What is a proper feeding schedule for boas?

Having an opinion is one thing,ignoring objective proof is entirely different
If Russo would have put these truths in his book the world of snakes
would have immediately rallied to the cause.
There is a name for that and its not opinion

People wonder why most of the pioneers have pulled away from this
dog and pony show called the "reptile hobby"
Many are still around,doing what they love to do
You will not find them posting to "ANY" of the public forums
because people want to argue against their decades of google free experience.In all honesty can you blame them ?

Take away "google" and the reptile forums where everything is free
for the begging,how many opinions would there be then ?

Originally Posted by mxracer4life

And as I stated before. It's not about just one opinion. Thank you for your input.

Originally Posted by the gecko geek

I see what you are saying. But to me, just because something can go a period of time without anything, doesn't mean it should. And that's just my opinion. I know that a snake can go VERY long periods without food. I've seen a bp go 7 months without food and still be perfectly fine. I guess I just don't really agree with feeding something that's in my eyes a baby less often than once every 14 days. I do agree that as it gets older, less often feeding are vital to maintaining healthy weights, because just like anything, with age the metabolism slows down.

How often, in your eyes, does a new born eat in the wild? First 2-3 weeks of their life is spent hiding out in a wallow, or nook of a tree until they shed. Then they START the natural process of finding food.

I guess the way I see things is, if evolution designed them a certain way, it probably had a good reason. Who am I to mess that up more then I already do? I mean, even by my meager feeding regimen, they get probably 2 to 3 times what they get in the wild each yr.

Originally Posted by the gecko geek

I'm not crawfishing out.
Overfeeding is completely against anything's design.

Not quite everything...





Tom, although I too do the occasional chicken leg, you know damn well that don't even come close to the variety of critters they'd consume in the wild. You'd have to be filthy rich to be able to pull off a diet that would even compare.

Hey overfeeding a bear is possible. And very bad to do, because then they come to you when they are hungry...

OK, I have a question - what would be the best way to eliminate the fat on an overweight boa?

Fast them for as many weeks/months as it takes, or continue to feed but use smaller, less frequent meals for as long as it takes?

Smaller, less frequent meals until it get's to where it needs to be would be how I'd go about it.

Chris

Me too.

okay, so now lets flip that scenario. You have an underweight snake that needs some extra weight. Do you feed it more prey items per meal, or more frequent meals? And how do you know when to stop that regimen?

Would the feeding regiment work for pythons? Is the metabolism of boas and pythons that different?

This discussion has got me wondering the same thing. I think I got my schedule from reading about ball pythons and then just applied it to all our snakes.

However we have boas (BCI and Dumeril's), ball pythons, carpet pythons, blood pythons, corn snakes and a milk snake. I am starting to believe they may all have different requirements.

Originally Posted by the gecko geek

okay, so now lets flip that scenario. You have an underweight snake that needs some extra weight. Do you feed it more prey items per meal, or more frequent meals? And how do you know when to stop that regimen?

IMO no, you don't increase feed schedule or amount, you just feed normally. They will put the weight back on. I don't feed my females, who just went off feed for 3+ months, plus had a litter draining them, any more then the rest, and they bounce back just fine after parturition.

On the flip side of that, we're talking a Boa that wasn't over weight to start with. It's been my observation that the ones that have been pumped up to "breeding size" don't recover this lost weight as quickly after parturition, and some people tend to feed them extra to accomplish this. I don't agree with this though.

But if a Boid is that under weight, I'd be looking into parasite problems first. They'd have to be practically starved to loose enough weight for concern, unless something else is taking that sustenance away.

Originally Posted by Payara

Would the feeding regiment work for pythons? Is the metabolism of boas and pythons that different?

They may have similar metabolisms, but they aren't exactly the same. Extra fat has been proved to be destructive to Boas, I haven't read anything to say this is also the case with Pythons. I would assume it is similar though since both are Boids. I believe it was the same PA Zoo that recorded a record longevity of Ball Pythons at 75 yrs. (what's the oldest one you've seen in captivity?) Knowing how they feed their Boas, I would assume they don't treat the pythons much differently. I fed my BP's about the same as I feed my Boas, and never noticed any ill effects from it.

But as with keeping ANY species of reptile, observation is important. You can't just take what people tell you, including me, and run with it. You have to observe the results and go from there, making any adjustments that might be needed as you go.