Hello! I’ve attached a picture of my boa. He hangs like this off his trees (mostly cold side, in the pic it’s the warm side) like 90% of the time. Does this mean anything and is he ok? I thought it was maybe hunting behavior but I fed him yesterday.
Which leads me into my second question. If he is hungry, is a 5g mouse enough? Is that why he’s constantly position like this? They seem very tiny to me but a hopper still seems too big. Hes a dwarf, I think around 70g now.
How often is he fed? You say a 5g mouse so thats about a lrg. fuzzy. He looks mildly underweight.
How hot is the warm side? If he’s avoiding it constantly, the temperature may be too hot. Boas need an ambient warm side of 85-88°F and a basking spot of no higher than 95°F with a humidity of around 60-80%. (EDIT): The basking spot should not exceed 90°F, the previous temp I listed is too hot!
Otherwise he is doing this because he is an arboreal species that spends a bit of their time up in trees. Its perfectly normal to see them climbing about, but if he’s hanging down a lot watching the floor this is hunting behavior as they are ambush predators.
I have to respectfully disagree with this. Boas do best with temps on the hot side of 85 to 88 degrees F. 85 degrees is optimal in my experience with my boas. 95 degrees is way too hot.
I do agree that this guy looks thin especially toward the back end of his body. I would say that you should offer him a hopper at least. Do you feed ft? Boas grow quickly. What do you mean when you say he is a “dwarf” boa? What morph is he?
Oop, my bad! 
You’re right, I should’ve thought about that a bit more before typing but yes I’ll go ahead and correct myself and say it shouldn’t exceed 90°F.
Thank you for catching that @caron!
I was told that a hopper was way too much? And that dwarves need smaller food items? Hes a tarahumara mountain.
And really he’s thin?? I thought he looked normal, even chunky more at his midsection. Heres a better picture thats only few weeks old.
I do feed ft, though i thought boas grew fairly slow.
Also no his hot spot is 88 at surface temp where i took the picture. He goes there after he eats, otherwise hes on the cold side most of the time. He regulates normally. I actually heard someone say that they don’t climb a lot at all but that’s all he does. He’s on the ground maybe like 20% of the time otherwise he sleeps all out in his branches.
Ok so @anonsnek I have no experience with these boas but yes these guys are definitely on the smaller size. How long have you had him and have you conferred with his breeder regarding this feeding question?
If he is going to the warm side after he eats this is what you want. If he has been eating fuzzies for awhile he is probably ready for hoppers. Tbh I have never weighed the rodents before feeding them. I have always just eyeballed the thickest part of the snake and compared it to the size of the rodent. Ideally you want to see a slight bulge in the snake after it has consumed the rodent.
I believe your little guy will be able to handle a hopper. I know a gentleman on the CB side who has one of these boas. I have not seen many on either side but I think they are really cool. I had CA boas and a BRB at one time but none of them grew past 6 feet.
Even at that size I’d say he’s more than ready for hopper mice, you never said how often you feed him fuzzies which the frequency of feedings can play a big part in their digestion and weight gain. And yes he does still look underweight in those photos.
When you feed them they should have a noticeable lump in their bellies afterward, at his age and size you’ll probably want to feed him every 10 days.
Where did you hear this from?
Tarahumara Mountain boas take around 3-3½ years to reach adult size, which is a pretty normal growth range if they are given the proper enclosure and diet.
I feed him every 10 days a 5g fuzzy. The hoppers i get go from 7-12g, so would that be ok? I heard he’d puke if I gave him something too big and im worried about that.
Upsize your meal. I’m a huge nerd about not feeding any snake too much but that one could use a tad more weight on it. Don’t go crazy. Boas should be shaped like a loaf of bread but that one is a bit slight.
Dont go any larger than 12g, feed him every 10-14 days depending on whether the mouse’s weight is on the low or high end. He’ll gain a bit of weight and may grow a bit once you start him on hoppers.
(Edit): If he does ever regurge anything give him 10-14 days to recover and feed him a smaller meal once that time has passed.
(Edit2): And once he’s outgrown hoppers I’d definitely start getting him on rat pups on the same feeding schedule. Even as a dwarf breed they do still get large enough at some point to eat at most medium rats. I say this because once he is at that size I don’t believe mice will be enough at all, I could be wrong but I know most people say feeding them one whole meal instead of multiple small meals is more ideal for their digestion.
How would I be able to tell if hes not too fat or skinny? I know I have to make sure he looks like a loaf of bread but he does to me even at the moment. Are there any tells like idk a sunken back or something? Im not sure if I’m asking right lol but I hope you know what I mean. Thanks!
Thank you! Though I did hear from online sources/some breeders that its best to start them on weaned rats as soon as possible after mice as opposed to rat pups, because they arent good for them because of the milk inside them and boas dont do well with it?