Baby Rosy Boa wont eat/maybe drink

[FireproofWaffle]

I know there are a lot of posts about this topic, and I've read some. On the 7th I got a my first snake, a baby Mexican Rosy Boa, and after a week, I tried feeding him. He wouldn't eat pinkies, and I've done Live, F/T, and splitbrain. He never is interested, and has even slithered directly on top of the mouse. I've resorted to only feeding him in his enclosure, and no longer handling. I've tried feeding at all times of day, but he mostly burrows. Recently I noticed his skin being pale, so I assumed he was going into shed, but his eyes never changed. I have never actually seen him drink, but have always given him water 4x a week. I'm supplying him with constant water, and I've tried getting him to drink by letting him know there is water there. All the husbandry is correct, the temps range from 80-85 to ~74-70. He has 2 hides, but he is always burrowed. All my friends with snakes don't know what to do, and recommend I go to a reptile vet. Any help would be greatly appreciated. The current date is 1/29th, I've had him for 22 days now, but I don't know how long he can go without food/water.

[Tsubaki]

Welcome! If you have tried that many ways to feed him in just 22 days, you are trying too hard and that might just be stressing him out. Leave him alone for a while, no feeding no bothering. They don't usually drink in full sight either, it's hard to catch them drinking. If he doesn't take food, try again a few days later. And I'd advise to not handle a new snake until it has settled in and is a steady eater either. He might just be in shed, you could've easily missed his eyes going blue. If your friends are already suggesting vets after just 22 days it's a bit much, Snakes even babies can go months without food.

[MartinD]

Hello and welcome to the forum. No snake will deliberately starve itself to death. Before any of my new snakes arrive I ask the breeder/seller 'What temps/humidity are you keeping them at', What are you feeding them and how often', then I will set up the new viv with the same temps/humidity before they arrive and I will get a few months supply of the food I need. I will leave them for 7 days before handling or feeding.

I have 7 snakes and only once have I ever seen any of my snakes actually drink.

As for how long can they go without food and water, I know of a breeder who had a female go 9 months without feeding, as long as the snakes weight doesn't drop drastically then it should be ok, but keep an eye on it. As for water a snake gets its liquids through its food (rodents, frogs, etc) through the humidity in their viv/tank and by soaking itself in its water bowl and also drinking. If your snake is nocturnal and if your asleep through the night then you may never see them drink, but they do.

[akane]

I find my rosy tends to shed with little indication and never gets the blue eyes. It's not much of an event compared to the others. The first time mine didn't even go off feed but she was half starved so her feeding response was high. They are drier environment critters so they drink little and you are unlikely to see it unless the bowl evaporates and goes dry for a long time so they are immediately very thirsty. Some only provide water for them a couple times a week but it's usually from a health issue. Some snakes will over indulge and end up regurgitating.

Give it a bit of time and then calmly try feeding at night and unless you are feeding live older than a pinky you can leave it sit there for awhile. You can get some blue leds (also check aquarium supplies and rope lights for cheaper options), a red night viewing bulb, or if you don't need the heat there are low watt tinted incandescent party bulbs at most stores with light bulbs. They are most likely to come out and hunt at night. Dropping the temp a little at night (I have an extra 25w daylight bulb on the cool end that shuts off at night) or a misting of water may encourage a burrowed snake evolved to arid environments to come out and feed. If you can get a cheap feeder lizard to sacrifice put some of the blood on the pinky. Sometimes rosy boas go for lizards better than rodents but feeder lizards are considerably more expensive and harder to get so converting them to f/t rodents is of course much preferred.

[FireproofWaffle]

I'm going to call the breeder soon, but as of feeding and shedding, I'll probably try and feed him another live with some lizard blood after he sheds. I haven't seen his skin lately as he's always burrowed, but I am misting his cage. Thanks for the suggestions!

[TRD]

Take the little snake out of enclosure and put on your hands gentle holding the tail so he cant slither off. Take a thawed 1-day pinkie and hold it with the pinkie's mouth to the snake's mouth. Press it on it a little, and if snake turns head away just repeat until he takes it. Then just sit still for a while :)

It will take it eventually.

Also please check your temps and humidity. Don't mist your enclosure ever, it should be dry.

[Andy_G]

Take the little snake out of enclosure and put on your hands gentle holding the tail so he cant slither off. Take a thawed 1-day pinkie and hold it with the pinkie's mouth to the snake's mouth. Press it on it a little, and if snake turns head away just repeat until he takes it. Then just sit still for a while :)

It will take it eventually.

Also please check your temps and humidity. Don't mist your enclosure ever, it should be dry.

I respectfully completely disagree with this advice under the circumstances. With less than a month having gone by, I would not] attempt to feed as above, especially since the issue at hand is already most likely the snake being stressed out from too many offerings. Please don't do this just yet.

It's still winter and rosy boas are used to periods without food. Consult the breeder as to what method of feeding he was using. No big deal yet.

[mattd]

i see my snakes drink all the time maybe there wishing they had a beer with me 0.0 serious . leave them alone for a week or 2 after temps are right and its settled in and try.

[PsychoSnake]

Baby rosy boas are notorious for not feeding. The key thing is patience and not giving up. They will turn around eventually. I find leaving HARMLESS PINKY MICE overnight in their tubs is usually enough to entice their curiosity after several hours. They do eat small lizards and snakes too. Rosy boas, even adults, can take a LONG TIME to get settled in a new environment. When unsure of their environment they tend to rely more on seasonal queues and since it's winter they'll go off feed. As for drinking look for urates. If your rosy is drinking then you'll find urates. The change in color is probably a preparation for a shed. They are dry climate animals (I lived in their backyard, haha!) so regular house humidity is usually enough for a successful shed. Misting isn't necessary for normal care though they will absorb some of the water through their skin for hydration.

If your rosy is getting really thin and has lost its baby fat and is still not feeding I would move on to assist feeding and introducing Pedialyte in the water dish or directly if there are no urates. And of course you can always consult a vet. :)

He never is interested, and has even slithered directly on top of the mouse.
Aren't they little turds when they do that?

[Tsubaki]

Take the little snake out of enclosure and put on your hands gentle holding the tail so he cant slither off. Take a thawed 1-day pinkie and hold it with the pinkie's mouth to the snake's mouth. Press it on it a little, and if snake turns head away just repeat until he takes it. Then just sit still for a while :)

It will take it eventually.

Also please check your temps and humidity. Don't mist your enclosure ever, it should be dry.


I would also like to stress to only use methods like these, as a very last resort. Assisted feeding is the last step before forced feeding; Which is the very last step you could ever take. They can go months without food, eating on their own is always much better. And like said before, it hasn't been that long and the little guy is probably just a little stressed. That in combination with a new enclosure and wintertime, it's not strange to refuse food.

[PsychoSnake]

I would also like to stress to only use methods like these, as a very last resort. Assisted feeding is the last step before forced feeding; Which is the very last step you could ever take. They can go months without food, eating on their own is always much better. And like said before, it hasn't been that long and the little guy is probably just a little stressed. That in combination with a new enclosure and wintertime, it's not strange to refuse food.
+1

The more you have to get involved the less likely he'll eat on his own due to stress. It's a delicate balance as my vet says.

Oh and another irritating thing rosies do is constricting their prey and leaving it to rot. Or fawn over their meal INTENSELY for 30 minutes but never actually eat the item.

[FireproofWaffle]

Update:
He did shed, and I found it tonight, it was under the substrate, and could be barely seen from the back. I'll be trying to feed him in a few days, but I'll let him calm down after his shed. I'm planning on trying to feed him a live mouse as people tend to have better chances with those. I've known about assist and force feeding, but I probably wouldn't of done it. A employee at a reptile store I went to told me that if he were to regurgitate it, it could be fatal. Thank you all very much for the help, and as of drinking/urates, I haven't seen any urates, but again, he is pretty much burrowed 24/7 as I see it. What tips do you guys have for just not interested? I've heard about tuna/chicken broth. Thanks again!

[akane]

That debating over their squished prey is so annoying. They love squishing but it's seriously dead, just eat it already. After squishing it and looking at it, let it go, shove it around, debate the best place to start fitting it down, find it's hard to eat if you aren't holding onto it, eventually throw a coil back around it, and maybe it will finally go down. I got used to checking back after 10-20mins to see if the mouse had started being eaten. I fed my new sumatran python and while he was squeezing it I figured I'll check him in 10mins. 2mins later my husband walks by hearing noises and asks if I fed it something. Yes... Turns out there's a tail sticking out and that's it. If he's gonna eat it then it's gone. If he let's go you might as well remove it to the freezer or it's bull snake food. Rosy boas do everything slow and usually without any excitement like their sneaky shedding. Mostly I've just learned to wait and they'll eventually accomplish whatever activity. Winter made it worse.

He probably used the rough substrate to help strip his skin off. They appreciate a rock or something they can scrape on. Somehow Barairo got her last shed tied in a knot against the mostly flat rock I put her food on so it doesn't pick up as much soil/sand. Of course she then shoves her food all over debating how to eat it so it doesn't actually do any good.

Rosy are bad for regurgitation but as far as I've heard generally it doesn't lead to death. It's stressful, it stinks apparently, and they may not eat for awhile but while it can probably lead to complications in some instances I've heard of several people who had to figure out some feeding/watering oddity with their rosy because it regurgitated multiple times. They all went on to be healthy provided their details were followed from then on.