red tail boa concern

dglvr0055 · #1 (**permalink**) 10-26-2009, 05:19 PM

Last december i bought a baby red tail boa. he was on a feeding sched. of 1 hopper every other week.
i kept him on the sched, and almost a year later he has not grown but maybe an inch, is there something im doing wrong? or what?

Sakara · #2 (**permalink**) 10-26-2009, 05:23 PM

mice are the problem. he needs to be eating rats and also a boa that is over a year old is WAY too old to be eating something that small... a baby boa should eat every 7-10 days. I prefer 7 for my babies. and he should be on rats. do u have any pics of him?

TammyJamaica · #3 (**permalink**) 10-26-2009, 05:32 PM

If you have read anything about snakes, you would know that baby snakes require feeding every 7 - 10 days, not every two weeks, and as has been said, his prey needs to be upped to rats. Are you feeding live? I hope you are killing the mice first before offering them, or that you are giving him frozen/thawed prey.

He needs more food, more often. But don't overdo it now. Just start feeding him every 8 days or so, bigger meals. See how he grows.

A picture would be good.

Good luck!

dglvr0055 · #4 (**permalink**) 10-26-2009, 07:16 PM

I am killing the mice b4 i feed him, i dont like feeding any of my snakes live animals. but i will switch to rats and see how it goes.

thank you all.

(i checked i do not have any recent pics of him, but i think im going to take some)

Sakara · #5 (**permalink**) 10-26-2009, 07:22 PM

rats are more nutricious so he should sprout once he starts eating them. just to give u an idea my year to year and a half-ish boas are eating small-medium rats every 10 days and are over 4ft long

BlackLava · #6 (**permalink**) 10-26-2009, 08:30 PM

some boas wont grow if fed mice, other will get big no matter what you feed them. i bought a 7mo baby last year, fed it sm mice cause thats what he was eating when i first got him, he grew a whole foot in about 4mo time, just eating one sm mouse a week

and a bp also last year who outgrew his siblings, just eating a sm mouse a week. at the same time, i have had babies that didnt grow much when fed mice, and other babies who grew very slow when fed rats, and yet others who grew very quickly on rats. IMO, both food and genetics play big roles in a snakes growth, but its genetics more than food that will make them grow.

bterrill · #7 (**permalink**) 10-26-2009, 09:38 PM

I agree its mice thats the issue...and boas probably will eat every week and should be taking rats.

omarcito · #8 (**permalink**) 10-28-2009, 01:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TammyJamaica

If you have read anything about snakes, you would know that baby snakes require feeding every 7 - 10 days, not every two weeks, and as has been said, his prey needs to be upped to rats. Are you feeding live? I hope you are killing the mice first before offering them, or that you are giving him frozen/thawed prey.
He needs more food, more often. But don't overdo it now. Just start feeding him every 8 days or so, bigger meals. See how he grows.
A picture would be good.
Good luck!

do u need to kill the mice first before giving it??

BlackLava · #9 (**permalink**) 10-28-2009, 02:00 AM

if he will take dead prey, then definately kill them first

or just buy frozen feeders.

Sakara · #10 (**permalink**) 10-28-2009, 02:54 AM

fresh killed and frozen thawed are MUCH safer!

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