Will not eat!

[jimpmc]

Hi,

We have had a red-tailed boa for three years. She has eaten regularly (thawed frozen rats) and without problem until last November. Since that time she has refused to eat at all. We have tried giving her 7 different rats since November. She did shed in January, but still has not shown an interest in anything. We have tried several things -- moving her next to a radiator, adding more heat lamps...I've even tried dangling a rat around to get her to notice it. She is mobile and active otherwise, but passes right over the rat.

Any suggestions? Should I be concerned at this point?

Thanks
-J

[Edwin]

Besides adjusting temps, you could try:

1) feeding at different times of the day
2) feeding different sized rats
3) try feeding in the dark without lights or with lights on
4) leave a rat in her cage overnight or in her hide box, she may just be shy
5) try feeding prekilled or stunned rats

Has anything unusual happened that may have caused her to go off feed? I know of someone who feeds live mice, and when one of them bit the snake back, the snake got frightened and went off food for a few weeks. Did you move her to a new cage, or did she get an injury?

Snakes do occasionally go off feed, but it is not a cause for concern unless she loses weight dramatically, or has gone off feed for a long period of time.

Hope this helps.

[Matt]

if your really at a loss, try dipping the rat in chicken broth or chicken boullion. It workd for both arboreal and terrestrial species, ive had some stubborn feeders turned around with it!

good luck!

[Zoe]

Yes, don't forget that it may still be winter for her. I wouldn't worry unless she starts losing a lot of weight, which case there are several courses of action, such as those Edwin mentionned, as well as getting a vet check to see if she's okay.

Zoe

[ReptiZone]

did you try difrent rodents such as gerbils...

[tightsqueeze]

depending on her size try a guini pig or a large gerble....i have heard some vary promising results with thses attempts

[J_Riley]

You need to figure out what happened/changed in/before November.


What are her temperatures like? Is she near a drafty window? Give us a little more detailed history of her and her accomodations (and yours if they've changed) and see if we can help you find the cause.