Feeding

    Boas are generally fed mice or rats, depending on size (with rats being the more nutritious). A general rule of thumb is the prey item should be only slightly larger than the girth of the snake. On average, should be fed every 10 days. To be sure your Boa is getting enough Calcium you may dunk the prey item's rear in calcium powder (like RepCal/Ultimate Calcium). Many breeders have different ideas on feeding. Some power feed for maximum growth, so that a boa can be breedable by a year old, others feed every 2-4 weeks, to slow the growth of the boa. Do keep in mind, in the wild snakes lose more meals than the ingest, and they expend a lot of energy hunting. In captivity, food is given to them and they expend no energy other than what it takes to pass the meal into the stomach. Thus, in captivity we have an abundance of obese boas. This can lead to various health problems and early death, just as it can in humans. 

Where to feed: Feeding is a dangerous time to be around snakes. There are two schools of thought on where to feed a snake. Some say you must remove a snake to a feeding enclosure - but if this is the only time you handle the snake, it will presume it is being fed when removed from the cage and go into feed mode. Also too, if you only get into a snake's cage to toss down food, it may go into feed mode when you open his cage. Either presents a danger to the handler. so, no matter which method you choose, you must handle your snake frequently so he doesn't learn to associate you with food. 

How to feed: There are also two schools of thought on how to feed the prey items - frozen/thawed (f/t) or live. Some say feeding live is 1.) More natural, can provide hunting experience and keep muscles more toned (however cages are not large enough for that to help too much), 2.) Provide more natural emotional and brain stimulation, 3.) It is exciting for the handler to watch a prey item be bitten and strangled. Others say to use only f/t for 1.) a dead prey cannot attack or kill  the hunter, 2.) The process of the freezing can kill off harmful bacteria/parasites the prey may be carrying, 3.) The snakes are not used to striking at anything that moves, so are safer to handle

Babies: Generally start out with pinkie rats. I generally feed babies smaller portions every 5 days. it allows them to get a good start. But, remember, I feed them smaller portions, their girth size or smaller, often waiting for evacuation before feeding again. Once they pass their delicate neonate stage, they are put on a 7 day schedule, and older juvies up until adulthood are fed every 10 days.  Non BCI species often do better on a 10-14 day schedule,  being fed smaller meals.

Adults: Once an adult has reached 6 feet, I will put them on a 3 week feeding schedule to maintain their current size, rather than encourage growth.