in need of alittle wieght gain

[Paleosuchus]

My recently aquired emerald tree boa is on the thin side. I know they are meant to be this way to some extent but she is pretty dang thin. My question is how i can give her some wieght safely. She is on small rats, and i guess just keep feeding her after every defication until she is to a healthy looking slim. Any ideas other then this or is that about it? Thanks for any help, Jason

[JonD]

Was she a wild caught?

[Paleosuchus]

Yeah, been in captivity for a few months i believe

[C.ADAMANTEUS]

Had a Wild Caught Emerald once, and It never did fatten up much.
I thought it was too thin also.
I was actually Glad to hand the VISCIOUS little Girl to My mentor Lloyd Muher.
She bit me more times than ALL the retics I have ever had.
Good Luck.........Rick

[JonD]

Has she been to a vet to check for parsites etc?

[Paleosuchus]

JonD.... Yes she has been treated by the seller and a vet, for parasites once. The vet had mixed views on treating them. His words where, that treating can disturb the larva and make them burrow etc.. He said one treatment should be enough unless she doesnt eat. This was to the owner. Since then she has eaten for the tiem being in captivity, believe it was around 2.5-3 months not sure. Now, since i have had her she has eaten twice and from the first feeding looks so much better wieght wise. But i am still not happy, a better question would have been is there any way to make her gain wieght , something more fatty then a rat? Or should i just take the rat thing slow and steady?
C.ADAMANTEUS....For a wild caught emerald she is very mellow. First week i had her, her lower jaw seemed alittle out of line or swollen. I had to take a look to make sure it wasnt mouth rot. I reached in and picked her up with not much problem, still very aggresive, just not what i would expect from a import. Turned out to be a stuck tooth, after she ate, it was gone. Or atleast thats what i think it was, it's all gone whatever it was.

[C.ADAMANTEUS]

Have you tried Chicks? They worked for A Skinny BCI I once had. and they're cheaper than rats
Rick

[CraigC]

As I believe Craig mentioned to you, rats are the best thing along with a healthy dose of patience on your part. Chicks aren't the best thing to feed, more chance of puncture because of the beak and feet, salmonella risk, and from what I understand messy, extremely foul smelling stool. If she is parasite free and eating regularly she will gain weight. Trying to power feed an emerald will more than likely get you a puking bag of bones on its way to being a dead emerald.

Karen

[Paleosuchus]

Yes, Craig did mention that to me and helped out tremendously. She seems to be goin steady on gaining wieght little by little, very little. Friend of mine has a supply of hamsters, and juvenile gunea pigs, was just looking for a hardier prey item for the emerald to gain some wieght but i guess rats would just be the best at a slow pase like said. Thanks, jason

[BoidKeeper]

Remember the patience part, very important. I pushed my new female once because she looked too light to breed this season and she puked. Not because I was feeding her too often but her thrid meal (three weeks apart) was just too big. The other two were pushing it too but I got lucky. Had I weighed for a dump before giving her the big meal I may have been ok. There is only so much room in there track and it can back up easily.
Now I have to feed her very small meals for at least 6 months for my own piece of mind.
Remember everything in Emerlads that is positive takes longer then the avarage snake. If I were you I would feed her one rat that doesn't leave a lump every three weeks. That will in time put the weight on.
Cheers,
Trevor

[C.ADAMANTEUS]

Originally posted by CraigC
As I believe Craig mentioned to you, rats are the best thing along with a healthy dose of patience on your part. Chicks aren't the best thing to feed, more chance of puncture because of the beak and feet, salmonella risk, and from what I understand messy, extremely foul smelling stool. If she is parasite free and eating regularly she will gain weight. Trying to power feed an emerald will more than likely get you a puking bag of bones on its way to being a dead emerald.

Karen
In response to your response:p
Yes chicks are VERY messy. NOT My usual feed.
Rats are Very good food, no Doubt. But I guess I'm trying to think like an Arboreal Snake. If I lived in a tree my whole life, I figure that Birds would complete about 90% of my diet. Cant say right, or wrong about the punctures, but as to the salmonella risk, Any Wild caught Arboreal snake already has a very good chance of being a Carrier of the Salmonella Virus, and in fact can live with it its whole life, and nobody the wiser, unless checked specifically for that.
NOT that I am discrediting your advice, Its good advice, and good to bring up the Pros and Cons of any given situation.
Rick

[CraigC]

Actually, ETBs in the wild probably don't really eat that many birds. Of the very, very few personal studies that have been done, birds have been found to be an extremely small part of their diet. ETBs hunt at night. They don't move around much. They find a spot they like then hang down and wait for their prey to come along. That's why they are called ambush hunters. Most birds (other than some birds of prey) roost at night so unless one just happens to roost underneath an ETB it's not likely to be part of an ETB diet. However, rodents are nocturnal and run around in trees looking for food.

As far as Salmonella, yes, most have been exposed. However, there are many different types of Salmonella bacteria (not virus). An animal that is a carrier of and living with one type can get sick and/or die from another. Why chance it?

Karen

[Paleosuchus]

Well rats it is then. Only one thing that turned me away from the chicks and that was being able to puncture the snake.
With the salmonella part sure the snake could contract it from that but i am sure he is carrying one of over 2200 species of it already. Being 50 percent of snakes and lizards have shown to carry it, 30% of dogs done carry it. Wonder how many people on this site has actually ever got it through the years of keeping reptiles. To much hype on it in my opinion.

[C.ADAMANTEUS]

Originally posted by CraigC
Actually, ETBs in the wild probably don't really eat that many birds. Of the very, very few personal studies that have been done, birds have been found to be an extremely small part of their diet. ETBs hunt at night. They don't move around much. They find a spot they like then hang down and wait for their prey to come along. That's why they are called ambush hunters. Most birds (other than some birds of prey) roost at night so unless one just happens to roost underneath an ETB it's not likely to be part of an ETB diet. However, rodents are nocturnal and run around in trees looking for food.

As far as Salmonella, yes, most have been exposed. However, there are many different types of Salmonella bacteria (not virus). An animal that is a carrier of and living with one type can get sick and/or die from another. Why chance it?

Karen
Well I wont say your wrong. Im not a PRO, just a lowly wildlife rehaber:D
You do make a good point though about the "Nocturnal" Part. Most birds dont fly at night. Just learned something though. Did NOT know they were ambushers. Iwas led to believe they actively hunt. But like you pointed out, Not many studies that I have seen. And I've only ever had 1 ETB as a patient, and she was a viscious lil thing. I gave her to someone of a much higher caliber than me.
And I stand corrected on the "Bacteria" thing too.:D
I actually knew that but was really brain farting when searching for the right word to use.:rolleyes:
Thanks for the tidbits..........Rick