Little Boa feeding question, please

Cobe914 · 11-17-15, 02:44 AM

Hello!

In September I picked up the cutest baby female boa from a reptile show. I've had several other snakes but I've been wanting a boa for many years. She was a May baby, so about six months old. I have been feeding her a F/T rat fuzzy every Thursday since I acquired her (though she did skip one week).
I've noticed the last few weeks she looks very.. chubby. She seems quite full and has a pudgy little tail. She's got a huge appetite, appears to be very healthy (though approaching a shed, I believe), and is pooping fine. And plenty.
Everywhere I've read says I shouldn't feed less then once a week, and I've even been told the feeders I'm giving her are too small. Should I cut her back anyway?
Maybe I just bought a batch of super high calorie rat babies. If anyone could share their thoughts, I'd really appreciate it.
I've attached a picture of her from back in September (tucked against her rock hide) and the "now". I know they're not the best representations of my descriptions but she's not been feeling cooperative..

Thank you so much, everyone!

bigsnakegirl785 · 11-17-15, 06:14 AM

I was going through the same thing with my sunglow girl. She's about 5 months old herself, eating hoppers. I had started her out feeding every 10 days, but after about a month she started getting chubby (started being key); her tail was splayed out like she was holding onto poop but she was long empty (biggest dump I've ever seen a snake her size take), I couldn't really see muscle definition as well as before, losing that pure loaf shape, etc. So I am now feeding her every 10-14 days and after several feedings she's gone back to a perfect shape.

Maybe try feeding her mouse hoppers (the mouse equivalent to rat fuzzies)? They should be older, and thus less fatty than a fuzzy rat since they should have stopped nursing, or very close to it. That may thin her out. I'd also try spacing her feedings out a bit to 10 days rather than 7 days, whether you continue with rats or mice.

She doesn't look bad at all, and babies have higher metabolisms so she should lose that bit of padding quickly doing this. She should still grow really well, even if you space out her feedings more than every 10 days, but 10 days is usually enough, just keep an eye on her overall body tone to determine if you need to space it out more or bring them closer together.

Do you know how much she weighs, or how big she is? Chances are, mouse hoppers/rat fuzzies are the perfect size. My girl is only about a month younger than your's and most likely isn't much smaller, she's about 100 grams last time I weighed her, and 24" last time I measured her, and she's eating mouse hoppers atm as a reference.

You want something that leaves no bulge, or a small bulge with no scale separation, while being roughly the snake's girth. Even if it's a bit smaller than normal, it's ok (and preferable) to feed it on a normal 7-10 day schedule.

**Tsubaki** · 11-17-15, 06:17 AM

Since you seem to never have had a boa before, i wouldn't worry so much. She looks like a healthy baby. On the first picture she looks like a newborn, and one the second like a well fed growing baby. The picture comparison is also deceptive since you cannot see the tail on the first, as she's laying on it. Boa's are supposed to be a slightly rounded square shape, it's body seems well proportioned to its head. Overweight boas are even more rounded, obese boas have a rim of fat along their bottom. Once a week is not too much for a 6 month old boa, it is very hard (nearly impossible) to actually get a 6 month old boa fat. If you overfeed a growing snake (which you are not!), they will not get fat easily, they will grow out of proportion (their head can't keep up with their bodies growth). Adult snakes get fat, babies grow. I don't even see any of the pudging/splaying bigsnakegirl mentioned seeing on her sunglow, might just be the picture though. The feeding schedule she recommends is a good one to my opinion.

Manietsky · 11-17-15, 06:24 AM

She looks really healthy to me. Theres nothing wrong with feeding her once a week, but you could always move down her feeding to every 10 days or so. She's probably old enough to move up her rat size soon too.
I have a late june baby MALE as well, who is super healthy and almost approaching the same girth. I will probably keep on spoiling mine every week. Yours won't be any less healthy if you decide to cut down her feeding, because she looks fat, than keeping her fat. The choice is yours...

Manietsky · 11-17-15, 06:30 AM

I'm a bit late to the party I see... The people before me covered it better imo. Gorgeous boa btw!

bigsnakegirl785 · 11-17-15, 06:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tsubaki

Since you seem to never have had a boa before, i wouldn't worry so much. She looks like a healthy baby. On the first picture she looks like a newborn, and one the second like a well fed growing baby. The picture comparison is also deceptive since you cannot see the tail on the first, as she's laying on it. Boa's are supposed to be a slightly rounded square shape, it's body seems well proportioned to its head. Overweight boas are even more rounded, obese boas have a rim of fat along their bottom. Once a week is not too much for a 6 month old boa, it is very hard (nearly impossible) to actually get a 6 month old boa fat. If you overfeed a growing snake (which you are not!), they will not get fat easily, they will grow out of proportion (their head can't keep up with their bodies growth). Adult snakes get fat, babies grow. I don't even see any of the pudging/splaying bigsnakegirl mentioned seeing on her sunglow, might just be the picture though. The feeding schedule she recommends is a good one to my opinion.

Yup I agree she looks healthy, and pictures are deceiving which is why I went ahead and gave my advice, since it won't really harm the snake regardless of whether or not it's pudgy since it's not really get less food per se.

The things I noticed in my girl were really slight, and hard to capture without some outside help, which my family is useless when it comes to photo-taking. haha Mainly: her tail was slightly splayed but since she wanted to bend her body everywhere to get a grip the overhead shot I got only gave me the side view of her tail, and although you could still see her muscles, it was in a soft relief instead of being really clear if that makes sense? Even if she was using all her strength to pick up her food, you couldn't really make them out, and now I'm able to actually see her muscles in those 3 cords down her back when she flexes them. Since I don't feed huge meals, once the bulge goes down, the main way I see "sausage butt" is that their tail is rounded and squishy underneath, when it's empty it's flat, and her tail was always rounded even after a big poo.

**Tsubaki** · 11-17-15, 07:06 AM

'Sausage butt' hahaha, yes that's strangely a good description. I always keep my boa's on the slim side (not skinny), rather feed them a little less than once too many. But aren't all babies at least a little pudgy? Their muscle tone doesn't have to be hardly defined i think, as long as you can make it out i'll just call it 'baby fat'. I wish Renji would get a little pudgy, he is currently on a full hormonal stop again. He hadn't gained the weight he lost last time yet, he really think he's THE alpha man that has to fertilize the entire world population of female boa's. (He makes this very clear with the sticky 'presents' he leaves me DAILY... gross)

bigsnakegirl785 · 11-17-15, 07:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tsubaki

'Sausage butt' hahaha, yes that's strangely a good description. I always keep my boa's on the slim side (not skinny), rather feed them a little less than once too many. But aren't all babies at least a little pudgy? Their muscle tone doesn't have to be hardly defined i think, as long as you can make it out i'll just call it 'baby fat'. I wish Renji would get a little pudgy, he is currently on a full hormonal stop again. He hadn't gained the weight he lost last time yet, he really think he's THE alpha man that has to fertilize the entire world population of female boa's. (He makes this very clear with the sticky 'presents' he leaves me DAILY... gross)

I've noticed babies tend to be a lot less pudgy than adults tbh, it's mostly in the babies you see outstanding muscle definition. As adults, it's mainly in the overall body shape than muscle definition. Young ones do tend to get baby fat, though, yes, because they're eating food that's not as lean as adults. So a bit of padding isn't worrisome as long as it doesn't get to be too much and it doesn't carry into adulthood, as they do also have high metabolisms and can deal with it a bit better.

Both your boas seem to be in perfect shape, Tsubaki! They don't look too thin imo, they're lean but not thin. Honestly, I wish I could get Cloud closer to how they look, but he was raised wrong and I don't think it will be possible to build any more muscle than he's got now. :/ His girth is really good, just wish he'd bulk up more in muscle.

**Tsubaki** · 11-17-15, 07:31 AM

True, babies always seem very muscular, i do think this has to do with that they use everything to grow. And store very little, especially female later on in life store allot of fat in case of pregnancy. Renji is in good shape but is a little lighter than he was last year, just saying would be nice if he had gained that back. However not worried about it, i just catch myself looking at numbers too much. Rukia is still growing steadily

Shame you can't put snakes on a treadmill huh? or have them lifting some weights.. building some muscle-tone.

Cobe914 · 11-17-15, 08:08 PM

Thank you for the information, everyone!
I feel reassured that I'm not hurting her, which was my primary concern. I've waited for her for a very long time and I want her to be around for much longer. She is my first of her species, and also my first "baby". I tried to coax her into allowing me to get a weight on her, but she's fairly opposed to being handled right now. As I said I'm pretty certain she's heading into shed and she's struck up quite an attitude.. so I won't push the matter for now. She might look a little better after that too.

I really appreciate the support