• Hello!

    Either you have not registered on this site yet, or you are registered but have not logged in. In either case, you will not be able to use the full functionality of this site until you have registered, and then logged in after your registration has been approved.

    Registration is FREE, so please register so you can participate instead of remaining a lurker....

    Please be certain that the location field is correctly filled out when you register. All registrations that appear to be bogus will be rejected. Which means that if your location field does NOT match the actual location of your registration IP address, then your registration will be rejected.

    Sorry about the strictness of this requirement, but it is necessary to block spammers and scammers at the door as much as possible.

How to tell if your boa is too fat?

raynefyre

raynefyre

Taste the Rainbow
Gauge is looking kinda chunky lately, but I really think that he is going to poop soon. Lol. It would definitely explain his activity around the border of his cage. But I'm curious, how do you experience keepers know when your boa is looking a little too chunky monkey? Mine's on an adult mice every 7 days and he seems to be doing well on it, but I'm just concerned about over/under feeding. If anyone has some pics that could help and stuff I would greatly appreciate it.
 
I vaguely remember reading something about boas storing fat near their tail end that makes them look sorta 'hippy' - but I dont remember where I read it.

cant help more than that im afraid
 
You might get better answers if you can post his length and weight and show some good full-body shots of him. When you handle him, is he firm and muscular or 'squishy'? Hopefully Robbie or some of the other boa keepers can help then.
 
He's a dwarf cross just in case that matters too. Last weigh in he was 155 grams and he's about 2' long, give or take an inch. He's hard to measure. >.< He's definitely super strong when I hold him, no squishyness here! Here's some pics.

l_49802979f2154bab98de55321c442476.jpg


l_c501572f2b8c434ca8eb5caca60771e3.jpg


l_9ffc020d297d4f29be8fe40020d93750.jpg


l_263e8018d766479bbbc8c4d88301f050.jpg
 
It will become rather obvious- if the Boa's scales are slightly apart all the time(it is quite visible) than the fat stores are too large.
Your snake is far from being overweight- Boas are not colubrids, they were meant to be a deal thicker.

I have 5 2009 Boas, all around 260-350 grams(probably more by now).
 
Boas are what I call "square snakes". If your wee one keeps that linear and chunky appearance instead of being round and squishy, then your boa is NOT overweight.

My rule for boas is the less you feed, the more they grow! Sounds silly huh? I have always fed my baby boas every 10-14 days, on the basis that I like long and lean snakes. My Corn Isle male has taken over 3 years to get to 4ft and his diet comprises of mice and chicks fed at bi weekly intervals. He is a long and lean snake, with a large head which is proportionate to his body. He is absolutely solid muscle and has a nice square chunky frame. Feeding less ensures boas use their nutrition to grow rather than bulk up. I don't want to advocate the starvation of boas lol, just that less is more in this case. You also need to take into consideration the metabolic rate of individual boas. Dwarf locales (in my experience) have a much slower metabolism compared to common BCI's.
 
Tula_Montage said:
Boas are what I call "square snakes". If your wee one keeps that linear and chunky appearance instead of being round and squishy, then your boa is NOT overweight.

My rule for boas is the less you feed, the more they grow! Sounds silly huh? I have always fed my baby boas every 10-14 days, on the basis that I like long and lean snakes. My Corn Isle male has taken over 3 years to get to 4ft and his diet comprises of mice and chicks fed at bi weekly intervals. He is a long and lean snake, with a large head which is proportionate to his body. He is absolutely solid muscle and has a nice square chunky frame. Feeding less ensures boas use their nutrition to grow rather than bulk up. I don't want to advocate the starvation of boas lol, just that less is more in this case. You also need to take into consideration the metabolic rate of individual boas. Dwarf locales (in my experience) have a much slower metabolism compared to common BCI's.
Click to expand...

Just adding to what was said, as it may sounds like "magic", but it ain't- I found this to be true with colubrids also, it is usually preferable to serve a big meal in bigger intervals than small meals in shorter ones- you can see a more accelerated growth when snakes are given the most developed food-items they can swallow- be it weaned, fully grown mice/rats and so on... more protein, more muscle tissue, less fat...
I saw the same with cornsnakes, it's even more obvious with Boas- they just need a bigger break between meals because they require a deal more time to fully digest their meal.
 
Okay, that makes sense. Just curious then, what would you recommend feeding my boa? He's on adult mice every week but should I switch him to something else? Is he doing okay to where I should leave things be? There's so many different strategies to feeding boas, I wish they had a plan like the Munson Plan is to corns. Lol.
 
I am no Munson, but I do enjoy the experience of my friend who has kept Boas for around 30 years... though I admit I also work by instinct...
When my Boas were at the size as yours, they got 2 adult mice/rat pups of equivalent size every other week.
 
raynefyre said:
Would it be better to do 2 mice every other week or 1 mouse every week?
Click to expand...

bigger meals, bigger intervals, Boas respond best to this regiment from personal experience.
So the answer's yes, as far as my personal opinion is concerned.
 
im no experienced keeper, but your boa looks great to me. like the rest said its a thicker snake and the chuckyness might be a bowel movement waiting to come out.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top