anyone ever had a problem with feeding thawed mice?

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Sylvias said:
Even as a dwarf species he should have been on rats long ago, even if you were just using rat pups of similar size to mice, they have more nutrients, more mass to them that is actually body and not just fur, making them a better choice for larger snakes like that. I still would try rats, Whatever size you think is appropriate, even if you start with a fuzzy rat... get it really warmed up, around 100 degrees, and see how he takes to that.
How big is he exactly?
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He's about four feet long I think (not very good at estimations). which is about right for his length. but he's just not very big around... The most accurate way I can describe his girth is this (and I know it sounds stupid...) but he's about as big around as the childproof cap on a 12 oz bottle of nyquil. does that help?

And all of you are more likely right than wrong (given that you all pretty much agree). I'm going to check and see how big the baby rats are, I obviously don't want to be starving my snake unknowingly. I can tell you that he's not skin and bones. But anyway, I'll check the sizes, and I think I'll also consult the head of herps at my zoo and see what they say. (Snakes aren't a very common pet in my town so not many veterinary clinics can tell me more than I already know.)
 
4ft long should absolutely be on small rats at the very least. But he also sounds like he might be a bit underweight with the girth you described.... A picture would give a clearer idea. But regardless a 4ft snake, especially a boa should certainly be on rats. If my 4ft kingsnakes can eat small rats then a 4ft boa most certainly can!
They are made for that sort of thing after all. However you don't want to immediately take it up a couple sizes, work at it overtime but at an accelerated. So next time you feed instead of offering a mouse, offer a rat pup. Maybe 2 or 3 feedings in a row, then offer a weaned rat one or two times, then a small rat. You could probably go with smalls for a few weeks but I'm betting at 4ft it could probably jump to mediums pretty quickly
 
Thanks very much to everyone. I'll work on this problem. I'll show a pic as soon as I have a camera. but at the moment, the bf is saving for bedroom furniture so it may be a bit.
 
Sylvias said:
Also... don't power feed... it's a cruel method that money hungry breeders use to make their snakes grow large and fast.... Feeding to much and to often is just as unhealthy as feeding to little and to far apart....
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I disagree. I don't think its possible to over feed a snake.

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@Sylvias my king will eat anything so long as it moves and breathes. If its dead i have to wiggle it like crazy to get him to eat it. He's gotten better over the last few months but every snake is unique


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@egon.... that's a trolling statement if I ever heard it... It is definitely possible to overfeed snakes and the scores of sickeningly obese burms and retics (among other things) can attest to that....
 
I disagree. Call it what you want. Its not like a dog eating table scraps and lack of exercise and getting fat. Its a snake that spends its days, weeks, months and so on laying around waiting for its next meal.

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Disagreeing with facts is just willful ignorance.... There is not question as to whether snakes get fat or not. They DO. Maybe it is not always from over feeding... but I can't think of a single example where the cause wasn't over feeding....
A retic in the wild may eat something of HUGE size.. say a wild pig... no problem... but it likely wont eat again for months after that. A retic in captivity is just as capable of eating a pig but it may receive that size of a meal every month from someone who is over feeding.... this will cause obesity....
 
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