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New boa, feeding question

A

andyroof1979

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So, I just got this girl in a straight up trade for a bearded dragon. (And his very cool hide i made him).
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and yes, he is quite the dragon to be worthy of the trade, i still definitely got the better end though....
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Now then, she was eating a ft jumbo rat every 2 weeks, i would like to switch to bunnies being as my retic will be that size in about 6-8 months most likley.

What is the best way to go about this and i have seen an argument on fb over this subject. I am sure a 3 lb rabbit every 3 weeks would be fine. Am i wrong?

She did not take the one i offered her, i assume she is still settling in as i got her 4 days ago.
 
I wouldn't feed rabbits, I mean you can.. but all they need is rats. My 7ft girl takes a large or xl rat every 2 weeks and she's doing great. Over feeding and feeding too large a prey item is not good for boas. They aren't retics, they have a slow metabolism and feeding too large an item can actually damage organs in the boa. I would stick to rats
 
Most of my adult boas, including my BCI's, Dums, and BRB's, are on rabbits. The trick is to use the appropriately-sized feeder - you don't want to bump your boa from a jumbo rat, which weighs 16-18 ounces, right up to a three pound rabbit. I would see how she does on a one pound rabbit every three to four weeks. My one female BCI that is still eating jumbo rats gets one every four weeks, and she is only on them because she's being picky about eating rabbits and I'm working on switching her.

Personally I prefer feeding rabbits over rats once the boa is up to large rats, as the same weight rabbit has more protein and bone, and less fat, than the rat. It's a more compact, dense meal with the rabbit being half to 3/4 the size of the boa's girth. My supplier has everything from kits (which are equivalent to an adult mouse and my king snakes go nuts for the rabbit kits), fuzzies, 4 oz, 8 oz, one pound, and then up to 5# rabbits, and the prices are cheaper than for rats for the same size feeder.
 
Either of those options, but especially the rabbit is overfeeding. That snake is full size and somewhat overweight now. Also, rabbits do not contain enough fat to solely be used as feeders for boas. It's a good thing to change up the diet, but the basis for a boa's diet should be rats. You need to be feeding her one big rat every month or a 2 lb rabbit every couple of months. Overfeeding boas is very easy to do. If you want to have your new pet around for a long time, be very conservative on how much you feed it.
 
JCCS - I've noticed a lot of people overfeed their boas (whether intentionally or not..) so many boas I see are just fat, which isn't good.

Your new snake is beautiful, congrats on her :) But she definitely doesn't need rabbits lol. It wouldn't hurt her to lose a little weight, and would probably be better for her. Like the others, I'd really just stick to rats.
 
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