66% possible HET boa.

Question
I have heard rumors that you should not feed rats to Boa's.  Do you know anything of this?  I have owned ans raised snakes for the past 9 years or so.  My first was a redtail that when I had to give her up to go to Korea was about 8 1/2 feet.  She ate rats all the time and the occasional small rabbit.  Now I have 3 Ball Pythons and a mix breed Boa.  66% possible HET that was born in late 2005.  I have been feeding her 1 rat a week and she has been doing fine.  I am no expert but thought I knew what I could and shouldnt feed my snakes.  Any help would be usefull.  Thanks

Answer
Hi Jeremy
Never heard of not feeding rats to Boas.  That is just fine in my book.  I am sure the reason behind you hearing such a thing is that rats can and have inflicted painful bites on boas/snakes in general. Those bites can in turn lead to a nasty infection. I have seen quite a few large red-tailed boas come into the vet hospital for rat bites during feeding and they needed to be put on an IV for infection.  It really is up to you as the owner.  I personally always fed my past red-tailed 7'+ boa rats at every meal.  Sometimes guinea pigs. Hope this cleared it up a bit for you :-)  Thanks for writing.