Furry food

[Keira]

Okay so I'm assuming this is the best spot for this question,
I live in Illinois along the Mississippi river, does anyone know a good place to get LIVE feeder rats? (that aren't $7 a rat)
lately I have been going to an expo in wheaton IL every other week to buy feeders but driving 2.5hours one way is not really beneficial lol
And just so nobody goes on a rant,my boa started on f/t mice but rejected them on her 3rd feeding and refuses to eat anything but live feeders now, my ball pythons on the other hand started with live and may or may not accept f/t i havent tried with them yet.

Thanks for any feedback ya'll may have!!! Still in shock moving north from florida where every couple of miles i could find good feeders lol :):)

[pet_snake_78]

Sorry, I have not any idea. I had to start breeding my own feeders because I couldn't find any reliable rodent breeders close by. If you're going to have a larger collection, I could consider having at least a small collection of rodents. If it's just the one snake, maybe buy a few at a time?

[Keira]

I do plan on expanding my collection so I was thinking of breeding my own its just a matter of getting the rats now. I used to go to a little shop to get them but last time i went there my boa ended up regurgitating the rat a day later. So now i have to find a reputable place to get my breeders

[bigsnakegirl785]

I'd definitely work on getting the boa switched, if she ate them before she'll eat them again.

What are your temps and humidity, how often are you feeding her, and how big are the rats compared to her girth (aka how much of a lump does she have immediately after swallowing)?

The best way to get them to switch is to make them hungry, so knowing your current schedule could determine if that's appropriate, and sometimes something is off. It's odd she was eating f/t and then just refused to eat f/t.

[pet_snake_78]

Forgot to ask what part of IL? If you're like in Alton or somewhere, I'd say just drive into St. Louis, should be lots of places there.

[Keira]

She ate them once for me and I kept her temps at what I was told the hot spot was at about 90-95 her cool spot sat at about 79 and the inbetween was around 82. I feed her every two weeks she took a medium rat yesterday. I know she would get hungry enough to attempt a f/t but she isn't the first snake I've had to go on a hunger strike cuz of f/t lol oh and her humidity lately has been sitting at about 75-80% which I think might be a little much... While I'm at it is it normal for a red tail to bury themselves? Or is my snake just odd?

As for where in IL I am I live in Carroll county I ended up going to reptile rapture in Wisconsin for my rats I got my feeders and some breeders for a relatively decent price

[bigsnakegirl785]

The hot spot is too high, it should be 88-90F, 70-80% humidity is perfect. 50-60% like most care sheets advise is a bit too low for most boa constrictors in all honesty. A locality from a dryer climate could probably do well at 50-60%, though.

How big is she? If she's eating medium rats, I'm guessing 5'+? What sort of bulge do they leave, and how old is she?

Yes, sometimes boa constrictors will bury themselves. I've found mine don't do it often but I wouldn't say it's odd for one to do it.

How do you offer the f/t when you do offer it?

[Keira]

She's a little over a year she's just now hitting 4 ft.. which kinda worries me I've heard they are slow grows but IDK as for her belly bulge it was a noticeable bulge her last feeding was 2 small rats and she didn't have any bulge after eating.
The last time I tried she was about 4 months I got the Mouse thawed an warm to about 98 degrees I took everything out of her enclosure and held the Mouse in front of her nose she noticed it and even nudged it and then just ignored it. I know she was hungry I held off on feeding her for about 3 weeks because she had rejected it before but she had no interest in it. I kept trying for about an hour but no luck. So I went and bought a live Moise and she ate that in less than 10 mins...

[macandchz]

dear keira-i know how you feel about the live versus frozen mice. mac started out on frozen but i could never get the temp exactly right. after a 2 month winter fast, he decided that he would only eat live. he'd actually re-coil if i put a frozen in with him. it's tough to keep up with the schedules of the pet stores-who gets feeders in on what day, but he's growing good and is healthy. i pre-kill the mice when i get them-a part of the process i hate.

[Keira]

I have tried to knock the mice out and feed her it but she just looks at me funny and then tries to get out of the tank lol lately she been grumpy I'm not sure why maybe she's just being a teen? Lol but I went ahead an bought some rats as breeders and a couple that are the right size for her food

[bigsnakegirl785]

She's a little over a year she's just now hitting 4 ft.. which kinda worries me I've heard they are slow grows but IDK as for her belly bulge it was a noticeable bulge her last feeding was 2 small rats and she didn't have any bulge after eating.
The last time I tried she was about 4 months I got the Mouse thawed an warm to about 98 degrees I took everything out of her enclosure and held the Mouse in front of her nose she noticed it and even nudged it and then just ignored it. I know she was hungry I held off on feeding her for about 3 weeks because she had rejected it before but she had no interest in it. I kept trying for about an hour but no luck. So I went and bought a live Moise and she ate that in less than 10 mins...

4' is really large for a yearling, and 2 small rats is way too much food. She should only be eating one single small rat. You should see either no bulge at all or a small one with no scale separation, and it should always be one prey item. If she's a year, she should be eating every 2 weeks, and if she's already 4' I'd think about going to every 3 weeks to slim her out. Even if she doesn't look chubby there could be fatty deposits you can't see since they store them internally. Even a box-shaped boa can be obese and succumb to fatty liver disease if they're fed too much.