Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just rescued a red-tail from a family who couldn't care for him (at least I think it is a him). I am not up to speed on red-tails as I have only been working with burmese pythons. I currently have him in a 48" x 24" x 24" cage with the ambient temps between 88-90. He looked a little underfed (the family said they had him for almost 3 years, he is just under 4 feet long and not very thick in the middle). I picked him up last Wednesday and fed him on Monday - a large rat - he took the meal eagerly. Now then, since you have this background, here are my questions.

1. Is he undersized for his age and should I look to fatten him up a bit?
2. What is a good feeding regimine for him? (how often/how big)
3. Do boas have the same voracious feeding response that my burms do?

Thank you for your help in advance and look forward to hearing from you knowledgeable herpers.

Sincerely,

Marco

I'm sure some people will dissagree with me but i feel that size, for a male, is perfect. of course you could get him to grow alot bigger than that in 3 years by power feeding. i also feel that the "standard" feed schedule that i see in many books for raising snake is still a little excessive. How often do boas really eat in the wild? I'm not so sure the answer is once a week. but i'm sure your boa is healthy from what you said. i would go ahead and get him a regular schedule and monitor his body weight. Check for malnutrition

The cage size is fine, but drop your ambient temps to 78-82F on the cool end with only a basking spot reaching 90-92F. It's important that boas be able to thermoregulate and to do that they need a cooler area in the cage. Sustained high temperatures can cause regurging. Four feet long at three years old is not bad, he's probably been fed a moderate diet and not power fed. It is possible to grow a boa larger in that period of time, but it is becoming common belief that power feeding isn't in the best interest of the snake. You are looking for good muscle tone and strength with an overall lean snake...not one that has poor muscle tone and is obese. It is also possible that he comes from small stock. Growth rates vary as do adult sizes. I have a 2000 female that is right around 3' long and a 2002 pair that are basically the same size. The single female is one I produced and her mother is 11 years old and 6' long. The other two were produced by a female that is around 6 years old and 8' long. For that age snake, I'd be feeding him every 2-3 weeks on one appropriately sized prey item (one that is roughly 1.5 times the size of the snake's widest point) - just enough to leave a slight lump in his midsection. As for feeding response, that varies between snakes. I have several boas that treat the f/t prey as if it were alive, and strike & constrict it. At the same time, I have a couple that simply start swallowing their meal with no fanfare. Most of them seem to be good eaters in my experience, and will often eat as much as you're willing to provide - hence the importance in regulating their diet.

Good luck with your new acquisition.

Raven