Feeding my boa in his cage or a seperate container?

[mechanicguy80]

My boa is a male, just over 4ft.,and very healthy. I have had him for about 2yrs, and when I bought him from the petstore, they recomended that I feed in a seperate container and not feed him in his cage. They said this is better for the snake, and will reduce the risk of me being bitten. Is this true? I have fed him in a seperate container since with no problems. It is a big rubbermaid box from Wal-Mart. He always eats, I feed frozen thawed mice, and I use hemostats, and always wash my hands after handling food. So am I wrong? What about when gets bigger? Any help would be appreciated.

[haroldo359]

sounds good.

when it is bigger, get a bigger rubbermaid.

i feed my 7 ft. boa in one.

and welcome to the site.

[mechanicguy80]

Okay, I will. I kinda thought maybe he is a runt, a buddy of mine has a rtb about the same age and is almost twice the girth of mine and longer too. My snake eats a 1 jumbo rat every 2 weeks unless he is shedding. Do you think he is right on track? He is very active, and very friendly. Well thanks

[haroldo359]

sounds okay to me. boas grow at different rates. i feed my 3.5 ft. boa medium rats every 10 days.

[LdyDrgn]

In my own personal experience, I have never had any problems feeding in the enclosure. Our snakes are not any more aggressive by this. Plus with the amount of snakes we have, tub feeding just isn't plausible...

Granted, there are those with aggressive snakes that tub feeding has helped to calm down. But I have never (in my experience) seen one GET aggressive by feeding in the enclosure.

It's up to you, however you want to do it.

[NicoleRussell]

isn't it dpenedant on whether he uses loose substrate? I know that's an issue with lizards.

[JuliusSqueezer]

I feed some in the cage and some in totes. My reason for using totes is because I house some snakes together and don't want to try and seperate a brawl. Young snakes on loose substrate eat in totes to avoid impaction unless they will stay put and eat on a paper plate. Large snakes that live alone eat off the top of pizza boxes or off paper plates. Arboreals just eat in the cage dangling from their perches. Substrate is rarely a factor with them. As far as the old....association with opening the cage with food thing...I've yet to see a difference.

The size difference with your's and your friend's boa could also be because of sex. Are you sure your friend doesn't have a female? Females get a good bit larger than males....but still. They hit growth spurts at different ages too. Genetics, diet and health are all key factors in growth rates...just like with humans. Visit any middle school and notice how much difference there are in the sizes of the kids. My son is a 220 lb freshman in HS. There are seniors on his football team a good bit smaller than he is. He made JV already

[nightcat]

I have fed my redtails in their cage for the last fifteen years. I have always fed them in their cages except for the ones I keep together such as babies because I don't want any fights. I think it is actually safer because I have a couple who will strike at anything and are in the feeding mode for about 24 hours after being fed. I just leave them alone for about a day or so then they will soak in their pool mellow out and be fine. Always use tongs with your big guys though, I learned the hard way. I went to throw in a rat, cause I lost my tongsdidn't think my girl was paying attention anyhow but, she grabbed me twisted and broke a finger and a bone in my hand before she realized I wasn't food. She is a ver aggressive feeder, but a sweetie otherwise. Couldn't imagine feeding and trying to move her for at least 24 hours OUCH!

[Ed_r]

Ok which are you feeding?

I feed frozen thawed mice

My snake eats a 1 jumbo rat every 2 weeks

This could definately lead to a size diference. of course not all snakes are created equal, many just stay smaller, som grow at different times.

If you are feeding the mice, well theres your problem the snake needs to be eating the jumbo rats.

As far as feeding in or out of the cage, it all depends. My larger BCIs dont seem to care, and show no ill effects of feeding in the cage. I do have a smaller female that has a real strong feeding response, and i started feeding her in the cage. i noticed she starts to strike when you open the door, but calms when you take her out. When i fed her in a tote she was fine. Coincidence? Could just be the individual snake.

My carpet python eats better in a tote than his cage, plus he is very territorial about his cage.

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