Why Wont She Eat? (h-e-l-p)

[king nick]

I bought a hogg island boa a little more then 2 weeks ago, I CANT GET HER TO EAT!!! She is plump and healthy. Any ideas on why she wont eat? Any trickes I can try to get her to eat?
thanks,
Nick

[Bartman]

How big is it?

If its still a little one, then you can try live pink rats or mice, since they are harmless. Then switch to p/k or f/t. Try f/t first though and see if it goes. Have you tried both rats and mice?

When you got it, did they tell you what it was feeding on?

[csolis]

Maybe you should provide a bit more info. Age? How is it kept? Is it in a rubbermaid, glass tank etc.? Does it have a hide? What are the temps(cool end and warm)? A snake can off food for a number of different reasons.

[evil11]

if she has a hide box wait till she is in it and dangle the rat in front of it. curiousity usually gets the best of them. another thing that works well is to brain the rat. cut the rats head open enough for the brain to stick out. the brain is like candy to snakes :)

[king nick]

Well she is two to two and a half years oldand is 4 feet long, so shes not just lil LOL .
Im trying to feed f/t medium sized rats (175-200g). thats what I was told to feed her every other week.
She is kept in a 50 gallon tank, a hide and a water bowl big enough she can fit in. here temps are at around 90 on the warm side and 75 on the cool one.
the first time when i tryed feeding i did exactly what evil11 is saying, she striked twice and hit her hrad kinda, after that she just hissed. I tryed another day taking the hide out and shes not interested (now I have tryed that several times and still shows very little interest)

thanks,NICK

[evil11]

i would say brain the rat and leave her alone with it for hours.

[Andy_G]

The temps sound low to me. Try 95 warm side and 85-88 cool side. Also, what's the humidity at?

[evil11]

i dont know about hogg island boas but RTB heat is suppose to be 88 warm side 78 cool side and basking about 93. but like i said im not sure about hoggs :)

[king nick]

RTBs are bci and hoggs are also bci so they require the same care.
ILL try leaving the rat in there for a wile.

nick

[evil11]

truthfully leave it in all night. i bet bymorning it will be gone. some snakes are shy eaters. sometimeseven covering thier cage with a sheet helps :)

[CARLiTO_]

try dipping the head of the rat in really hot water for a few seconds and then dangle it in front of the snake. This works on all of my snakes..

[chappy]

It's a boa man, just leave her alone for another week or so, even two if need be and then try again. If shes 4' and she has good weight like you say a month without food isn't going to do her any harm. She needs time to get used to her new surroundings, and if you keep bugging her and trying to get her to eat you are just going to stress her out.

[joey]

I agree with Chappy...sounds like your girl just isn't hungry. Don't worry--just give her time.

[evil11]

i didnt realize it was a new boa. chappy is right if you keep trying to force food on her she will stress and stress kills snakes.

[Calcarifer]

Just like everyone said give her time, she needs to settle in. You also have to remember that she is a boa and an adult one at that, since she isn't really growing anymore remember they don't need as much food. You also have to remember that since they are not overly active snakes and they don't really get to burn off the calories as quickly. Meaning she might still have been digesting what she ate before you got her. You should also consider that she might have been on a very specific feeding schedule nor they may have fed her a specific way. Myabe she was used to feeding in a rubbermaid with a lid on it, its dark, safe, and secure. A lot of people feed their snakes this way so maybe that is how she was grown. It could also have been the feeder itself. If it was freezer burnt but you couldn't tell, a good indicator is if the snake won't take it. A very good suggestion that was made was to dangle the food infront of her hide, naturally they are an ambush predator and they wait patiently for food just like that. Only problem with this is sometimes the snake might assume that whatever goes infront of the whole is food and you might end up getting bit. That why I personally like to feed snakes in a seperate rubbermaid. That way your snake doesn't associate your hand in the tank as food. Well I hope I helped in some sort of way. Just remember give her time and don't force her, you will stress her out more than she needs to be.

[king nick]

thankes everyone, i will keep you updated

NICK

[ChristinaM]

I've said it before... will say it here too. Sassy will only eat by dangling it in front of her hide and leaving her alone. She won't eat when you offer her daily, and keep handling her, etc. I can't type too much now as I had surgery on my hand last week, but I've emailed the answer to you a couple times I believe. She needs time to herself to de-stress.

I do believe I know what I'm talking about ;) She was my sassy lil girl for a long time.

Good luck.