Is my BCI small for his age????

[Whatsabateater?]

About 4 years ago I obtained a baby red tail boa from a friends father. He gave it to me with a cage for fifty bucks I couldn't pass It up. Well I had a handfull of lizards at the time so the housandry was not an issue for me. But my local pet store told me that i could feed him slowly like once every 2 to 3 weeks to make sure that he grew slowly. Well now I have enough knowledge to know that is horrible and might as well be crulity to animals. Well four years later He is about 5 and half foot and I got him probed reciently and he is a male. Now i have him eating 1 large rat every 5 to 7 days and he loves every minute of it. But do you think he is small for his age and do you think he could have any health problems down the road because of this????????????????

Thank you for all you input [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]
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[Dr.Oviparous]

Welcome to RTB! Every 5-7 days is over feeding for the age. My boas about that age eat 10-14 days regularly. feeding is a diffrent subject because just like humans, every snake is diffrent, you really just need to adjust for your own snake, but in my honest opinion 5-7 days is too often for the age and species. The size does not sound unusual, just like humans also, it is hard to say exacly how large a snake "should" be at any pertiular age. -juggalo
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[Ed_r]

5-7 days is a little too much. more like 7-10. I feed my Adults 7-8' once a week. They get 1 prey item that is the diameter of the widest point in their body. In my case thats kind of hard to do, so they either get a colosal rat (550- 650 grams, about a pound) or smaller rabbits that wight between 1-2 pounds). They are very good eaters and have a large girth.a 5' boa should be able to take a jumbo rat. The prey should leave a slight bulge in its belly.

I wouldn't be too worried about his size. Some do stay smaller. But feeding apropriate sized prey will also help in that dept. too.

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[Bry]

Well, I don't think feeding every 2-3 weeks is necessarily going to send you to the lake of fire. Boas in the wild don't eat every 7-10 days according to schedule. They just eat whenever they come across food. Your boa may be just a bit small for its age, but it doesn't sound bad at all. Boas in the wild grow more slowly than the ones in captivity. In fact, feeding less and keeping your boa in an ideal weight range for its length does more good than harm. Overfeeding is what causes more problems. There are some snakes, despite being fed on the recommended schedule, that just don't grow to their average size. It won't affect their health. Don't sweat it too much. By the way, I have to agree with these guys, a 5-7 day feeding schedule is too much. Every 7-10 is a better schedule. But, for one at the size of yours, I would go for a 10-14 day feeding schedule.

Bry
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[Stormyva]

I cant add anything that the guys above have not already said except for one thing....


WELCOME TO REDTAILBOA.NET!


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[Whatsabateater?]

Sweet, thank you for all you input. I'm gonna change him over to the 10-14 days between feedings. Thanks for the warm welcome also. This is a pretty kick arse site. [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_wink.gif[/img]

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[Bry]

<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>Thanks for the warm welcome also. This is a pretty kick arse site. [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]</BLOCKQUOTE></FONT></TD></TR><TR><TD><HR></TD></TR></TABLE>

I tend to agree. [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img] Welcome to the site.

Bry
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