How to Feed Female Red Tail Boas

According to the website RedtailboaFAQ.com, redtail boas are among the most tame and manageable of pet snakes available for purchase. Caring for a redtail boa requires time, consistency, money and an understanding of its needs in order to raise it in a healthy manner. In captivity, it can be easy to overfeed redtail boas if you are not careful with both the size of its food as well as frequency. Gender is irrelevant in terms of feeding your redtail boa. Therefore, feeding a female is the same as feeding a male.

Things You'll Need

  • Redtail boa
  • Terrarium
  • Rat of appropriate size
  • Heat source such as heat rock or lamp
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Instructions

    • 1

      Make sure that your redtail boa is both acclimated to its environment and has a terrarium and proper habitat in which it can consume and digest its meal. Install a heat source of some sort so that your snake can digest its food appropriately.

    • 2

      Start off with a pre-killed, one-week to 10-day old "fuzzy" rat for baby redtail boas. If the rat is frozen, thaw it out prior to giving it to your boa. Do not, however, use a microwave to speed up the thawing process.

    • 3

      Gauge the size of the rat. Make sure the rat you give your Boa is never any wider than the widest part of your pet's body. Redtail boas will eat a rat that is too large but, according to Anapsid.org, will regurgitate it within a day or so.

    • 4

      Feed redtail boas once per week if they are 1-year old or younger, once every 10 days for boas 1 to 2 years of age and once every two weeks for boas 2 years and older. Do not overfeed your boa, as in captivity, they will invariably not burn as many calories as they would in the wild.

    • 5

      Feed your boa rats, not mice, as rats are more nutritious and generally larger, according to RedtailboaFAQ.com. Use frozen rats rather than live rats. Though there is debate regarding feeding redtail boas pre-killed versus live feed, a healthier and safer option is frozen, pre-killed rats to avoid potential injury during your snake's feeding.