Fat Male?

[Missi]

I really really wish I had a digital camera right now to take a recent picture of my male and compare it to one of the older pictures of when I first got him. Anyway, I'll just try to describe things the best I can. When I first got the male, he was 5ft and 7lbs, nice lean mean breeding machine, but I got him too late into the season and I think my female wasn't interested in breeding anymore. This was back in December of last year. As of today, he's 6'4" +/- and probably around 10-10 1/2 lbs. Up until a few weeks ago I was only feeding him one large rat per week which was all the former owner was feeding him to keep him lean. A few weeks ago, I fed him first as I always do because he's a sure-fire eatter, hasn't missed a meal since I got him. Then I chased him away from the female so I could feed her. In a flash the male had the second rat. I seriously don't see how he made it all the way from the other side of the cage to the same side that I was on and snatched the rat away quicker than what the female could and she was only 6 inches from the rat. Scared me so bad that I shut up the cage and sat down for a bit, then drove to the pet store again for another rat, lol. So ever since then I've just been giving him two large rats and while he's killing his own is when I'm feeding the female hers. However, I no longer have a lean male. He's actually competing with the female for heavy girth only he seems to be a little more on the fat side than muscular. My question is: Do males fatten up for the breeding season too? I really miss my lean male cause he had more of a 'get up and go' attitude when the female was roaming through the cage. Now he just lays around and watches her, doesn't move unless its to find another comfortable position to lay in and sleep some more. He's still healthy, contrary to being a little fat. He puts great effort towards getting his rats every week and will pace me in front of the cage if I'm holding a rat.

Any ideas? Do I just need to cut him down on the number of food items? Or let him continue to eat?

[ChrisGilbert]

I used to have a 6' 3" adult male Colombian boa. He was fed a large rat every 3 weeks. He was also 10 lbs. I think your weekly feedings are much to frequent. Most of my males today are smaller types, and the largest eats a medium rat every 3 weeks.

Larger males don't breed as well. The above boa was sold and a friend of mine bought him and bred him. The female slugged out, which may or may not have been the result of the male's size. I had bought him as an adult myself at his large size, he was raised as a pet, and not a breeder. I kept him as a pet, and my friend has since kept him as a pet.

Meanwhile the male that sired my litter this past season was super lean, didn't eat from the last weekend in September till the second week in January. The span of cooling through ovulation of the female. He didn't lose any noticeable weight during that span. He was fe every 3 weeks before breeding. And after he was fed once every 4 weeks. I had initially moved him back to his 3 week regimen but noticed his metabolism wasn't keeping up, it had adapted during the long period without food. So a boa with a metabolism around eating weekly is going to lose a lot more weight during breeding even though it had more fat reserves before doing so.

[Missi]

Makes perfect sense. Thanks for clearing up a few things.

Guess my boy is going on a diet!