Concerns

[Cmwells90]

So I have a Boa constrictor that I've had for about a month. I just noticed she had mites which I'm assuming she got from the pet store I picked her up from. She didn't take her first feeding until about 12 days after getting her, which I assumed was because of the change to a new home and all the stress that goes with that. It's now been 13 days since her last feeding and 2 days after we treated her for mites, but she's still not interested in any food, she just ignores any food put in her feeding cage, even before the mite treatment. I'm not sure if she wasn't eating because of all the stress that comes along with mites or maybe because of something else? Should I be worried? The pet store said she's only eaten twice before I got her, so I'm assuming she's only a couple months old. Also they said she was eating frozen before I got her, but I'm starting to think that's not true either.

She's not my first snake and I've checked all my other snakes for mites, thankfully she was still in quarantine and away from them or they may have transferred over :eek: !

I haven't had a baby in a long time and all of my current snakes eat right on schedule so I just want to make sure she's ok!

[Mark Taylor]

She has eaten once she will eat again don't worry. I have 3 babies that are still yet to eat a first meal since birth, they are not loosing weight and are not showing and signs of illness. I offer once a week and leave the food in there tubs over night.

[bcr229]

What's the temperature on her hot spot?

[Lankyrob]

Well done on the quarantine, personally imwould worry about the mites first and then worry about the feeding as long as the snake is still looking healthy.

[MrCaveman]

Ya dude treat her with PAM if you havent already. Also, if the water in the water bowl gets cold, you may want to put it slightly over the heat mat because they often soak themselves in water to relieve themselve from the mites. This can be harmful to them if the water is cold because they could easily develop an RI overnight (this has happened to me and I had to deal with mites and RI at once; but I won that battle :). Just make sure that the water isnt too hot, just room temp. I also took out most of the water; enough for him to still drink but not enough for him to soak in if he chose to; that way it was harder for him to immerse himself just in case the water wasnt the right temperature where it could harm him.

[Cmwells90]

What's the temperature on her hot spot?

I've got a 80f on the low side and 88 on the warm with her basking spot reaching about 92.

[Aaron_S]

Don't feed in a separate enclosure.

[Cmwells90]

Don't feed in a separate enclosure.

Why not? I use aspen bedding, soon to be switching to coco husk, and I don't want her to ingest that. Also feeding in the cage associates the cage with food, I'd rather a separate container be associated with food to reduce the risk of biting.

[Mikoh4792]

Why not? I use aspen bedding, soon to be switching to coco husk, and I don't want her to ingest that. Also feeding in the cage associates the cage with food, I'd rather a separate container be associated with food to reduce the risk of biting.


The action of pulling her out could make her associate that with food too.

I feed all my snakes in their enclosures with cocohusk and they have never bit me, except for my adult california king which came to me already aggressive.

If you are worried about ingestion just make sure to dry the food off so the least amount of substrate sticks to it. If the conditions in the cage are correct(heat and humidity) your snake should pass any ingested substrate. Either that or you can place a sheet of paper inside the enclosure and put the prey on that.

[Cmwells90]

The action of pulling her out could make her associate that with food too.

Never thought of it that way, I'll see how she does tomorrow (That's when I'm going to try feeding again). Hopefully she eats!

[marvelfreak]

Why not? I use aspen bedding, soon to be switching to coco husk, and I don't want her to ingest that. Also feeding in the cage associates the cage with food, I'd rather a separate container be associated with food to reduce the risk of biting.
Then they learn to associate being taking on of their cage with getting fed. Feeding in a separate container actually ups the chance of getting bit when handling the snake outside the cage.

[Ddub]

Also feeding in the cage associates the cage with food, I'd rather a separate container be associated with food to reduce the risk of biting.

Who came up with this and why has it been perpetuated for so many years? I've always wondered that as it is counterintuitive. They also say if you don't handle your boas they will associate cage opening with feeding and come after you. I have a whole collection that defies these traditions.

[Cmwells90]

Would you advise putting it in the cage and letting her come to it, or should I wake her up and show her it's there? She burrows and doesn't move around the cage much so I'm not sure she'll know it's there.

[Mikoh4792]

Would you advise putting it in the cage and letting her come to it, or should I wake her up and show her it's there? She burrows and doesn't move around the cage much so I'm not sure she'll know it's there.

If I can't see my snakes I will just lift up the hide and dangle the food infront of them. They usually take it. For my shyer snakes (corn and ball) I will kind of move the prey around at the entrance of the hide and let them feel the movements. They usually stick their head out and start chasing it.

[smy_749]

If I've already defrosted whatever I'm feeding, and its anywhere in the vacinity of the enclosure, or I've touched it with my hand, I wouldn't stick your hands in the enclosure to lift up any hides or anything. Better use tongs so you don't get nailed and jerk your hand injuring both you and the snake. Doesn't take much for them to get the hint that its feeding time and go into rambo mode.

[KORBIN5895]

Ya dude treat her with PAM if you havent already. Also, if the water in the water bowl gets cold, you may want to put it slightly over the heat mat because they often soak themselves in water to relieve themselve from the mites. This can be harmful to them if the water is cold because they could easily develop an RI overnight (this has happened to me and I had to deal with mites and RI at once; but I won that battle :). Just make sure that the water isnt too hot, just room temp. I also took out most of the water; enough for him to still drink but not enough for him to soak in if he chose to; that way it was harder for him to immerse himself just in case the water wasnt the right temperature where it could harm him.

Just to clarify you treat the cage with Pam not the snake. Also you remove the water for 24 hours after treating the cage.

[Terranaut]

I also agree feeding in a seperate enclosure is a waste of time.
Snakes do not drag their food out of the forest to find a nice wood chip free area to eat. My snakes have eaten aspen...big deal. They digest sharp bones and claws so how would a little flake of aspen kill them? Substrate impaction is as rare as a 2 headed snake. The snake will be more comforatable eating in it's enclosure 100% of the time.


And so continues the debate :)

[smy_749]

My perth pythons spazz out if I don't dry off the mice before I feed and they get aspen bedding on them. I have the shredded aspen that is much smaller chips, but even they are big compaired to the perths heads. When they finish eating they really spazz out with all the chips in their mouths and it looks really bothersome....but they always get rid of them and are fine afterwards. I have started drying the mice better, I don't want something to actually get stuck and cause a serious issue

[ErikBush97]

Never thought of it that way, I'll see how she does tomorrow (That's when I'm going to try feeding again). Hopefully she eats!

And snakes are pretty smart. They don't have the best sight, so they rely on smell, as one of their main ways of sensing things/getting a feel for their environment. So they should be smart enough to tell the difference between owner & food. Unless you smell like a rodent for some reason. Plus, snakes are stressed easily. Moving a snake every week - every two weeks, feeding it, moving it back, is probably pretty stressful. Also, you're not really supposed to handle them for a couple days after feeding. If you feed them in a separate enclosure, you've got to move them back after feeding, right? There's a lot of reasons not to feed in a separate enclosure. And as stated by Mikoh, If you're worried about them ingesting bedding, put it on paper or something. I actually used to have a "food bowl" for my snakes.

[Mikoh4792]

And snakes are pretty smart. They don't have the best sight, so they rely on smell.

It depends on the species. Garters rely more on sight when it comes to food, and I don't know if the same holds true for king cobras but they have good vision.

[Cmwells90]

Thanks for all the advice, she didn't take the food today at all, not even remotely interested. But I think it's because she just started shedding. Also what is a good shedding humidity, I put a damp town on the top of the cage to help raise it, but I don't want it to be too high and her get an RI.

[Mikoh4792]

Thanks for all the advice, she didn't take the food today at all, not even remotely interested. But I think it's because she just started shedding. Also what is a good shedding humidity, I put a damp town on the top of the cage to help raise it, but I don't want it to be too high and her get an RI.

Bump it up to about 75%. If your enclosure is clean then high humidity for a little while is okay.

[Cmwells90]

Bump it up to about 75%. If your enclosure is clean then high humidity for a little while is okay.

Perfect, that's what it's at now. I've just never had a Boa so I'm trying to make sure I'm doing everything right. I've had BP's and Corn snakes. But this is a first with her not wanting to eat, and she's been shedding for a couple days but it's not really going anywhere. Also she still hasn't pooped from her last feeding, which I know should come along with the shedding. Do you think that's why she's not eating, cause she still hasn't finished digesting the last one?

[Ddub]

Perfect, that's what it's at now. I've just never had a Boa so I'm trying to make sure I'm doing everything right. I've had BP's and Corn snakes. But this is a first with her not wanting to eat, and she's been shedding for a couple days but it's not really going anywhere. Also she still hasn't pooped from her last feeding, which I know should come along with the shedding. Do you think that's why she's not eating, cause she still hasn't finished digesting the last one?

Could be. I have some that won't eat during a shed and some that will. I don't normally feed during a shed because many times it will be refused but sometimes they are a couple days in and I don't notice.

[Mikoh4792]

Perfect, that's what it's at now. I've just never had a Boa so I'm trying to make sure I'm doing everything right. I've had BP's and Corn snakes. But this is a first with her not wanting to eat, and she's been shedding for a couple days but it's not really going anywhere. Also she still hasn't pooped from her last feeding, which I know should come along with the shedding. Do you think that's why she's not eating, cause she still hasn't finished digesting the last one?

It's possible. I would say leave it alone until it sheds and try then.

[KORBIN5895]

Pooping is not connected to shedding in any measurable way.

[MrCaveman]

Just to clarify you treat the cage with Pam not the snake. Also you remove the water for 24 hours after treating the cage.
yes, thanks for the correction, Pam's used in the cage with the water taken out; not for topical use on the snake.

[Ddub]

Pooping is not connected to shedding in any measurable way.

I have no evidence for this but I feel there is a connection in that its the movement from shedding that gets things going. Same with taking them out to clean a cage only to put them back and find it soiled by the end of the day. Many times if I have one that looks like its near the point of dropping a load I can bring them outside to crawl around and that seems to get them to evacuate. Just a theory though.

[Cmwells90]

So just an update, she still refused to eat this weekend. She showed some interest in the rat but didn't attempt to eat it. Currently her humidity is at 65% with a cool side of 80 and her warm hide it set to 90. She's not very active lately. We're not handling her until she starts to eat regularly, so I don't think it's stress related. She has two hides, one on each side and a set of bushes in the middle to hide in. She spends most of her time burrowed though and not really using the hides. Should I be worried? This is going on 3 weeks without eating, to my understanding she should be eating weekly because she's only a couple months old.

Also the pet store said they had her on F/T already, but I'm starting to think that she's only been eating live. She ate F/T last time but it was about 2 weeks in to having her and she attacked it right away, like she was really hungry. Any advice on switching to F/T? Or should I try live and see if she goes for it. (I hate the idea but if it'll get her to eat I'll try it.)

[Mikoh4792]

Where is the thermostat probe placed exactly? What are you using as a heat source?

Are the walls of the enclosure clear or opaque? Does the snake still have mites?



If husbandry is correct just leave the snake alone. Try feeding every week, not every day or every few days. I had a similar issue with my jungle carpet and after trying once a week it started feeding. It hasn't skipped a meal since.

Edit: what makes you believe they were lying? Your snake took f/t before did it not?

[Cmwells90]

The probe is placed inside the warm hide along the wall, currently she is in an 20 gal aquarium so they're clear with a heating mat as a heat source. I've been checking and it looks like the Mites are all gone.

Before the feed on Sunday I hadn't tried to feed her for a week, I'll leave her alone all this week and see how it goes. The reason I think she's been fed live is because when I got her they had a live pinky in the cage with her, they said they were trying to get her to eat again, but she'd eaten already and it was a F/T. I know she's taken a F/T before but I was assuming it was just because she was really hungry because she didn't even let me set it down before she went at it. That was also mice, I've switched to rats because I got a snake from a friend who is already on Rats so I thought I might as well make the switch over.

[Cmwells90]

I'll give her another week and offer food, but I'm just worried that there may be something wrong.

[Mikoh4792]

The probe is placed inside the warm hide along the wall, currently she is in an 20 gal aquarium so they're clear with a heating mat as a heat source. I've been checking and it looks like the Mites are all gone.

Before the feed on Sunday I hadn't tried to feed her for a week, I'll leave her alone all this week and see how it goes. The reason I think she's been fed live is because when I got her they had a live pinky in the cage with her, they said they were trying to get her to eat again, but she'd eaten already and it was a F/T. I know she's taken a F/T before but I was assuming it was just because she was really hungry because she didn't even let me set it down before she went at it. That was also mice, I've switched to rats because I got a snake from a friend who is already on Rats so I thought I might as well make the switch over.

I would try covering the sides with something. You can tape paper to the walls, or use adhesive chalkboard paper.


Does she still have mites?

[Cmwells90]

Nope, mites are all gone. I just put a towel around the cage to offer some privacy, hopefully she does well. Thanks for the advice!

[Cmwells90]

Well good news! She ate for me today. I gave her a bath to assist with her shed and she finished shedding while I was out running errands. Last night she was all over her cage, I figured this is her act of hunting. Someone on another forum suggested trying Mice because she ate one before and I've been trying rats. The moment I put the mouse in her cage she was out of her hide, I put it near her and she snatched it up before I put it down! Thanks so much for the help everyone! Hopefully she keeps this up for a couple weeks. I think I'm going to leave the paper towels around her cage up so she can have her privacy.