Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have heard of feeding adult boas uncooked chicken. What you all think? Good Idea or no? Just curious.

Thanks,
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Chris
Contact
Captive Bred Herps

0.0.2 Gila Monsters
1.2 KSB "Normal"
1.2 KSB "Albino Het/snow"
1.1 KSB "Anery"
2.2 Rubber boas
3.3 Solomon Island G. Boa
1.2 BCC Born 5-30
1.0 Leopard Gecko
1.0 Pacman Frog

I have fed whole chicken to some of my boas in the past. I have not done it for a few years now but I had no problems. It seems to pack on the weight really quick so I would not recomend feeding chicken as a main diet. I have also heard of people feeding boas uncooked chicken parts (legs, breast,
thighs, ect.) In the wild I'm sure boas eat all sorts of birds

-Dylan
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True Redtails

I used to feed my burmese turkey drumsticks....she'd tke them from my hand, no strike, no coil, just swallow. Was way too cool and always blew away my herp friends.

BTW, probably not reccomended to feed by hand like that
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Thanks,

Dave "Rainbows-R-Us"

0.1 Wife
0.2 kids
12.4 Brazilian Rainbow Boa
1.1 Ball python
1.0 BCI "Elvira" normal from 1989
1.0 BCI albino / het-anery
0.1 BCI Hypo / het-albino
0.1 BCI Anery / het-albino

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

i had a colombian bci that would eat whatever i put in her cage . my neighbor used to breed bantams and when he was snitched on by another neighbor that didnt agree with him having em . he had 1 week to get rid of em . so we just moved the cages to my yard i froze the males and the females just stayed in the cages. i had over 40 chickens . that lasted about a year and a half . she is still alive with a friend of mine and shes roughly 9 ft in length and weighs over 70 lbs . shes about 14 years old now and as healthy as any other can be . what i did notice though was that in that year an a half of eating chicken only , she did pack on about 20 lbs which probably wasnt a good thing . but now shes fed once a month and doing great !
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NO BEAUTY LIKE THE BEAUTY OF A TRUE REDTAIL !!

I feed my bigger boas chicken drumsticks around once a month (I give rats most of the time or rabbits when they are available locally). I do however partially cook the chicken though before giving it to them.
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Randall L Turner Jr.
www.aircapitalconstrictors.com

I have fed some of my large females whole fresh chickens. (feathers and all) To pack a bit of weight on them in the summer. It is fattening so i wouldn't recomend doing it all the time but one here and there is probably good for variation in their diet.

BTW they love them even if they have never eaten one. It is funny to watch though, the first few times they have the toughest time figuring where to start eating...LOL... with the floppy head and all.
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Ed Lilley, www.constrictorsnw.com

I regularly feed Chicken parts, whole chicken, necks, legs or wings depending on the size of the Boa..
My Females get a heavy feeding once per month which includes a jumbo rat and several chicken quarters to keep up a good weight for the breeding season when most will go with only one small feeding per month. During the rest of the month they will get smaller meals, but my large females will take a jumbo or collosal rat adn 3-5 chicken parts and act as if they want more. Like Randy I partially cook my chicken to help destroy any bacteria, as well as use frozen chicken to help kill any. My smaller boas will be fed necks, wing parts and smaller chicken legs as they are growing to go with there normal full rodent meals. Chicken is an inexpensive way to suplement the rodent diet and as several have mentioned adds weight and they love it!
Chicken parts however can not be the main part of a diet as it is not a whole animal and does not provide all the nutrients needed.
I hope this helps
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Jim Hopkins "Hoppy"
Hopkins Holesale Herps
Hopfam1@aol.com

np
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Chris
Contact
Captive Bred Herps

0.0.2 Gila Monsters
1.2 KSB "Normal"
1.2 KSB "Albino Het/snow"
1.1 KSB "Anery"
2.2 Rubber boas
3.3 Solomon Island G. Boa
1.2 BCC Born 5-30
1.0 Leopard Gecko
1.0 Pacman Frog

Hi,

I've heard of this over the years but never tried it. When several of you say you pre-cook the chicken could you please be more specific as to how , how long, etc?

Thanks much,

Tom

Just take thawed chicken (if it's parts and not a whole animal) toss it in boiling water for a minute, and take it out. You don't want it fully cooked, just enough to kill bacteria that may have been there from commercial chicken farms, and processing.
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Ed Lilley, www.constrictorsnw.com