Feeding Problems....

[mdolan7653]

OK well last week I tried to feed my boa a prekilled rat like always.....She started to eat it then after she got past the head she spot it out.....Shes about 45" eating medium rats.....this is the first time she refused food...But then a day later I noticed she was starting the beginning stages of shed ....Could that be why she didnt eat it?/ Also the rat was bigger than most could that be a reason too???? I was also thinking about when shes done shedding most likely tomorrow to try feeding her a live rat and watch her make sure nothing goes wrong........Any more tips?? thanks alot
Mike

ps: how hard is it to eventually switch your boa from rats to rabbits? and are rabbits ok to feed live?

[Cristina]

try again in a week and you should never feed live

[Aaron_NSBM]

you just opened a can of worms talking about feeding live.. at the most do a fresh killed or frozen thawed..its never ok to do live...not sure about switching from rats to rabbits but I will find out soon as my girl has her litter..till then xxl rats will have to do! So try a F/T first before a fresh killed though...

	Frozen/Thawed A rodent or other prey item that is frozen and then thawed to be fed to a reptile or other animal.

[firekick3]

Not to sound like a proponent for live feeding, but years ago when I owned a large burmese switching from live rats and squirrels to rabbits was no problem at all. Most of the time I would try to stun/knock out the large rodent first. If you are already feeding dead rats to your snake, switching to dead rabbits should not make a difference.

[BonafideHerps]

I have a boa that is 43" and im feeding small rats. You said that it might be to big. Try a smaller one. Im not saying that your boa is the same as mine but it might work. And please dont feed live. Its a problem waiting to happen.

Rich

[jme04c]

Live squirrels? Aw..

[firekick3]

Yeah well, the squirells were taking over my bird feeders when I lived in Tally. So I used a bb gun to take down the squirell, then my burmese would take 'em.

[Allysen]

If she's only had one problem with the pre-killed and it was that close to a shed, I'd definitely keep on with what's been working instead of switching to live so quickly. Even closely supervised, accidents can and do happen.

I switched my large female BCI (Oolong) over to small frozen rabbits several months ago, and thought FOR SURE she'd go on a hunger-strike over it, but she took to it no problems whatsoever. (She's such a good girl!)

When Oolong was younger, she once did the exact same thing that you're describing. I was feeding a slightly larger f/t rat than she was used to, she got a little past the head and decided "Nope, don't want that one." for whatever reason, but the week after was just fine again. Keep a close eye on your snake, make sure everything's normal and okay otherwise, and see what happens after the shed.

	Boa Constrictor Imperator Boa Constrictor (Boa constrictor imperator). Most common is the Colombian Boa.

[BoaCrazed]

I have found that xxxl rats from Rodent pro or most other online suppliers are pretty decent sized compared to most rabbits. I have never been able to switch my boas over to f/t rabbits though. I feed f/t, but haven't a stance on the live vs frozen pros and cons...I just do it because it seems to me to be safer. I've never really seen a boa that NEEDS a rabbit though. Most boas in captivity are obese as it is, so I feel there isn't a need to feed that big of a prey. Plus, what are they? $5 a piece? a xxxl rat is 2.00-3.00 dollars and two of them is PLENTY for a large boa and probably more food than a rabbit. All preference though. A good idea to use is to de-thaw the rabbit in the same bag as a rat to get the scent onto the rabbit. That should work wonders for ya

	Frozen/Thawed A rodent or other prey item that is frozen and then thawed to be fed to a reptile or other animal.