Fuzzy or weaned rat would be better than a mouse...but a mouse will do if that's all you can find. Every now and then I have a baby or two that just will not eat a rat but will chow down on mice. It is fairly rare but not too uncommon...but If they will eat rats from the start, they will live their entire life never knowing what a mouse even looks like.
Snakes move around and explore for reasons other than hunting for food. They don't just sleep away till they are hungry again...so please don't get stressed because your snake is showing signs of life between feedings
Here is my feeding schedule for boas...This is by no means meant to come across as the end all say all....just what I do LOL...This is a VERY loose schedule that has to be figured and refigured constantly on an individual basis as they all grow at different rates and hit their little spurts at different ages...just keep the prey size (when dead and outstretched) the same approximate size as the snake is around (girth) at it's fattest point. And keep on top of this!
From birth to 4 months old - 1 Pink Rat (not mouse) every 7 days...If they won't take a pink rat-1 hopper mouse
pink rats vary in size...they grow quite a bit before growing hair....so as the snake grows, so should the size of the rat. If the snake grows faster than this schedule might suggest, by all means, step it up. (size-not frequency)
at about 4-5 months they should be ready for a weaned rat...once they get on weaned rats, they seem to hit a little growth spurt. Still...every 7 days
at 8-9 months...small rat every 7-10 days
by 12 months...small -medium or-large rat (what ever is appropriate for the snake) every 10-14 days keep increasing prey size as the snake grows. Chasing down rabbit farmers for feeders is a pain...don't be in such a hurry to deal with that. Enjoy their youth.
After about a year and a half, I never feed any boa any sooner than every 14 days...I also admit to extending the 7 day schedule a bit and then abruptly changing to 14 days skipping the 10 day schedule all together. It's easier to keep up with weekely feedings with a large collection...10 days makes my brain hurt. lol...Once they are well established on any size adult rats, I feed one rat one feeding and 2 the next. I also keep males a little leaner than the females. As a female reaches sexual maturity she will begin to spread out and get quite girthy. If I intend to breed her, I may offer 2 appropriate food items every feeding. If I don't intend to breed them, I don't let them get too fat. Once bred, they usually refuse food till the day or the day after they give birth. I don't breed any female that is less than 4 years old. Right now, I have no plans of breeding anymore boas anyway...so they are all on just healthy maintenance diets.
