[Health-General] How to safely get a boa to lose weight?

[Greenwood]

Ok so I believe my big BCI girl is a little overweight. She has the dorsal line but her lateral lines aren't really visible unless she is actually grabbing something if that makes sense. When she is just relaxed, you don't see lateral lines at all. She also isn't a nice loaf shape really. She is more of a rounded loaf shape. So I figure she is a little overweight but not obese. I admit I overfed her as she was growing up as she is now about 3 years old and about 6'. I have dropped her down to 1 medium to large medium rat every 2 weeks and she does like to come out so I try and get her out for exercise by crawling on the couch and around the bed. My question is is there anything else I can do to help her lose weight? And does 1 medium to large medium rat every 2 weeks sound about right or should I extend her feeding out? Like I said, she isn't morbidly obese but she is on the thick side. She also has hips by her vent. Its the best word I can think of. Its like love handles lol but not really big but ive never seen a snake with love handles or hips down by their spurs. It doesn't look like sausage butt like she is about to drop me a gift. Anyways, any ideas would be great.

[zamora]

Re: How to safely get a boa to lose weight?

Back off the feeding to once a month and keep up your 'exercise regimen' and she will lose it eventually. I only feed my adults on average once a month and they look fine and healthy.

[Pandorasdad]

Re: How to safely get a boa to lose weight?

[MENTION=7407]zamora[/MENTION] nailed it. Less calories, more exercise. Get a cat tree and let her move around on that. They're naturally (at least semi) arboreal, so they love to climb.

[Greenwood]

Re: How to safely get a boa to lose weight?

Ok thanks guys, i'll try that. Should I stick to the same medium rat size? Hard to gauge what size she needs as like I said she is a bit overweight so going by her thickness isn't really accurate.

[zamora]

Re: How to safely get a boa to lose weight?

It is difficult to know for sure since we don't know what your boa actually looks like but I would venture a guess that a medium wouldn't be too much for her. It may take a while for her to lose the 'love handles' and start to gain that 'loaf of bread' optimum look. Hey, look on the bright side, your feed bill just got cut considerably!

[Greenwood]

Re: How to safely get a boa to lose weight?

Lol true. Well I normally feed her medium rats. Those seem to be the size that she can eat fairly easy. I was more concerned of whether I needed to bump her to large rats since im putting her on a monthly diet but i'll probably just stick to mediums. And yeah a picture would be great but I live in the dark ages and don't have a digital camera yet and have found no need for a smart phone. Guess this could a time when I could use one :P I fed her a large a couple times and those definitely leave a lump in her already kinda plump midsection where as the mediums barely leave anything...guess I kind of answered my own question there lol as to sticking with mediums lol.

[ZachmOKC]

Re: How to safely get a boa to lose weight?

@zamora nailed it. Less calories, more exercise. Get a cat tree and let her move around on that. They're naturally (at least semi) arboreal, so they love to climb.

Any good Cat Trees that you recommend, I will get one for Harvey

-Zach

[Morgans Boas]

Re: How to safely get a boa to lose weight?

Is this by chance a Hypo? Some Hypos have the desired "bread loaf" look , but many seem to easily widen out more than other Boas for some reason . I've noticed it, and I've seen other people state the same opinion.

[Greenwood]

Re: How to safely get a boa to lose weight?

Well she Is actually a pet shop boa so all I know about her is that she was labeled as a Colombian red tail boa and she was about 22" when I got her. She does have a lot of salmon color on her lower sides and her cheeks are salmon/red color and her belly is white and salmon colored. I don't have any way to post pictures or I would. I'm just assuming she is a normal BCI as I couldn't see a pet shop messing up on something else. She doesn't have pinched saddles like a hypo. Thing is she always was "thick" even as a baby. My sunglow BCI baby girl who is also 22" is definitely the thin loaf shape unlike Rosey was when she was 22". The thing that triggers me into thinking she is overweight more than anything is the where her spurs are next to her vent, she has hips. Basically its like imagine her body is all even down to her vent, then it pinches off into her tail. Right there at the pinch, its like hips like if you looked at your hand and wrist and where your hand meets your wrist, that pinch there, that's like her body to tail and the vent would be your wrist, if that makes sense. I mean I see her lateral line but like I said, only when she is gripping stuff and climbing, otherwise she looks like a rounded loaf. I mostly just want her to be healthy as she is the sweetest snake and loves to come out and hang out. She also loves to eat as well. I've been doing medium rats every 2 weeks and they leave a slight bulge in her. I fed her a large once and that thing left a huge bulge and she was full for the full 2 weeks lol so I dropped it back down to mediums as I want something to fill her up but not stuff her.

Oh also I've had her 2 years and judging by her length of around 22" when I got her, I'm guessing she was between 6 months to 1 year so im just rounding it up to she is 3 years old. So maybe I am overfeeding her too as from what I've read, she should be fed every 3-4 weeks. But like I said, she is just my sweet pet shop Colombian BCI who is just a pet that loves to be petted and held. My Redgroup/Burke Liptick Sunglow poss supr sunglow girl is the one I know all the info on as I got her from a breeder.

[Pandorasdad]

Re: How to safely get a boa to lose weight?

Any good Cat Trees that you recommend, I will get one for Harvey

[MENTION=23778]ZachmOKC[/MENTION] Any regular cat tree available at most pet stores will work.

[Elizabeth94]

Re: How to safely get a boa to lose weight?

I saw a youtube video where a man put his boa on a ladder and let her crawl to the floor on her own. I think if you got a small step ladder this could be a cheaper alternative to cat trees. Not sure how many people do this, but I remember the boa being in great shape. Ill try to find the video, i remember it being an albino boa.

[bcr_229]

Re: How to safely get a boa to lose weight?

I saw a youtube video where a man put his boa on a ladder and let her crawl to the floor on her own. I think if you got a small step ladder this could be a cheaper alternative to cat trees. Not sure how many people do this, but I remember the boa being in great shape. Ill try to find the video, i remember it being an albino boa.

That's a cool idea actually. I'd just want to be sure any sharp corners or edges were covered.

Other cheap options would be to have your boa climb a set of stairs; obviously if you have other pets like cats or dogs you would have to block access while your boa was on the "stairmaster". If your boa is smaller then a swim in the bathtub is another option, assuming it doesn't stress out about getting a bath.

[Elizabeth94]

Re: How to safely get a boa to lose weight?

Other cheap options would be to have your boa climb a set of stairs

Why didn't I think of this. Thats a great idea, plop them on the middle step and let them choose to climb up or down.. I think I will be making an outdoor PVC jungle gym for the summer months. Should be a fun little project. Not sure how much of a climber my little one will be, but Ill find out when she arrives

[Pandorasdad]

Re: How to safely get a boa to lose weight?

There was a thread on this exact topic a few years ago. Someone actually chronicled the year or so it took for his/her boa to go from seriously obese to healthy weight and active. They used a pvc pipe built tree for a climbing/exercise tree. It was really cool to see. It might take a bit to find it, but it was in this sub-forum.