feeding dead rats??????????????

[fli79]

hi i have a one year old male common boa my ? is iv been feeding him live mice and now rats but iv read that you shouldnt i dont understand this my snake is as calm as can be but everytime i feed him he hunts the rat down the rat cant attack him i dont like the sounds of feeding him frozin because it just woulndnt be fresh i dont like killing animals i just feel rong doing it i mean who kills the rats for them in the wild and can someone tell me is ther a diif between common boa and a red tail boa i talked to a guy at the pet store and he told me that there is no diff he showed me a redtail my snake colors are darker than any read tail iv seen he sed it was prob a mix breed
and i was wondering if i could breed him with a redtail wen i bought my boa it sed comon boa he was telling me its a redtail i meen it does have red in its tail can anyone help me ???

[J.J.]

Re: feeding dead rats??????????????

Ok on the F/t thing

You should feed F/t becouse of parasite's, disease, and danger of harm to the boa. The boa may hunt down his food but when he grabs it and begins to constrict, a rat can chew a hole the size of a slver dollar in the snakes side. Rats cary diseases both on their body and inside, same with parasites. You eleminate this by freezeing the prey item. I personaly raise and kill much of my own which I then freeze. You do not loose any nutrishion of rodents for the first 3 months other than water, if you vacume pack the rodent it can last alot longer. up to a year. If you feed pre killed or F/t and also feed in another enclosure it will further lessen the chance of you or someone else being bitten, and will help to make your snake more docile.

As for what type snake you have a pic would help, but common boa is just another pet store term for columbian boa, atleast thats how I understand it. I am probably wrong I have never herd the term common boa exept for the Columbian bao (BCI) due to its numbers in the pet trade.

[Doug]

Re: feeding dead rats??????????????

Hi,
  I would consider buying  frozen from a rat breeder, many of the animals in petstores are under feed and tend to be a little undernurished, the can have fleas and mites, and several types of worms.  The rodents I ordered frozen were nearly double in size and weight. The rodentpro gurantees they are fed the highest quality rat food. That insures your snake is getting good nutrition.
  Feed thawed rats is a little tricky at first, but once done is a breeze. I have 6 mos of rodents frozen in the freezer in special bags. They cost about 1/2 cost of the live and tend to be bigger. Yes you pay for shipping but it balances out to be a small savings.
 PLease consider changing to frozen, its safer for you and
your snake, better have your snake stool checked for worms.
here's a shortcut to CLays care sheets.
[ftp]http://www.redtailboas.com/frozen_thawed/frozen_thawed.html[/ftp]
  Good Luck,,,Ps  them rat bites really hurt and can be dangerous to you.....doug

[fli79]

Re: feeding dead rats??????????????

ok thanx guys i will start to feed him frozin rats this week..

[ClayEnglish]

Re: feeding dead rats??????????????

By the way as Doug has mentioned, there is a great care guide on feeding pre-killed vs live prey items, and it details many ways to convert your boa to eating pre-killed rodents.

http://www.redtailboas.com/frozen_thawed/frozen_thawed.html

This guide has proven successful in helping more and more people take better and responsible care of their "pet" boas.

[fli79]

Re: feeding dead rats??????????????

thanx agen guys iv reed the care sheet 3 or 4 times ill let u no how it goes cwm15.gif

[fli79]

Re: feeding dead rats??????????????

allright!!! s9.gif
it took 3 nights of trying but i got him to eat one the first two i had to throwout must not have ben hungry but i will feed him frozin from now on thanx ;D

[Doug]

Re: feeding dead rats??????????????

Hi,
Excellent you'll find your snake will start to relax, My guyana rarely strike their food they sort of grab it and slurp..
With the bigger snakes I like when they are more docile.
Doug ;D