My son recently received a red tailed boa as a gift. I do not know a whole lot about this species. Neither does my son. He has been feeding him feeder mice, live, and I do not know if he should be doing this or not. I also gave him some raw meat in his dish, which I did not see him consume, but it was gone the next day. Just want to make sure we are not doing something that will inadvertently harm this new aquisition.

Helen Obertein

i dont own a snake myself but I know feeding it live feeder mice isnt the best idea...you should try frozen..just thaw em out at room temp for an hour maybe? someone will have to help me out...and about the raw meat in a dish...never heard of it

hope this helps...got it off a caresheet...
Newborns should be fed every 5 days. Start on pinkies, and work up from there. As the snake increases in size, feeding can be cut back to every seven to ten days. Feeding can be done every 2 weeks, or even less in emergency situations, but this is not recommended. Your pet will be much healthier if fed a reasonable meal weekly than if gorged every two weeks. Prey items should be approximately the same diameter as the snake (both at the widest part of the body). ALL prey should be killed or at least stunned. This can be accomplished by several methods. If feeding live, I simply swing the rat be the tail and allow its head to "bump" into a step in my garage. Frozen prey is attractive due to the fact that it is on hand when needed, already dead, and usually cheaper than live. Always kill or stun prey, the worst I have ever felt was when I got in a hurry and fed a live rat. He managed to get his teeth on (but thank goodness not in) Sinbad's back. No damage, just a very worried father. Rats can be hit in the head with a solid object (just stay behind the eyes, very messy if you don't, blood everywhere!) or place a stick behind the head. and pull on the tail to break the neck. Regular use of a vitamin supplement is a must. Your breeder/ supplier/ vet should be able to recommend something suitable. For those of you with larger collections, bulk supplements from a farm supply store work well. It may cost more than a small bottle at the pet store, but tends to last much longer. Check with a vet as to dosage. Some specimens may regurgitate if handled within a day or two after feeding. I usually avoid handling until the "lump" goes away.

I'm not a keeper of boas either, but I know that live food is not a good idea for any snake. Raw meat isn't a part of a healthy diet either. I moved your thread to the red-tailed boa forums. Since both you and your son are new at keeping snakes, you'll probably need help figuring out the rest of his care, not just the feeding. This should get your thread some more attention from the boa keepers.

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Helen, most snake keepers prefer to feed frozen thawed mice. It reduces the chance of the snake being bitten by the prey and lesssens the possibility of the snake obtaining parasites. Your sons boa should not be fed meat and I'm extremely surprized that it ate it. How do you have the snakes tank set up ? How big is it ? Please provide as much info as you can as to how you are prepared to take care of it, remember, it will grow to be a rather large animal. I will attach the link to our boa caresheet, please have yourself and your son go carefully over it and feel free to PM me directly with any questions. I've had boas for years and they make great pets if properly cared for.

http://www.herpcenter.com/showthread.php?t=2740

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Ken
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