Reptile & Amphibian Forums

How often should a young (under 6 months) boa be fed? Granted that the meal is an appropriate size (however you want to read that), and everything else in the cage is *perfect*. How often does a baby/young boa need to be fed? What about an adult boa? How do you know when to lessen the frequency of feedings, or to increase the frequency?

I don't want to publicly post the customer story that prompts this, so message me to hear it, but I'm curious about what frequency is recommended for babies, juvies, and adults. If the snake is never going to be bred, just kept as a pet, does the feeding frequency lessen or should it be kept the same?

Thanks for any and all responses!

~jenny
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"Polysyllabism in no way insures that what you're saying is actually worth being heard." - Blake (an e-friend of mine)

"I have never made but one prayer to god, a very short one: "O lord, make my enemies ridiculous." And he granted it." - Voltaire

It depends!

It all depends on what you want. It also depends on the subspecies or locality.

BCI tend to be ok with a more frequent feeding schedule although it's not necessary. Insular BCI tend to do better on a less frequent feeding schedule.

The popular idea about BCC is that they do better on a more conservative feeding schedule and slightly smaller prey items.

Mainland BCI tend to reach larger sizes than insular BCI. They also reach maturity a few years before BCC. Females typically get larger than males. Evidence also shows us that females raised TOO quickly tend to produce more slugs.

Most people stick to the rule that prey should be about as big as the boa is at midbody on an empty stomach. Some go smaller, some go larger.

So with all that info, like I said, it depends!

I've had success by feeding every 2-8 weeks. I feed every 2-3 weeks during the late spring, summer, and early fall and I don't feed 2 weeks before cooling, during cooling, or immediately after cooling. The cooling period for me lasts one month. For the times not covered here, I'll feed about every 3-5 weeks. It's just kind of whenever, no schedule. I'll typically feed prey that's large enough to leave a lump for 3-4 days in BCC and 3 days in BCI as, in my experience, BCC digest a tad bit slower.

I've never had the desire to push any of my animals as they are pets first, and a way to make back some money second.

So for me, IT DEPENDS!

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Jonathan Brady
"Sarcasm is angers ugly cousin" -Dr. Buddy Rydell (Jack Nicholson) in "Anger Management".

I feed neos every 7 days until 6 months old. They go to every two weeks after that, and I keep them on that schedule.

Observing them over time, I make adjustments. No Boa should ever be fat IMO. If they are getting sorta fat, and the muscle tone is not what it should be, I go to 3 week feedings, etc. until I get each individual on a healthy regimen.

Even litter mates can metabolize the food differently. I have 1.1 keepers from '06, and had to put the male on 3 week feedings, because he was getting chunky on the same exact diet and schedule as his sister. So it's actually an individual thing for me.
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Richard Carew
Sunset BCI
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