Feeding problems

[pepianpel]

Hello, its me again ^^''
My red tail boa has been healing up great from his rat attack still, and after I have tried every suggestion my vet has given me to feed him dead prey it wont work, so I tried feeding him live again. I have been trying since yesterday to feed him a small mouse but all he will do is move if it is on him, watch it, and or hiss at it. I've given Rajah space and have tried to keep things quiet around his enclosure (though having ten people throughout a house that has paper-thinish walls doesn't work well for that). Before he got attacked, he was fine with eating whenever I put a mouse into his enclosure but now its almost like he's unsure. He even ate when he had mites before(though I didn't find out he had mites until after he got attacked, and I found out that he had them even before I got him, but they did not get bad or noticeable until he got very stressed). What should I do?

Oh, and I have made sure to take out the mouse too. It hasn't been in his cage since yesterday >.>""

[dragunov.762]

snakes can go a while without eating and who knows why they go off food sometimes but i would continue to try the FT rats. He will eat them when he gets hungry (that could be a while still) try warming them up to 100 or so degrees (rats and mice have higher core body temps that people) and see if that helps, also you could dangle it (using tongs) in front of him. I have heard of snakes that wont eat unless to bop them on the nose a little because they are so picky. also the tongs are nice for feeding live, just grab the rat by the tail and dangle him in front of the snake. this makes it harder for the rat to attack the snake. i am sure that the vet gave you all those suggestions but i would keep trying

[pepianpel]

**update**I've seen that a few posts on other threads here that say that snakes sometimes go into a "mode" where they don't eat (for just a normal cycle or mating or just stubbornness), but i was just wondering what else could be going on with him or if anything was wrong. I've stopped worrying as much. What I've done so far is to leave him semi alone(being able to still see in the cage without him seeing me) for 5-10 minutes and then taking the mouse out for a good few hours and trying again. Things do get loud in this house but it didn't seem to affect him before. I'm just worried because I might have to make another trip to the vet soon because his belly is now looking like an oval, more so than I've seen him look before. He's last willingly taken food around November/Decemberish and was force-fed a pinkie by the vet in April. I am sorry if I annoyed anyone by asking this since I have asked on here before about feeding him dead prey, but I figured this was a different situation.

[pepianpel]

snakes can go a while without eating and who knows why they go off food sometimes but i would continue to try the FT rats. He will eat them when he gets hungry (that could be a while still) try warming them up to 100 or so degrees (rats and mice have higher core body temps that people) and see if that helps, also you could dangle it (using tongs) in front of him. I have heard of snakes that wont eat unless to bop them on the nose a little because they are so picky. also the tongs are nice for feeding live, just grab the rat by the tail and dangle him in front of the snake. this makes it harder for the rat to attack the snake. i am sure that the vet gave you all those suggestions but i would keep trying

Thankyou ^^ I havent heard of booping him on the nose, so I'll try it(I'm feeding him live prey though so I wont have to worry about heating it >.>'' I've given up on that already ^^)

[pepianpel]

snakes can go a while without eating and who knows why they go off food sometimes but i would continue to try the FT rats. He will eat them when he gets hungry (that could be a while still) try warming them up to 100 or so degrees (rats and mice have higher core body temps that people) and see if that helps, also you could dangle it (using tongs) in front of him. I have heard of snakes that wont eat unless to bop them on the nose a little because they are so picky. also the tongs are nice for feeding live, just grab the rat by the tail and dangle him in front of the snake. this makes it harder for the rat to attack the snake. i am sure that the vet gave you all those suggestions but i would keep trying


I just tried this twice and all my boa will do is lash at it, let go(and by this time I've let go of the rat with the tongs) and then ignore it. Is this normal?
thankyou again

[Lankyrob]

One thing we tried with our BP who wouldnt feed is (with a F/T mouse) cut off the whiskers and the first few millimetres of nose so that it is bleeding - then rub the bloody nose of the mouse across the nose of the snake so that it has no choice but to taste/smell the blood and hopefully triggering the feeding response.

[shaunyboy]

have you treated his mite infestation ? excuse me if you have i just couldnt see where you had in your post.if he has mites that along with the fright of being attacked by the rat could be the combined reason why hes not eating.if the mites are untreated this could also be the reason on its own.

you could also try keeping him in a smaller tub as this will make him feel more secure and may get him eating again.it took me 5 month to get a nervous hatchling i bought eating.

has he got plenty hides in his present tank ?
cheers shaun

[marvelfreak]

**update** I might have to make another trip to the vet soon because his belly is now looking like an oval, more so than . I would be getting him to the vet and the bopping them on the head will stress them out more. Put it this way if you got slap in the face with a steak would you still be hungery or pissed off? If your having problem feeding the last thing you want to do is stress them out.
dragunov.762 meant well (i heard this before too), but it's just bad advice. My guess would be whatever the oval is this is why he won't eat. A picture would really help. P.S. i am not picking on dragunov.762. I was given this advice myself before, and i tried it. It got me bit and a snake that went 2 more months before it eat.

[dragunov.762]

no offense taken Marvelfreak. i have never tried it it was just something i heard from a reputable breeder and thought i would mention it.

[marvelfreak]

Nothing wrong with tring to help. I have seen it work a couple of time, but most of the time it just stress them out more.

[pepianpel]

have you treated his mite infestation ? excuse me if you have i just couldnt see where you had in your post.if he has mites that along with the fright of being attacked by the rat could be the combined reason why hes not eating.if the mites are untreated this could also be the reason on its own.

you could also try keeping him in a smaller tub as this will make him feel more secure and may get him eating again.it took me 5 month to get a nervous hatchling i bought eating.

has he got plenty hides in his present tank ?
cheers shaun

As far as i know his mites are treated ^^ the vet saw him a few months after she demited him and everything got cleaned and gave me the thumbs up on him being clean, though he does have some red dots on his belly that I am a little concerned about. I asked the vet and she thought he may be stressed, but even when he's at home there there >.>''

I wasnt sure about the smaller tub, I have tried feeding him in a box a few times recently(because one of my friends said that it would be a bad idea to feed him in his tank, and that it would make him more likely to bite me) Since he didnt go after the mouse and kinda stayed away from it i figured he needed striking room, but maybe not. Another problem i faced was that he kept trying to crawl out of it. I have a question, if I do try a tub, should i have air holes in it? Thats one of my concerns because I thought of feeding him in one but i was worried about him not being able to breathe well.

Currently he has a pretty bare tank, but i am trying to find him a hide and something treelike so he has an easier time to shed. Our problem is that there are no real petstores near by so its hard to get stuff for him when we have the money >.>'' Do you have any suggestions for what to use as a hide?

Thankyou for your help as well ^^

[pepianpel]

One thing we tried with our BP who wouldnt feed is (with a F/T mouse) cut off the whiskers and the first few millimetres of nose so that it is bleeding - then rub the bloody nose of the mouse across the nose of the snake so that it has no choice but to taste/smell the blood and hopefully triggering the feeding response.

Good idea. I am kind of worried about cutting the mouse wrong and killing it though>.>''

[pepianpel]

I would be getting him to the vet and the bopping them on the head will stress them out more. Put it this way if you got slap in the face with a steak would you still be hungery or pissed off? If your having problem feeding the last thing you want to do is stress them out.
dragunov.762 meant well (i heard this before too), but it's just bad advice. My guess would be whatever the oval is this is why he won't eat. A picture would really help. P.S. i am not picking on dragunov.762. I was given this advice myself before, and i tried it. It got me bit and a snake that went 2 more months before it eat.

True,
What I mean by him looking like an oval is that hes getting really skinny. Sorry for the confusion. Thankyou for the advice, I was kind of worried about ticking my snake off like that and him doing the same to me, but I figured I'd try anyways (no offense dragunov.762, I think your advice is pretty good too ^^ I'm just really nervous about my snake biting me when i try to feed him)

[citysnakes]

Good idea. I am kind of worried about cutting the mouse wrong and killing it though>.>''

please dont try this with a live animal...

[pepianpel]

please dont try this with a live animal...
oh.. ok i see what you meant.. sorry about that >.>''

[shaunyboy]

no offense taken Marvelfreak. i have never tried it it was just something i heard from a reputable breeder and thought i would mention it.


i dont want to start a fight here and i can understand what your saying marvelfreak.

i have a jaguar python and when i got it it was 3 years old.for the first 5 or 10 feeds i had to slap his head but more the sides of his face with his rat until 20 to 40 seconds later he'd strike and eat it.i didnt hit him hard but just hard enough to p**s him off.he has struck fed ever since.he now gives me the strongest feeding response of my whole collection.he also eats anything the others leave.all my snakes are strike feeders im not keen on leaving things in over night.i am in no way slating this feeding method,i just prefer to have all mine strike.
cheers shaun

[Nafun]

I'm not suggesting the "bopping" method, because obviously your snake has been traumatized and is very stressed out. However, it *can* be effective. My bp is a picky eater (redundant much?). When he would refuse f/t prey repeatedly, I would try live and he would ignore it until the rat or mouse got nose to nose with him, then he would strike it, kill it, and eat it. Recently I discovered that if I just hold the f/t mouse by the scruff with tongs and mimic this behavior (wiggling it a few inches away, then moving it slowly nose to nose) he'll strike, "kill" the dead rodent, and eat.

That being said...

Have you tried exposing the brain of dead prey? I know you said you've tried everything, but this is pretty gruesome and a lot of people are squeamish about it.

Also, you could try offering non rat prey items. If he's spooked by rats, he might respond to rabbits, guinea pigs, chickens, quails, lizards, frogs, etc.

Good luck, and I hope something works for you.

[pepianpel]

I'm not suggesting the "bopping" method, because obviously your snake has been traumatized and is very stressed out. However, it *can* be effective. My bp is a picky eater (redundant much?). When he would refuse f/t prey repeatedly, I would try live and he would ignore it until the rat or mouse got nose to nose with him, then he would strike it, kill it, and eat it. Recently I discovered that if I just hold the f/t mouse by the scruff with tongs and mimic this behavior (wiggling it a few inches away, then moving it slowly nose to nose) he'll strike, "kill" the dead rodent, and eat.

That being said...

Have you tried exposing the brain of dead prey? I know you said you've tried everything, but this is pretty gruesome and a lot of people are squeamish about it.

Also, you could try offering non rat prey items. If he's spooked by rats, he might respond to rabbits, guinea pigs, chickens, quails, lizards, frogs, etc.

Good luck, and I hope something works for you.
Thanks for the ideas ^^ ill see what i can do XD

[shaunyboy]

As far as i know his mites are treated ^^ the vet saw him a few months after she demited him and everything got cleaned and gave me the thumbs up on him being clean, though he does have some red dots on his belly that I am a little concerned about. I asked the vet and she thought he may be stressed, but even when he's at home there there >.>''

I wasnt sure about the smaller tub, I have tried feeding him in a box a few times recently(because one of my friends said that it would be a bad idea to feed him in his tank, and that it would make him more likely to bite me) Since he didnt go after the mouse and kinda stayed away from it i figured he needed striking room, but maybe not. Another problem i faced was that he kept trying to crawl out of it. I have a question, if I do try a tub, should i have air holes in it? Thats one of my concerns because I thought of feeding him in one but i was worried about him not being able to breathe well.

Currently he has a pretty bare tank, but i am trying to find him a hide and something treelike so he has an easier time to shed. Our problem is that there are no real petstores near by so its hard to get stuff for him when we have the money >.>'' Do you have any suggestions for what to use as a hide?

Thankyou for your help as well ^^


can you post some pictures of the red dots please ?

mites are little black dots roughly the size of the full stops here .........

hides you can make out of all sorts of house hold things.a hide should just be big enough for your boa to fit in so his body touches all the sides.this makes them feel secure.you can use a plastic kitchen basin like you wash the dishes in.turn it upside down and cut an entry hole.when you cut a half circle hole in it for him to get in and out make sure there are no sharp edges.even plastic can cut,i file it smooth then put insulating tape on the edges.also a sturdy cardboard box anything that can have a hole cut in it and be upturned to create a hiding place.

if your taking wood from outside you have to sterilise it.i run a bath with some house hold bleach added to it.i then soak and scrub the branches.after a good scrub i put a heavy stone or something on the branch to make it soak under the water.i leave it this way for 5 or 6 hours.i then drain the bath,use the my shower head to rinse the wood.once i feel ive rinsed it clean i fill the bath back up with clean cold water.i then wieght the wood down and let it soak for a further 5 to 6 hours.imo the wood is now clean and sterile.i put it in the cuboard that houses our hot wtaer tank.after a few days of heat the wood is completely dry and ready to use.

re putting the boa in a smaller tub. i meant downsize its tank and let it live in the smaller one until such times it feels secure and resumes eating.however that said you might get away with putting hides in his present tank,this will give him some where to hide and feel secure.put them in both the hot and cold ends.even putting 4 hides in in different places in his tank.this will give him somewhere to hide at the temperature he likes.

re feeding outside his tank i feed all mine inside their tanks.i dont agree with folk saying they will bite you more if you feed in their own tanks.your in his tank every day to change the water,you also spot clean any poo etc,etc so your in and out his tank all the time.only once a week you open his tank for feeding purposes.so imo its highly unlikely he will associatte you going into his tank as im getting fed.as said only once out of many times per week your in his tank does he actually get fed.

where as imo if you take him out put him in a tub to feed him once a week.would he not expect fed everytime you took him out,if your friends theory was correct.

i hope you get your boa to calm down and eat.once you give him hides dont go near him.just change his water every other day.give him 2 weeks then try and feed him.once he gets his stress sorted out and feels secure you should see a difference in his behavior.he will be out his hide more and confident.
cheers shaun

[Nafun]

I successfully used the "expose brain" tactic tonight on a stubborn feeder. It was seven kinds of disgusting.