Columbian Red Tail Boa

Question
Thank you for the quick responce however i am slightly confused. he is about the thickness of a nickle and when i bought him, the pet store employee said to feed him a hopper. i thought that was a bit too large, but from what i have been reading, i thought a pinky may be too small...am i way off base here? alos, i am under the impression that rats are much better than mice, is there a rat small enought to feed a snake the thickness of a nickle? THANK YOU!
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Followup To

Question -
Hi there! I recently (3 days ago) a young
(1 month old) columbian red tail boa and he doesnt seem to move off the branch i put in there very much even at dusk. Is this stress related from being new to his enviroment? Also, i am going to need to feed him tonight for the first time, any recomendations? I am new to owning a snake but i am very fancinated and compasionate towards them and would appreciate any additional guidance/knowledge that you could give me. Thank you!

Answer -
Hey Robert,
congrats on your new freind, red tails are an excellant first snake, lets start with inviroment and then go from there, tank set up = 83-87 day time heat with a basking area of about 90 you can do this with a basking light idealy over the branch he allready likes,at night you want it about 10 degrees cooler and shut off the basking light. it is great that he is out on the branch as apposed to hiding under a half log,wich you should also put in the tank along with a bowl just big enough for him to coil up in and soak, change the water everyday.also a heat pad for UNDER the tank no heat rocks your snake will get burned.you can feed at any time i usually feed at night because most snakes are naturally nocternal.start with a pinky a week and see how that goes for him it should be good ...well if you have any more questions let me know goodluck tonight when you feed. and enjoy.

         thanks for the question
         tommy

Answer
Hey Robert,
im sorry thaought he was smaller than that , hoppers are good, if you want to do rats you can get pinky or fuzzy rats,i use two pinkys a week for baby boas and pythons,it really is your preferance as far as food type,for his size though mice are good but you can do rats,well let me know how it goes.

         thanks
         tommy