Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I rescued a boa today and now have him in my possession. He's approximately 6.5-7 feet long and weighs around 40 lbs or so. Unfortunately he was kept in a 55 gallon fish tank which is way to cramped for him. So a new cage is on the way. But he seemed to be overweight to me. Part of his mid section is somewhat swollen and the scales are considerably separated. And also, he seems to have somewhat of a bulge on the lower half towards his subcaudal scales. I was told the last time he ate was Thanksgiving...and he's been getting a jumbo sized rat, which I don't consider too big a meal for his size.

I've attached pics of him...sorry about the poor quality. I was trying not to disturb him as I'm letting him acclimate for the time being.

Please look at the pics and tell me what you think. I believe he is quite overweight. I appreciate the help. Thank you

-----
Michael
KoenigsPythons

Well, I would weigh the boa to get an acurate weight, 40 pounds on a 6-7 foot boa would be huge (much larger then the picture shows) most of my inpressively size 7 foot females are in the 30' pound range and I do keep them on the chunky side during summer.
Second, are you sure it is a boy and not a gravid female?

Third, if it is a boy and it is bloated in the rear half as you described then it may be constipated or bound up with impacted feeces, which would have been caused by the snake being kept in such a small enclosure.
Try a warm bath for about an hour and see if you can get him or her to deficate in the bath.
Good Luck
-----
Jim Hopkins "Hoppy"
Hopkins Holesale Herps
Hopfam1@aol.com