Saharan Sand Boa hasn't eaten in 17 months

[pinklivliya]

Hi! I'm just on here to see if anyone has had any similar experiences or can suggest something to me that I haven't tried or considered. My Saharan Sand Boa who I've had since April 2019 literally will not eat. He went on a strike once before but he realized that he was actually hungry and decided to eat again. This time though, he hasn't. When he stopped eating in November of 2020 he was around 125 grams and was on hoppers about to be sized up and over the course of 17 months, he's down to 60. He's been to different vets, had blood taken, had a fecal, all of which came back normal. I've tried live pinkies ( he could eat bigger but considering how thin he is I opted to try something smaller ), feeding in a closed container in his enclosure, feeding him at different times of day, feeding in the dark, covering his enclosure with a towel, leaving the mouse in overnight, hamsters both brained and mostly whole ( it was too big to feed him so I cut it ), guinea pig scent, rats, African soft furs and basically anything I could find besides chicks just because he's too thin for them. He shows absolutely zero interest in food and the only way I've gotten him food is by force feeding him a pinky once a week which kept him at a whole 62 grams, but since it was so small, he couldn't actually gain any weight, just keep what he had already. He acts as he normally did before he stopped eating as well. As for husbandry, I'm almost certain that's not the problem. He has over 6 inches of a sand/soil mix to burrow in, 3 hides that he uses, cork, plants to hide in, even over head heating ( ceramic heat emitter set to 90-92 ) on the warm side. I'm at a loss of what to do. I'm at the point where I'm just thinking of getting him put down, this isn't any way for him to live. I've considered trying frog scent and frogs in general but I can't find anyone that sells feeder worthy frogs. I've also thought about trying egg but since it doesn't have too much of a smell, I doubt he'd be interested at all. Once again, if anyone has had an experience like this or has any idea of what I should do because as much as I love him he's starving himself to nothing and I honestly don't even know how he's still alive since he had not a single bit of food in him and he was actively losing weight for MONTHS. He's a literal tank.

[Aaron_S]

Originally Posted by pinklivliya

Hi! I'm just on here to see if anyone has had any similar experiences or can suggest something to me that I haven't tried or considered. My Saharan Sand Boa who I've had since April 2019 literally will not eat. He went on a strike once before but he realized that he was actually hungry and decided to eat again. This time though, he hasn't. When he stopped eating in November of 2020 he was around 125 grams and was on hoppers about to be sized up and over the course of 17 months, he's down to 60. He's been to different vets, had blood taken, had a fecal, all of which came back normal. I've tried live pinkies ( he could eat bigger but considering how thin he is I opted to try something smaller ), feeding in a closed container in his enclosure, feeding him at different times of day, feeding in the dark, covering his enclosure with a towel, leaving the mouse in overnight, hamsters both brained and mostly whole ( it was too big to feed him so I cut it ), guinea pig scent, rats, African soft furs and basically anything I could find besides chicks just because he's too thin for them. He shows absolutely zero interest in food and the only way I've gotten him food is by force feeding him a pinky once a week which kept him at a whole 62 grams, but since it was so small, he couldn't actually gain any weight, just keep what he had already. He acts as he normally did before he stopped eating as well. As for husbandry, I'm almost certain that's not the problem. He has over 6 inches of a sand/soil mix to burrow in, 3 hides that he uses, cork, plants to hide in, even over head heating ( ceramic heat emitter set to 90-92 ) on the warm side. I'm at a loss of what to do. I'm at the point where I'm just thinking of getting him put down, this isn't any way for him to live. I've considered trying frog scent and frogs in general but I can't find anyone that sells feeder worthy frogs. I've also thought about trying egg but since it doesn't have too much of a smell, I doubt he'd be interested at all. Once again, if anyone has had an experience like this or has any idea of what I should do because as much as I love him he's starving himself to nothing and I honestly don't even know how he's still alive since he had not a single bit of food in him and he was actively losing weight for MONTHS. He's a literal tank.

If the snake is active and hydrated, still tongue flicking there isn't a reason to put him down yet. "No way for him to live" isn't really a thing to the snake. He just isn't eating. To him, fairly normal.

So sand boas I THINK are nest raiders in the wild. I would attempt to take a small bowl of a few live pinks, in some aspen or sand mix you have. Put it into the substrate and cover it with a hide of some sort and leave it in overnight. Act like it's a nest and see what happens?

Also, re-check everything. Check your thermometer that it isn't broken or the heating element isn't. Test your equipment. Get a second thermometer and measure the temps again.