Ok here is the story.....I helped the previous owners of this boa a couple of years ago. They had him in a mesh enclosure and he just about rubbed half of his face off and he ended up with the worst case of mouth rot I had ever seen. I believe it was after the 11 or 12th month of this thing not eating they brought it to me. With the extent of the mouth rot I don't think it could eat. So I fed the snake for them, showed them how to deal with the mouth rot, told them to put it in a proper enclosure with the proper temp, humidity etc. After a few days they took him to the vet. The vet basically told them to do the same thing I did. So anyway....I tried to get these people to give me the snake back then but they wanted to try to save it. Okay, from what they said the snake recovered. Time passes and they decide to give me the snake. So I got the snake on September 21 of this year. The snakes face although not perfect is not as bad as I had thought it would be. BUT....the snake was so under weight I couldn't believe my eyes. The snake could not stay upright. The snake had to lay on its side. The snake could literally fold itself in half, I had never seen anything like it in my life. So I put it in an appropriate size enclosure with all the basic husbandry needs covered (heat, water, hide etc.) They said it had eaten a large rat 2 days earlier (LIE!!!!) You would have seen the rat inside this thing. His girth at the time was about 6 inches, with an overall length of about 6 feet. So I fed him, and wouldn't you know he ate a small rat. Hooray!! 4 days later 2 small rats. He was eating like a champ live, frozen thawed he didn't care. His most recent meal was 4 large frozen thawed rats. He can now upright himself (he actually lays on his belly) and he moves like a normal snake. His girth is around 9 inches and his overall length is the same. But now he is off feed. He hasn't eaten since November 1. So here is my question, Are boas like balls? Should I wait it out? Does he want to breed?

You're asking for problems feeding it that frequently, and so many items, especially if it was malnourished. I understand the whole "it's underweight" thing, but Boa will bounce back on regular feeding better (healthier) then they will if you keep them stuffed like that.

Good on you for the rescue. Glad to hear it's in better hands now. Just do the snake a favor and give it a break between feedings, and not so many items in one sitting. You said "him: and "he", so assuming it's sexed correctly, male Boa are going to be slimmer then females, so he may not be as under weight as it seems.

No, Boa are nothing like Ball Pythons, except they are both Boids. It's not normal for them to go off feed unless they are breeding or gestating young, or their environment needs adjusting. You might try raising the temps a few degrees and see if that helps.

Good luck.
Rick

Thanks for the info. I wish I had taken a pic of this guy so everyone could see the shape he was in. I am not going to give up on him and as soon as I can get him feeding regularly again, I would like to place him with someone that will continue to take care of him properly. I have one other Boa that I have committed to for life. This one was in a "nature" program at a summer camp. At the end of the season he was brought to me, and after giving him a thorough once over I could see that he had been crushed. I took him to the vet where he confirmed that the snake endured a traumatic crushing injury, which was not addressed and healed poorly. I took him back to my pet store set him up in a 54 gallon bf tank with all the necessities. He eats and poops and sheds like a normal Boa and now that I brought him home he is in a 72 gallon bf and is doing great.

You have a 72 gallon boyfriend? Or best friend? (sorry, I don't know what a bf is. I ain't that hip sometimes LOL)

Sorry. "B"ow "F"ront.

Ah, OK.


Never heard of them either. LOL

Good onya for both of the rescues and great job getting them back on their "feet" LOL

I'd have to agree with Rick on the power feeding. Give him a little break and try resuming a more normal feed schedule. Also keep and eye on the mouth rot sometimes scar tissue can lead to cysts.

Well my problem boas has just taken his first medium rat since being off feed. I will give him 1 more medium rat this feeding if he will take it then I will let him be for a while. Now we feed our balls every week, can the boa eat weekly or every 10 - 14 days?

At 6' and the conditions he was being kept in he is probably close to full grown and could go 2 med or med/large rats 10-14 days easy. You want good weight on him, not obese. Or feed 1 rat weekly if you prefer. A well fed boa should be kind of square in cross section. Like a loaf of bread. If they start looking round or the spine becomes prominent they are either overfed or underfed respectively.

I'd give him the 2 weeks minimum. I tend to feed every 3 weeks around here on average, and they only get one item.

Just for the record, my '08 boas eat Large rats, and they are only 4-5 ft long. I'd say you need to get that boy a larger feed item so you don't have to double up his meals.

If it was me that is.

I most DEFINITELY agree with everything Rick and Big T mentioned. The last thing you want to do is over-feed a malnourished snake of ANY kind. Their frail bodies simply cannot habdle the heavy work of properly digesting large/frequent meals. Slow and steady is much healthier, with far less risk of regurgitation. That could send a snake in that condition over the edge and could easily cause it to die from the additional bacteria poisoning from the rotted meal(s). I would go with a single good-sized rat every 12 to 14 days as well. Boa's metabolism is much different than many other types of snakes which is why they deficate at a much slower rate of about every 10 to 14 days too.

Glad to hear the poor thing is doing better now,....so slow and steady will keep him on the safe road to recovery and to thrive. :yes:


~Doug

Slow and steady seems to be working so far. Thanks everyone!!

I just saw this thread. I agree that adult Boas should be fed every 2-3 weeks. I feed my adults 10% of their body weight. On an under nourished Boa, I may cut that in half and feed every two weeks until they have improved some what. It's going to be a slow recovery but these creatures are built for long fasting and he should be fine. Your slow and steady approach is a good idea. Also, lots of water. Some of that shrimper up look may be due to dehydration. If possible, feed the lowest fat content food available. I feed my male Boas medium rats and never anything bigger then a large rat. The females are fed Jumbos and I try to get 9 week old male rats vs retired female breeders. I'm going to try and feed 1-2 lb rabbits this spring as that's a lower fat food item. Also, sounds like you are mostly a Ball guy, it's good to know that Boas are not like Balls in that they can not digest fats or feed at the same intervals. Stay away from black Sumer rats as these have been documented to cause issues with Boas and even death. Hope that helps.