Boa not chowin down!

[Lulu]

I got two seven month old Kenyan Sand Boas about a month ago. The female has eaten but the male has yet to eat a single mouse. When I bought the frozen mice the man i bought them from got a good look at my snakes and gave me properly sized food. I know that the food isn't too big because the female ate and the mice are no bigger than the biggest part of their body. I've used forcepts to dangle the f/t mouse infront of him, ive cracked open the brain, i've cut the mouse slightly to draw blood, i've even left it with him over night for him but NOTHING. i was thinking that maybe shedding has something to do with him not eating but the first time a fed him he wasnt shedding yet. Any suggestions as to what I can do would be much appreciated.:confused:

Thanks.

-Rose

[SnakeyeZ]

Give us a little more details about the cage setup....all aspects..also get the snake checked out to ensure it doesnt have any parasites.

-Rich

[thunder]

i find that sand boas often want live prey to start out. try offering him live prey, and if he takes it go from there. also, just to check, you arent housing them together are you? because if you are, it is common for the weaker individual to refuse due to stress.

[Lulu]

I had them both in a 20g glass tank with a undertank heater on about 3/4 of the tank, filled with sand (i know alot of owners dont like to use sand but the breeder I bought them from has been keeping his in sand for as long as he's been breeding, 27years, and had no problems). Just recently the male, the one that's not eating, started to shed so i put him in a plastic rubbermaid with aspen shavings and a little bowl of water. I also have a leo-gecko, for heat I have a rather hot heat lamp resting on the top of the gecko's cage and I placed part of the rubbermaid with my male KSB in it close to he lamp to keep the temp up. He has been in there (by himself) for a little more than a week. I handle them about everyother day, so maybe he's a little stressed about that(???).

[Lulu]

and by "started to shed" I mean turned slightly dull looking.

[thunder]

if your snakes are living together, you need to separate them before trying any other feeding tricks. snakes are solitary creatures, and the stress of co-habiting must be eliminated if you want your male to eat. if your snake is in shed, do not offer food until after he is done, chances are he wouldn't take it anyway and feeding during the shed cycle can (not often, but can) cause a regurge. another thing, your heating system sounds kind of haphazard. how are you measuring the temps in your animals enclosure? do you have any thermostats or rheostats? make sure than all your husbandry is correct.

[Linds]

In addition to everything thunder said, refrain from handling any snake until it has properly settled in and started feeding reliably. You only add fuel to the fire when you start bothering an already unsettled animal.

A 20 gallon is much too big for a baby sandboa as well. I hope the UTH is properly controlled too, especially when using sand as a substrate. Sand can really hold on to heat, and UTH on its own will get very, very hot.

Good luck working out the situtation.