Not eating!? How soon after brumation to feed?! - Page 3

**Pareeeee** · 12-25-11, 11:38 AM

He was super active but now he is hiding on his cool side for the last couple days.

**Pareeeee** · 12-31-11, 12:14 PM

Still not eating. Still hasn't shed. Still worried. PS: I've warmed up his cool side a bit to see if that helps. I think the temp may have been too low on the cool side.

shaunyboy · 12-31-11, 01:45 PM

imo,if the temps were too low on the cool side,he would have just went up the hot side

watch you don't make his tank too hot

its much quicker to kill a snake with heat,than it is with cold

he may be a nervous snake and just needs left alone except for water changing

i had a carpet python hatchling,that i only went near once per week to change its water,quietly and quickly.

it took 10 month to get her feeding,she has never missed a feed since

cheers shaun

**Pareeeee** · 12-31-11, 04:17 PM

No, the temps in there before were around 69-70F which is the normal temp in our apartment this time of year. I've increased it to 75 which a lot of caresheets reccommend. The warm side is still around 85.

I'm pretty sure he's not nervous of me because he actually comes toward and tries to climb up onto my hands when I put them in the tank. He acts like, 'ooh, new climby things! yay!'...maybe he's strange...but he always acts very very calm around me and loves to look and explore every nook and cranny he can find. It's the mouse he acts all annoyed and skittish with.... o_O

Could there be any other common sights/smells etc. that could also frighten a snake? Only other pets in the house are fish and a crested gecko. We re-arranged the apartment so now the room he is in is very kow-traffic. It was a medium-traffic area before. He is just now starting to look a little bit thinner. Going to borrow my parent's weigh scale tomorrow and weigh him.

thanks again everyone for all your help and opinions. Hope he will eat soon. He hasn't had food in his belly since October...

shaunyboy · 12-31-11, 05:03 PM

october till now sounds like it could be possibly a breeding mode thing

from october to march or even april i've heard snakes go off their food,to the point they lose a little wieght,due to looking for a breeding oppourtunity

if his cool end was that cold,again this could bring on a breeding response

i hope he eats soon

can you post recent pictures and people will give you their opinions on how he looks

snakes can slow their metabilsms down and go without food for months with no ill effect

cheers shaun

KORBIN5895 · 12-31-11, 05:28 PM

Have you tried rat pinks? If he is skittish of mice try rat.

**Pareeeee** · 01-01-12, 02:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KORBIN5895

Have you tried rat pinks? If he is skittish of mice try rat.

Rat pinks...? I've heard a lot of people say when they make a change from mice to rats their snakes won't go back to mice again... :/

Adult mice and adult rats are mostly what you can get around here where I live.

I will try to take some photos today or tomorrow.

PS: He still has funny crinkle/scuff mark type things on his eyes...

I've been so worried about him I actually had a dream last night he shed and then ate...

KORBIN5895 · 01-01-12, 04:14 PM

Wait this is a rosy boa right?

**Pareeeee** · 01-02-12, 06:28 PM

Here are some pics I took yesterday. He is currently 28 inches long. I think some of the pictures he looks thicker than he actually is.

Here he is (my hand for size comparison, I wear women's medium size gloves if that helps!?)

Notice the marks on the scales on his back.

'Wrinkles' on his scales?

You can see the eye marks in this pic

Size comparison on my hand. Notice the funny marks on the scales on his back where the top layer of skin is separating from his scales.

Good image to see the marks on his eyecap.

It was hard to take pictures because he was fascinated with the camera and I ended up getting blurry close-ups of his face.

**Pareeeee** · 01-02-12, 07:08 PM

his enclosure

KORBIN5895 · 01-02-12, 08:56 PM

Sorry but my rat idea was terrible. He will never be eating rats! I thought it was a bci and thought maybe they had fed him rats. It looks like stuck eye caps to me.

ZARADOZIA · 01-03-12, 05:11 AM

Usually the crinkle look on scales is caused by humidity being to low. Double check that. Same goes for the way his eye looks. Balls are notorious for that issue if the humidity isn't kept at a constant. Might want to invest in a new humidity gauge

**Pareeeee** · 01-03-12, 07:35 AM

Again, this is a ROSY boa and they have to have very low humidity or they get respiratory infections. They are desert snakes. He has a water dish and drinks periodically.

Current humidity is 35%, I've heard 30% is best for them though?

**millertime89** · 01-04-12, 02:06 PM

maybe give him a humid hide and see if he uses it? I think he looks awesome btw.

ZARADOZIA · 01-05-12, 04:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pareeeee

Again, this is a ROSY boa and they have to have very low humidity or they get respiratory infections. They are desert snakes. He has a water dish and drinks periodically.

Current humidity is 35%, I've heard 30% is best for them though?

I'm not disagreeing with you. Just stating what I have experienced with crinkled scales. That's why I mentioned a new humidity gauge, maybe it is actually lower than what it is displaying? Just a thought dear.