Feeding your Boa Imperator
I figured it might be helpful to share this with those who are new to boas, those who just purchased a baby, and anyone who is currently raising their animals up without a schedule in mind. This is tailored specifically for boa imperator. Boa constrictor ssp. (as well as Central American BI’s and certain imperator morphs, such as arabesques and super jungles) should be on a slower or diminished schedule - in particular BC’s & BCA’s, owing to their incredibly sensitive stomachs and the high risk of regurgitation and death if fed too much or too frequently.
Recent studies have shown that these animals go through extreme internal changes during digestion, so it’s incredibly important to let them complete the digestive process prior to feeding again. Continuously keeping them in that taxing state via power feeding or overfeeding will result in organ failure, sooner or later. It’s worth noting that boas that were power fed early on in the hobby’s history were reported to die within 4 years, and boas that are simply overfed frequently do not live past 10. These are animals that should be living into their 30s, easily, if not their 40’s. And yet most do not live to see adulthood.
If you want a big boa immediately and lack the patience to grow out a baby, please consider adopting or purchasing an older animal. Imperators are opportunistic ambush predators. They are built for irregular, infrequent meals, and will eat almost anything you give them whenever you offer it - and thus will eat themselves to death if you allow it.
The following is a general guide for feeding the common (Colombian) imperator. An alternative is to simply wait until the animal defecates before feeding again (it’ll be about the same amount of time if you stick to these prey sizes). The goal is a slow and steady growth rate, with the animal’s longevity in mind. Please note the prey types - the prey should be about the same width as the largest width of the snake. Boas are not pythons, and do not handle excessively fatty prey items well. It’s wise to avoid (or feed sparingly) items high in fat such as pinks, fuzzies, pups, jumbo & colossal rats, and guinea pigs. You want the most developed version of the prey animal that fits the appropriate size.
Every animal grows at an individual rate, but I’ve posted photos of my own with their ages so you can get a ballpark average of size.
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Neo - 1 year: Frequency: once every 7-10 days
Type: from neonate to six months: hopper mice
from six months to 1 year: adult mice
Electrolyte - 6 months
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1-2 years: Frequency: once every 10-14 days
Type: from 1 year to 18 months, weaned rats
from 18 months to 2 years, small rats
Pink Lady & Hawaiian Hammer - 1 year
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2-3 years: Frequency: once every 14-21 days
Type: from 2 to 2.5 years, small rats
from 2.5 to 3 years, medium rats
Bubble Trouble - 2yrs
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3-4 years: Frequency: once every 14-30 days
Type: Medium rats for males
Large rats for females (if intending to breed)
Deep Eddy - 3yrs
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4-+ years: Frequency: one food item once every 21- 60 days depending on male or female and if breeding.
Type: Large rats or appropriately sized quail or rabbits
Sunkist - 4yrs
Seabreeze - 7yrs
As far as body condition goes, you want an animal that is square-shaped with visible muscle definition on its back and sides. If it’s triangular and you can see its ribs it’s underfed. If it’s round and there are fat rolls or if there are spherical fat deposits present down the sides, it’s overfed.
I hope this helps, please feel free to ping me with any questions.
Thank you for writing this up! Makes me so angry to see all these over fed and overweight animals on social media.
