A couple questions!

[Tonya]

First off, I have a rtb about 2 yrs old. Been told it is probably a female and is now about 5 ft. I was told by someone that raises snakes that they have a snake that is a little smaller than mine and eats 2 rats in a feeding each week. I feed mine weekly, 1 large rat. She can not eat anything bigger at this point, but has refused to eat 2. I have tried several times. I buy them weekly and pre-kill, so I end up wasting money. Because I don't want them in my freezer, I haven't talked myself into that one yet. haha We have waited until he swallows the one then put the other one in there. Should we do it different? Also, she has spent the better part of the last 3 days in her water bowl. Is this okay? I haven't seen her spend so much time in water since we got her in Sept., But I did just put a bigger bowl in about 3 weeks ago.

Sorry it's so long. Thanks in advance. Tonya
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[geckokid]

first of all why do you want to feed it 2 rats a week? Are you power-feeding it to make it breeding size? If not I see no real reason to be giving it two. As long as it is eating 1 a week it should be fine. Bye the way what size rats do youm feed it?
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[Tonya]

I feed her med to large. Depending on where I buy them. I buy them at one of two places and the one has med rats the size of the other ones large ones. I am not power feeding and don't plan on breeding, I only own one. But, I was going by what this person told me. That for the size of the snake one might not be enough. She starts moving around her cage a lot about 4 days after eating, like she is hunting. I am just concerned that she wasn't getting enough to eat. If this will help she was about 4'10" when I bought her in Sept and her last shed about 3 weeks ago she was 5'1".
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[geckokid]

[geckokid]

OK. I think that you should feed it as much as you can. Try doing something like feeding it on the weekend and (if it didnt eat) trying on like wednesday. get it as big as you can. the size rat you are doing is great.

_________________
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my site: http://groups.msn.com/tandrReptiles/_whatsnew.msnw its got forum,chat,and more(lots of info)

The main rule to follow on size of prey is never feed anything larger than the widest part of the snakes body.

for feeding every 7 days, one med-lg rat should be fine. She is small for an adult female, whoever had her before wasn't giving her optimal conditions and food, I would say.

FYI, measuring sheds in not a very accurate method. Sheds can stretch while being removed (by the snake) anywhere from 10-50%

Snakes do the bulk of their growing in the first 12-18 months of life, so I wouldn't expect any dramatic growth rates from this girl if she's more than 2 years old.

Prolonged soaking in a water dish can mean a shed is coming soon. This can mean a normal shed, or it can mean her shedding cycle is speeding up due to external parasites, such as mites.

We have an indepth caresheet section (link over there <- to the left sidebar) that covers not only animals, but feeding and mite infestations and all sorts of other things, check them out.

What temperatures and humidity are you maintaining the animal at? Ambient humidity, espically in the winter due to increased heating, tends to be far too dry. Possibly another reason for soaking. Boas do best when humidity is somewhere between 50-60%
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	Mites Mites, close relatives of fleas and ticks

[Shadrach]

Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! and Whoa!!

<TABLE BORDER=0 ALIGN=CENTER WIDTH=85%><TR><TD><font class="pn-sub">Quote:</font><HR></TD></TR><TR><TD><FONT class="pn-sub"><BLOCKQUOTE>OK. I think that you should feed it as much as you can. Try doing something like feeding it on the weekend and then trying on like wednesday. get it as big as you can. the size rat you are doing is great. </BLOCKQUOTE></FONT></TD></TR><TR><TD><HR></TD></TR></TABLE>

Where did you come up with that answer geckokid? Feed it as much as you can and try to get it as big as you can??? That is exactly what you call Power Feeding! I really hope you were being sarcastic??

Tonya do as J has said here and you can't go wrong!

Good one J you beat me to it!
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[gibson]

yes 1 good size item no bigger than the biggest part of her is just fine. It really does sound like who ever you got her from didn't take the best care of her. But just like j said 1 is good. Snakes grow all their life. She probably will not get much bigger after 2-3 yrs but you will see some increase in size and length.
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[geckokid]

well, what do you have against power-feeding? IF it was not kept to the best health before they got then aaaa why not get it back to health then!!!? if they can get it healthyer well then (duh) do it. get my point and no i wasnt being sarcastic. If its healthy then feed it once a week for all i care. All i was saying was to get it big and you have a frekin cow.
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[dlamphere]

Tonya, just to try to keep this from turning into a debate. I think you can notice which of the posters here know what they are talking about and which ones just want to act like it. I personally thought I knew the answer but didn't feel qualified to answer so I let the best boa people in the world guide you. If your boa will not take 2 at a time,,its because she does not want it. Would you like it if you where forced to eat more than you wanted? Use common sence and follow the pro's here. [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_wink.gif[/img]
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[LdyDrgn]

Geckokid...powerfeeding is unhealthy for snakes. Not just babies, but adults, too. Feeding too large, too many, or even too often can and will cause death in some cases! When a snake eats, the metabolism jumps up by at least 2000% and the gut flora does its job to break the prey down into nutrients. Too big or too many will cause a lot of gases (dead snake) or too often will completely throw off the gut flora (very sick or dead snake). When power feeding is done to babies to get them 'big real quick' the internal organs can't keep up with the body growth = dead snake in the very near future.

Do you see why we have a cow about it?
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[herp_chick]

Power-feeding is NOT healthy. And also, If your snake DID eat something she might not need, she would more than likely regurge, and that's not healthy either. My boas get one prey item every 2 weeks, appropriately sized..........and that's all they need to be healthy. It is not healthy for a snake, or a lizard, or any other animal to be throwing up.
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	regurgitate Throw up. Reptiles will regurge when they feel they are in danger or if they have some sort of health issue. If your reptile has regurgitated his/her food please seek help!

[Shadrach]

Power Feeding = Dead Snake! Ask all the top breeders of large constrictors. Like several have said in the past just because they can reach a certian size in 12 months doesn't mean they should for the health of the animal. Well stated LD I think you hit it right on the head for us!!!
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[geckokid]

to everybody- I know that powerfeeding is bad very very bad. i just used bad grammar and made everyone think the wrong thing. anyways i have fixed it and i meant that if it does not eat on the weekend then try feeding it on like wednesday. thanks and sorry for the mistake.
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