Hog Island Boa won’t eat?

[KingKrush421]

Hi everyone.

I have a hog island male boa. He’s my first snake and I’m loving him :) He’s extremely friendly :)

Since Iv gotten him, he’s been extremely easy to feed. I’d put him in a separate large black plastic container (his feeding bin) and i would only have to dangle the prey (he’s only ever eaten frozen / thawed) for about 3 seconds before he would snap at it and start to eat. He would eat 1-2 rat pups each feeding. He’d have one feeding a week.

The last 4 feedings however (last 4 weeks) he has not been interested in food at all.

Nothing has been changed in his environment, he’s just randomly stopped eating. His temps are good, he’s got a couple hides, he’s got a water dish, and he’s not shedding.

Is it normal he just randomly loses interest in food? Should I be concerned for him not eating for 4 weeks?

[SerpentineDream]

Unless he's losing weight, no. Don't be too concerned.

But do keep checking his temps and humidity to be sure they are staying where they need to be and make sure he has plenty of hiding places (by which I mean at least 1 on each side, both hot and cool) and climbing opportunities. Hogs are largely arboreal and require things to climb on, such as sturdy branches.

Also you do not need to take him out of his cage to feed him. It's a piece of advice that has circulated for a long time, but it's been found that removing them from their cages for feeding tends to stress them out and does nothing to prevent strikes.

What does work is using a snake hook to remove your snake for handling. It prevents you from getting bitten if you surprise him and he'll learn to associate the hook with handling, not feeding time. Making sure you wash your hands first to get any interesting smells off your skin helps too.

P.S. - Hog Island boas are awesome.

[Andy_G]

I agree with the above. I also think you're feeding too often. Every 10 days would be more appropriate.

[bigsnakegirl785]

I would only feed a single prey item at a time, and I feed my boas every 10-14 days from birth until they're 2 years old. At 2 years old I move to 3 weeks, and adults eat every 4-6 weeks.

I agree about not moving him to feed, it's stressful for the snake and extra work for you. He likely won't get big enough to do any real damage, but you're opening yourself up to a higher chance of getting bit moving him to eat since you're handling him in the middle of a feeding response.