Mouse size for newborn bci

Hi, I had adult bci boas before, but I have never had a new born. What size mouse are you guys starting off with? Judging by pictures I’ve seen, I’m guessing fuzzy mice.

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Hoppers or small adults depending on the genetic size of the boas.

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Thank you so much. Trying to plan ahead for a future purchase.

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I use live mice pinkys or rat pinkys for the first feeding. Then, work on getting them to FT rat pinkys. I move them to fuzzy rats as soon as they can eat that size.

Depending on locality and genetics, babies can be small or big when first dorn. So the size of food should be no bigger than the baby boas mid body size.

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All good points, thank you for sharing your experience/technique!

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If this is for a baby boa you’re purchasing, it likely won’t be newborn. It will have had several meals at the very least, and may be several months old. I’d just ask the breeder you buy from what they’re currently feeding the snake you end up buying.

Also, feeding prey that’s roughly the same size around as the thickest part of the boa’s body is a good ballpark guideline when they’re young.

I hope you’ll share pictures of whatever you end up getting!

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Yeah you’re right. Yes I have just recently been considering BCI boa constrictors. I will likely be purchasing well started animals which already have a track record. I will be looking for well started animals that take Frozen thawed. I don’t want to be having to make trips to the pet store for live rodents. Those days are over for me lol. Thanks a lot for your reply I appreciate it. Absolutely on the pictures :wink:

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I feel you, I’m not a fan of feeding live for a variety of reasons. Fortunately boas tend to be excellent eaters who will readily accept frozen thawed. My boa barely even gives me a chance to wiggle her f/t mouse before she strikes.

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I don’t necessarily have a problem feeding live. Except for interrupts the flow convenience.

I have had many animals that had no problem feeding live but it’s not convenient

It is much easier to keep 100 Frozen ice than it is to keep 100 alive mice

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Back in the day our only choice was live mice. And you would have to whack them

If you wanted to insure your snakes safety

If I intend to start a small collection such as I do I do not want picky eaters. I don’t need to deal with animals that want live pray. I am content to pick animals or adjusted to Frozen thawed just for my own convenience.

I have been doing this for a long time on a hobbyist scale. I know everything in between, but all I want is some fun. I’m not looking to create miracles. I just want to use my knowledge to advance my own skill set. I’m in Florida and I used to shop at glades herp when I was a teenager. Bill and Kathy love were partners in that business and I remember Rob McKinnis. I remember going to reptile shows with my friends and afterwards having dinner with Bill and Kathy love and Tom crutchfield. I’m definitely not an expert but I’ve been around then plenty of times.

About 35 years ago I was a teenager visiting glades herp. This hobby is older than you think. Lol

Glades herp was an import export store that you could walk in. So it’s like a reptile expo every time you visited but they also had many in-house breeding projects I really miss the days when you could walk in a store like that.

Now we have some pretty good shops. But they’re nothing like glades herp used to be. You used to be able to walk in and choose between thousands of snakes. They were the innovators of large-scale production and sale

I can remember buying Amazon tree bows from that store and the employee would ask do you want me to put in the bag or do you want to hold the bag. I asked to hold the bag. And of course I got mangled on the way into the bag but that’s just the way it is. I dealt with that Amazon for quite a while and he was nasty. But he is only 20% of the five I have have. So I had 80% success rate with Amazon boas that were not nasty

Long story short four out of five Amazons where no problem at all only one was going to hit you every time

I can count on 80% wild Amazon being tameable.