Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I don't know how they do it, but herps will stunt themselves to the size of their container, like fish. Once a boa or other snake has "grown in" to its cage, it may slow its rate of lengthening, and the same old amount of food will just fatten it. Put that animal into a larger cage, and after a few months it will have a growth spurt, and might need the extra food again. Once a snake has grown to its housing, think about watching the boa instead of the calendar to feed it. Does it look thick? Is it turning into one of Herman's "truck tires"? If it's thin, feed it. If it's heavy, don't. I really think this is a key factor in the stories of healthy boas eating six meals a year.

I promised 2 points, so here's the second: wild game is very lean. I'm not a hunter, so I didn't know this, but a few years ago a hunter friend gave me some elk meat. He cautioned me to use lard or other fat when cooking it, or it would dry up in cooking. No kidding. I noted the point that wild game is almost fat-free, and forgot about it, until the fat boa thread appeared on the forum. I expect that wild boa food is likewise low-fat. I also suspect that lab rats are not so low-fat. I don't quite know what to do about this; I have no alternative to feeding large numbers of pet boas other than to continue feeding lab-grown food, but it may be a factor. Again, it probably pays to keep an eye on the boa.

I also call your thoughts to a final (bonus) point: I really am serious about breeding my boas when they grow up, and I took note of Herman's comic reference to overweight boas as truck tires. I also note that Gus, who has pretty good success with his boas refers to overwieght boas by another term. He calls them non-breeders.

I don't think I agree w/ your point about herps growing to the size of their enclosure. However, I would gladly check out any research you may have on the topic. And I will say that IF there is ANY correlation b/t size of an animal and cage size, then it's probably only due to a lack of available space for the animal to move around and therefore energy is not expended for exercise that should be, and it is stored as fat instead. But again, I don't think that a smaller cage will stunt a snakes growth.
For example, do you really think that a burm kept in a 10 gallon aquarium for the first 6 months of its life would be any shorter than one of its littermates fed on the same schedule and of the same sex that was kept in a larger enclosure? I don't. I just think that you'd be more likely to see health issues arise in the 10 gallon test subject and you'd also see it outgrowing its tank.
I'm not trying to jump on your or start anything, I would just hate to see someone buy an anaconda and throw it in a 10 gallon tank and think that their little Annie won't get too big b/c it's kept in a small tank.... b/c they'd be in for a RUDE awakening.
jb
-----
Jonathan Brady
My Kingsnake Photo Gallery

You're correct,of course. We can't create a dwarf retic by keeping it in a shoebox, but there is some stunting in snakes kept in smaller enclosures. As far as the example of the Burmese kept in a ten gallon tank, for sure, it will outgrow its cage soon enough, but the littermate moved into appropriately sized housing may indeed be longer and slimmer than the ten gallon individual. I like your point about the confined animals not getting enough excercise. That could account for a lack of muscle and even skeletal development. My point was that when we think of overfeeding, we might do well to factor in issues of confinement as well as feeding schedules. This all makes me think of another point (nice going, Brady! Now you got him thinking...), that being, it might pay to be sure to give our captives excercise to offset the consequences of confinement and a diet that may (or may not) be a little fatty. Now we need a thread on how much excercise is appropriate. And some bumper stickers saying My Boa Can Do Push Ups...Can Yours?

...I've seen the growth spurt myself when moving Boas to a larger cage and have heard others say the same thing in the various Boa forums. I handle my Boas a lot so I think that gives them excercise. Of course I could be wrong, just check my sig...
-----
JMHO, FWIW, YMMV.

I'v had to expand/change the enclosures of all my snakes because they outgrew them, not one has stopped growing yet.

n/p

That's not even true for fish. I've seen several with deformities because they outgrew their tanks to the point where they were physically hitting the sides when they tried to turn around.

the captive environment is too ideal for boas' growth and this is a reason for their growing so, too quickly and becoming so easily overwieght. in the wild all reptiles are filled with parasites to a equilibrium that doesn't harm much the reptiles itself. however it does slow it. captive snakes don't have them ( mostly) and thus all all the food they eat is absorbed by them and used to gorw or fattten up.

we provide them with ideal temperatures. i have never been in forests however i am sure that there are cold times even in seasons excluding winter. boas like reptiles are cold blooded. they don't produced the heat needed for their activities ( like digestion). they absorb it . thus this allowes a better growth.. too muh for the animal to sustain.

just like bodybuilders, bones and uscles grow when they are used. besides using energy to move, wild boas use energy for the day to day mainteneace of their bone and muscles. these are less developed in captive snakes and therefore they need less food then their wild representatives.

the food that we provide is itself different, thcik fat jumbo sized rats. i breed these myself and have make some autopsies for the fun of it. the larger they get the more fat you find. small ones have fat too for insulation. the least that have fat are the maidium ones that have the growth spurt.

its not an easy task growing healthy baos. its not even easy for humans athat we are our selves. we could eat veggies 6 time a day, get lean eat little and live till 110 but most of us like to have snakes evey few our up til midnight and are happy witha life expectancy of 75 maybe just like some breeder are happy breeding boas at 2 years old and feel that a boa is old at 8 years and thats why they die

everyone has his own opinion... the important thing is to read as much as possible, digest it, add some personal experince and decided for yourself

the captive environment is too ideal for boas' growth and this is a reason for their growing so, too quickly and becoming so easily overwieght. in the wild all reptiles are filled with parasites to a equilibrium that doesn't harm much the reptiles itself. however it does slow it. captive snakes don't have them ( mostly) and thus all all the food they eat is absorbed by them and used to gorw or fattten up.

we provide them with ideal temperatures. i have never been in forests however i am sure that there are cold times even in seasons excluding winter. boas like reptiles are cold blooded. they don't produced the heat needed for their activities ( like digestion). they absorb it . thus this allowes a better growth.. too muh for the animal to sustain.

just like bodybuilders, bones and uscles grow when they are used. besides using energy to move, wild boas use energy for the day to day mainteneace of their bone and muscles. these are less developed in captive snakes and therefore they need less food then their wild representatives.

the food that we provide is itself different, thcik fat jumbo sized rats. i breed these myself and have make some autopsies for the fun of it. the larger they get the more fat you find. small ones have fat too for insulation. the least that have fat are the maidium ones that have the growth spurt.

its not an easy task growing healthy baos. its not even easy for humans athat we are our selves. we could eat veggies 6 time a day, get lean eat little and live till 110 but most of us like to have snacks evey few our up til midnight and are happy witha life expectancy of 75 maybe just like some breeder are happy breeding boas at 2 years old and feel that a boa is old at 8 years and thats why they die

everyone has his own opinion... the important thing is to read as much as possible, digest it, add some personal experince and decided for yourself

the captive environment is too ideal for boas' growth and this is a reason for their growing so, too quickly and becoming so easily overwieght. in the wild all reptiles are filled with parasites to a equilibrium that doesn't harm much the reptiles itself. however it does slow it. captive snakes don't have them ( mostly) and thus all all the food they eat is absorbed by them and used to gorw or fattten up.

we provide them with ideal temperatures. i have never been in forests however i am sure that there are cold times even in seasons excluding winter. boas like reptiles are cold blooded. they don't produced the heat needed for their activities ( like digestion). they absorb it . thus this allowes a better growth.. too muh for the animal to sustain.

just like bodybuilders, bones and uscles grow when they are used. besides using energy to move, wild boas use energy for the day to day mainteneace of their bone and muscles. these are less developed in captive snakes and therefore they need less food then their wild representatives.

the food that we provide is itself different, thcik fat jumbo sized rats. i breed these myself and have make some autopsies for the fun of it. the larger they get the more fat you find. small ones have fat too for insulation. the least that have fat are the maidium ones that have the growth spurt.

its not an easy task growing healthy baos. its not even easy for humans athat we are our selves. we could eat veggies 6 time a day, get lean eat little and live till 110 but most of us like to have snacks evey few our up til midnight and are happy witha life expectancy of 75 maybe just like some breeder are happy breeding boas at 2 years old and feel that a boa is old at 8 years and thats why they die

everyone has his own opinion... the important thing is to read as much as possible, digest it, add some personal experince and decided for yourself