Feeding schedule and size of your adult males?

As you may know, we’re back in the hobby after a 6 year hiatus.
We’re not new to boas by any means, but are completely restructuring our feeding schedule and enclosure size for all boas.
This is about adult males in particular.
We are seeming to settle on a rat every two weeks, but are not sure what size.
We don’t necessarily need small males: 5-6 feet sounds great. We have a 16 year old male that is just under 7.5 feet. We’d like them not to get as big as he is. :joy:
What is the feeding schedule of your adult males?
How big are they?
What enclosure size are you using if you don’t mind sharing?
Thanks in advance!

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My 2 proven breeder males are 6’+ on the Imperator boy and 5’ on the Sigma. I don’t feed often. I usually feed about once a month to 2 months. They’re both in Animal Plastics T8 enclosures.

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I actually house my current male and plan to house the rest of my males just how @randall_turner_jr has because it gives them plenty of room to move around and stretch out.

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Thanks @randall_turner_jr and @lumpy .
I had to look up the T8. So that’s a 4x2. Nice!
What size meals are you feeding?
A large rat every one to two months then?

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To give you an idea on size ratio. This picture has my T8 on top and my T10 on the bottom. The T10 is only 3 inches taller then the T8. My male is just to 6’ as he can be seen in the bottom enclosure.

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Yeah I think that would be a suitable size meal for that length of time.

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Thanks x2 @lumpy !
Nice enclosures!
We’re using 8x2 Boaphiles. We really wanted to give them room to stretch out, too!

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For real! You definitely achieved that!

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Thank you @lumpy !
Here’s an older pic of our current stack.
We’re hoping to get 4 more 8fts this year!

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This one is from a few minutes ago.
The albino that’s second from top is our 7+ ft 2005 proven breeder.
We used to feed a lot more back then so he’s really big.

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And he looks small lol :joy:

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:joy:
He’s a good boy!
He deserves it!

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Hi, all!

I’m the other 1/2 of Vooodoo Magic Boas and am new to MorphMarket . Wanted to hop on and add a few more pics to the post by @aaronhouts of Casper’s view from inside the cage. :sunglasses:

Also @lumpy beautiful setup!! And thanks to all for the feeding input :100: :boom: This truly is a great community :snake: :snake: :snake: :snake:

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Great looking setup. I hope to have something like this down the road.

What are you guys using on the bottom there? Washable mats of some kind?

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It looks like foam mats like some people buy for their kids, but I would make sure that is right.

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Thank you, @smite and @lumpy!

This is a product called Dri-Dek (https://www.dri-dek.com/). @aaronhouts saw it used in a kennel years ago and rightly figured it would work for the snakes. We’ve tried lots of different materials over the years, and we’ve landed solidly here. You may see this stuff in bars for glass drainage or on floors for extra padding at work stations.

Anywhoo, we buy it in bulk and Aaron rinses it a cuts to fit the cages, tubs, etc. including a space to help lock in the PVC water bowl holders, so silly :snake:s like Remedy can do this…

Screen Shot 2022-02-11 at 7.36.46 AM

And I source the newspapers beneath from my local library connection (true story!) :nerd_face:

The small bumps on top also seem to help the boas grip as they move (without being uncomfortable) and also can help them shed by giving them soft places for nose rubs:

We also find the material retains heat well and is easy to clean.

DriDek Pro-Tip: The shipments do come in with the residue of a solution from the production method. It has a new-plastic smell that we find does linger in the cages and may not be the most pleasant for the snakes. Aaron does take the time to soak the plastic pieces, rinsing them daily for two weeks to remove the smell. The extra step seems to be worth it as these mats last a super long time.

Hope this helps! :sunglasses: :v:

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It does help, thanks! It gives a really clean look to the system as well.

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I have never fed my male Boas; morphs or localities (or any of my various Python species for that matter) any larger than a medium rat. My thought behind that is that they don’t need the fat that the larger rats contain. They are fed every 2-3 weeks. They are all in the 5 - 6.5 ft range depending on the locality. I’ve never had a male Boa go off food during breeding. I separate and offer to them during the breeding season and they eat without fail year round.
Most of my adult males are housed in 4’x2’x1’ cages, but I do have a few adults in 3’x30"x18" - mostly ones like the Hog Islands that are more apt to push with their noses. The extra height seems to help prevent that.

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Thanks @sonjakreptiles !
I’ve fed the large male mediums the last couple of times and they seem to be working for him. I’m holding off on larges for exactly the reason you stated.
I’ve notched the same pushing behavior with Hog Islands as well. I wonder if they may have more of an instinct to climb since they’re a smaller species.

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