baby boa wont eat :(

[reptohex]

My name is christian i have two baby boas, one eats alot the other hasn't eatin in like 4-5 weeks she strikes at her food and constricts but never eats it. I'm worried about her and ive tried the paper bag thing and the didnt eat. i contacted a vet and they said they can put an IV down her throat but i dont want to do that cus the vet said she has a 48% chances of living. please help!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

[alessia55]

Are the boas kept together or seperately? We need to know more about how it's being kept (enclosure, temperatures, humidity, etc). How often are you offering food?

You may want to get a second opinion, though. A baby boa will not die if it doesn't eat for 4 weeks. There are a few reasons why it may not be eating (usually a husbandry issue). Give us more information. Only offer food every 7-10 days. Putting a tube down a baby boas throat will be traumatic, expensive, and (probably) unnecessary.

How old is the baby boa? Some newborns simply don't make it.

[Pythonsrus]

Try a live rat pinkie. Works almost every time for any problem feeders. If it takes it then repeat for a couple feedings then switch to F/T.

[BoaPrincess]

I'm having a similar issue with my 4 month old, Selena Gomez :( She's eaten before no problem... about a month and a bit ago she scarfed down 3 medium sized mice, and almost 3 weeks ago she took 2 slightly larger ones... now she wont eat anything! She doesn't look like she's going into a shed and when she sees the food (I feed my babies live), she looks interested and will creep up a bit, but then she turns away!

Should I be worried, or should I just leave her alone for another week or so, and see if she's hungry then? Also, Reptohex, I hope your baby eats too!

[Terranaut]

4-5 weeks is nothing. If the snake isn't losing weight then you have nothing to worry about. 4-5 months is when you might want to worry.
Just keep offering once a week and see what happens. Ensure your temps are good. It will eat eventually.

[Kid Boa]

As Terranaut has stated, going a few weeks with out eating is not an issue with Boas.

Be sure first to make sure your husbandry is on.

90-95 warm side.
75-80 cool side (I would never let the cool side run below 75deg).
Ambient temperature of 83-85deg.
50-60% humidity.
Having hides and at least three walls covered to make the snake feel secure will help as well.
Also having a light for day/night cycle is recommended, 12 on 12 off or there abouts.


One thing that I have found that works well for me is to increase the heat on the warm side. My temps normally run around 90-93 deg on the warm side. You can increase the temps to 95-96 deg on your warm side (make sure you can still maintain 80 deg on your cool side though). Keep it like this for approx., a week. After that get a Rubbermaid or sterilite tube, place the rat and snake in it a leave it for a couple hours covered with a towel.

If you are using live food (I don't recommend) you will have to check in on the snake more often. You don't want your snake to be harmed by the rat.

Hope this helps. :)

[MizCandice]

What size food were you offering? I agree with pythonsrus that if you can get your hands on some live rat pups they are the best at enticing. You can leave them in the enclosure without fear of them harming your snake and the heat and wriggling can usually tempt the most snobish of eatters. Good luck and keep us posted on her progress.