Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I didn't want to hijack the Suriname thread, but I have a feeding concern with my BCI. He's 4yo, 7 ft, and about 16-17 pounds. He eats L-XL rats every 7 days. I've tried to back down to M rats, but my supplier was out and I got L again. I have found that if I go longer than 7 days without feeding him, he gets "grouchy". He is normally rather calm and slowly grabs his food to drag back into hide. If he is too hungry, he strikes, and even grabbed my shoulder while I was holding him. I really can't have this since he works with the public in educational presentations. I've always just continued to feed him every 7 days and he seems fine (definitely lean and not fat), but I want him to be healthy.

I guess if there was a question in all of this, it would be: given the situation, would you just continue with this feeding schedule?

In my opinion - feeding response and general attitude should be looked at separately.

I have some snakes that, when in feeding mode in their cages, seem demonic. Until they know that they are NOT getting food, they assume anything coming in their cage is dinner.

I don't think they're evil... just showing good feeding response. I'd rather have that than have to tease and tantalize a boa to get it eating.

Anyway - you should be assessing your boa's temperment when it is out and away from its cage, NOT by how roughly it takes its prey. In the wild, your snake would slam into the rat and then constrict it. Just because it occasionally gets excited at mealtime doesn't mean it's turning mean.

I have a female BCC that I use for demonstrations. Sometimes when I feed her, she just sits there, I leave the rat, and she'll eat it alone later (doesn't like to be watched). But, some other times, she'll grab it from my tongs. No matter if she grabs it or not, when she's out of her cage, she's a sweetheart.

Just wanted to clarify that feeding response should NOT be confused with general temperment or be used to judge a boa's handleability. People at your demonstrations aren't going to be reaching in your boa's home cage...

So, you can probably step down and be fine. Just consistently take your boa out for handling, like any demonstration animal.
-----
Lauren Madar - OphidiaGems.com | CageMakers
1.1 Ball Python, 1.0 Hog Island Boa, 1.1 Hypo BCI, 1.1 Surinam BCC, 1.1 Saharan Sand Boa

Thanks. I had to go back and reread my own message to double check what I had written. I understand what you mean about feeding response and general temperament. I was thinking more about threshold and stressors...being crated and traveling, plus being touched, plus being hungry, all added up together.

We do condition our animals to differentiate between handling and feeding as much as possible. For the large snakes we use hooks and for the lizards we use clickers or something like it.

I'm really much more of a lizard person than a snake person. I've only had this boa for about a year, so I'm new to his care. Some forums are more approachable than others when it comes to asking questions; I'm grateful to have been able to ask without getting slammed. Then again, I noticed another response had been removed. Uh-oh!

I'll change his schedule right away and keep up with his regular handling.

I don't think being fed every two weeks would cause undue stress at all.

Just make sure that you leave at least two days after feeding before moving the snake for any reason, and you should be ok .
-----
Lauren Madar - OphidiaGems.com | CageMakers
1.1 Ball Python, 1.0 Hog Island Boa, 1.1 Hypo BCI, 1.1 Surinam BCC, 1.1 Saharan Sand Boa