Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a 4ft 8in Male Red Tail Boa, I'm wanting to know if he can eat a large rat 8-9in. 200-295 grams. I've decided to start buying mice online and he has out grown the regular large mice I have been feeding him. I don't want to buy rats that are to big for him and the place I'm wanting to order from is out of medium sized rats. I'm going to buy a 10 months supply for all 3 of my snakes (other 2 are corn snake and ball python, feeding them large mice). So its very important that I order rats I can feed to him.

http://www.americanrodent.com/rats.html

Why not buy a pack of small rats for the ball and give the boa smalls for a month before trying the large rats.Or feed the whole pack to the boa (not At once)My 2008 suris are still on small rats.Going from a large mouse to a large rat is a hell of a jump.

I would just judge it by the widest part of your boa and feed him a rat no wider than that.

Boas in the wild do manage to eat prey a lot larger than their widest girth and have the ability to stretch significantly, however, keep in mind, they may go up to a year before eating their next prey.

I would personally keep a 4.5 ft boa on a 10-12 day feeding schedule on medium rats until you feel as though they are large enough to handle a Large rat. Different boas grow at different rates.

Ive been feeding him large mice once a week, he's been starting to get a little aggressive (strikes at the cage when you come near and just seems like hes staving, this was when I was feeding one large mouse every 2 weeks). Since I started the once a week feeding he has stopped this behavior.

Is he fine on the large mice once a week? or do you think I should switch him to a 4.50 - 5.25 in. small rat a week? Would small rats be bigger then large mice?

The problem with the feeding not to much bigger then the girth of the snake is, on the frozen feeder websites it doesn't give the girth of the mouse/rat. His girth is 6in. I think (took a string and wrapped it around the thickest part of him).

If he's having striking issues now then you will want to deal with that before he gets bigger and bigger. I would suggest feeding in a Rubbermaid tub so that he doesn't associate you opening up his cage to food going into his cage.

I put my boas in tubs and leave them in there for about 5 minutes then feed them and I haven't had any issues with striking at the cage.

It's good your feeding frozen. However, going from large mice to large rats is a huge step. I wouldn't suggest getting such a large supply at once because the boas grow fast and can out grow the prey and it won't end up saving you money in the long run. Breeders that buy big supply is because they have many boas to feed.

I think a medium rat would be ideal for a 6" girth boa. A large rat would be pushing it, however in 4-5 months he could definitely be ready for large rats, that's why getting a 10 month supply might not be the best ideal.

One of my males is 4.5 ft and 2.5 years old with good muscle definition and he eats a medium rat every 10-12 days.

The problem with the medium size is the place I'm wanting to order from is out of medium rats. They only have the baby sizes, small, large, and XLarge. This place also wont let you order unless its $100 and the mice and rats r pretty cheep with free shipping. I can get a years supply with $100 worth.

As for size of food to give to a boa:
When I'm growing my boas to achieve maximum size, I will offer them a food item that is approximately 1/8 of their weight. For example, I have a 200 gram baby that is eating 25 gram weaned rats. As soon as she excretes the waste, I feed her again. This is also true for my adult females. I will feed my adult females that weigh 12 lbs a 1.5 lb rat.

I feed all of my male boas that are over a year old, 1 medium rat every 2 weeks. My 6 foot adult males and my 4 foot adult males get the same size rat regardless of their own body mass. Sometimes they even go 3-4 weeks between feedings (if they're going into shed). I don't have any need for large rats for my adult male boas, not even for my breeders.

I understand the place you'd like to order from is out of mediums (at this time). Usually they will have more with a month or two. If you can get by on purchasing individuals at a local store for a few weeks, you should be able to purchase frozen mediums in bulk soon.

I also have to agree with what was said in the other posts about getting the aggressive behavior under control while the animal is still young.

Hope some of this information helps.

Anthony-

I think I will go with ordering a 6month supply of medium rats from rodentpro for now. Hopefully after that long the cheaper place will have more in. The problem with buying locally here is, rats are $4.00 each and that's just way to much.

Should I keep with feeding him every week or go to every 2 weeks?