing it without looking into it more? shes my first boa, and knowing all the answers comes from asking all the questions, so here comes another one. i've heard so many contradictions on average adult size of the common boa from 6ft to 11 or 12 feet. what is the most likely size for the adult female on a standard feeding regimen.

I agree with Cat. You cannot slow down their growth rate without making them unhealthy, just as you cannot speed up their growth without doing the same. Best to just find a healthy feeding regimen, and let the underlying genetics do what they are programmed to do.

If you don't want a 9 foot Boa, look for certain Central American varieties, or go with the true dwarf boas of the family Tropidophiidae.

Rick

no question is a stupid question, if you dont know much about snakes and someone who does know about them tells you it wont hurt them, then you have reason to believe it wont for some snakie reason, you asked and now you know. so dont stop asking just because some one makes you sound "dumb" for asking. just the fact that you asked makes you very "not dumb"

I just wanted to add a little here. I know that a lot of breeders, including a lot of the better known ones, will tell you that the best male boas to breed are about 4.5 ft long. I'm not saying that they are starving their animals, but people will feed the boas once every 2-3 weeks, to keep them from growing really fast and to keep their size around this level for a good while. Ask anyone who has bred them, a poorly nourished male is not going to be a good breeder. They have to be in excellent condition as the male boa has to 'work' for it for up to 4 months, with very little food at this time. Keeping this in mind, I believe that you can regulate a boa's size, to a certain extent, by adjusting their feeding schedule.