Feeding Boas In Cool Weather

January 8^th 2018

It’s been a chilly last few days with lows in the 20’s and 30’s, but I need to get more weight on some Argentine boa females so I fed the females in the photo two days ago. They all have noticeable food lumps being fed multiple large rats each. This morning when I took their temperature with a non contact thermometer, the lowest body surface temperature was 66 degrees Fahrenheit. In the heat of the afternoon, the warmest female registered a 84 degrees Fahrenheit body surface temperature. My basic policy with breeder females in general is that if they want to eat, I’m open to feeding them. The one condition is unless the female is already very heavy. In that case, I will taper her food as she approaches optimum weight. I believe this honors the “wild” instinct as food is too much of a precious resource to be passed on. Keeping breeding and hopefully pregnant females eating really helps the weight loss of breeding and the overall stress of production. Care does need to be taken that the snakes receive enough heat to properly digest the meals and not stress the snakes. Ultimately what works for your conditions is a decision that you need to make based on the environmental conditions you are providing your boas.