Hog Island Boa wont eat? help :(

[KingKrush421]

Hi everyone.

I have a male hog island boa. When i first got him, for a few months, he was a great and easy feeder. He'd eat consistently no problem

One day, he became really uninterested in food completely for some reason?

His temps are good, hes got multiple hides, his water dish, and everything he needs to make him comfortable.

He is visibly underweight.

I brought him to the vets, got blood tests. x-rays, the works done. The vet couldn't see anything wrong or out of the ordinary.

Is there a reason he just randomly wont eat? It's been 6 weeks since hes last fed. Do they have internal biological "winter hibernation mode" clocks?

Since hes only ever been on frozen / thawed, the vet suggested to try force feeding him something small. He said this can start them up and get them going into eating normally again.

Any thoughts and / or suggestions?

[Scubadiver59]

My 1yr Hogg is really picky. I was feeding rat pinkies but then he stopped taking them for a few weeks. On a whim, I went up a few sizes to a rat pup and haven't had an issue since then. Make sure you warm it up real good, just over 100F (live rats and mice are around 98F).

Also, seeing as it is winter, he may have just gone off food.

[DJC Reptiles]

I wouldn't ever recommend force feeding unless your snake was literally on the verge of death. I don't think that is what's happening here. I recommend you get a scale so you can monitor his weight, just to make sure. You can also try different prey items, maybe he wants to try rats or mice, even chicks, just try a variety. How old is your boa as well? Sometimes once they get older, they go off feed for a little while during the cooler months. Kind of like ball pythons. The easiest way to see if they are actually loosing weight is like I said, with a scale. Fairly accurate ones can be purchased on Amazon. If all else fails, you can try assist feeding first. There are plenty of good videos showing how to assist feed, but if you need help, I would be happy to answer any questions. (I can't imagine your snake is to big, if the vet is recommending force feeding).

[CameraSkunk]

I would have to agree with DJC on the force feeding. Though it is a bit tough here because the Vet did suggest it. It can be traumatic for the animal and whatever trust you have built with the animal will probably be back to square 1. I'd say go the way of assist feeding if it comes to it but also as DJC said there seems to be a period where snakes tend to go off food. Mating Season/Winter Hibernation season. I can't speak from experience here I'm fairly new, but thats what all my research and reading in this forum has taught me.

That all said, force feeding should IMO be a last resort as doing it incorrectly can also cause damage. Best of luck and I wish you the best.