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[boywithscales]

well, im new to this whole aboreal snake thing, so i want your guys help. i already keep 2 colombian boa constrictors, a bearded dragon, and a ball python, i also plan on getting a monitor. However i just picked up a malnourished cooks tree boa, hes really skinny(for a tree boa)and hasent shed properly. from what i know he hasent eaten in about a month and a half. I'm keeping him in a medium to large rubbermaid container with 2 wooden sticks for him to climb on,one is under basking light and other on coolside, hes got a large water dish under the heat lamp to keep the humidity up.
I bought two large mice for him, havent tried to feed him yet.
how do i feed him?? hes about 3 feet give or take. do i feed in seperate container? live or dead? oh yeah he still strikes at me so thats a good sign right??

[HeRpZ03]

First i would like to ask why you picked up the malnourished cooks (which is more likely an ATB, many label ATB's as cooks)? and Is it CB or WC? and what are your temps? The two wooden sticks should cross over each other in some way to form forks since they tend to perch on forkes rather than a single branch like ETB's or GTP's. For the retained shed you should mist more frequently than normal and give it a good soak. After getting the retained skin off it will be quite stressed so leave it alone for a good period of time before offering any food to it. Seeing as how it hasn't eaten in about a month, there could be a chance of internal parasites and it's probably very stressed. When feeding, try feeding it f/k and after a few failed attempts your last option would be to feed it live. You mentioned that it's skinny, so it's probably also dehydrated, so you should keep the humidity nice and high during the day. I'd recommend misting around 2-3 times a day. The striking wouldn't really be considered a good sign, but as long as it's still attentive and following your movements then thats ok. Hope this answers your questions

[boywithscales]

thanks, and yes i realize i shouldnt have got it. Ill try your tips and get back to you in a few.

[SnakeyeZ]

Hopefully it gets sorted out, and healthier for ya..pics would be nice.

[boywithscales]

Ok, so the plot thichkens apparently. a trusted herping friend of mine told me that he saw the animal when it first came in to the petshop. he said it had something wrong with its mouth, an infection and from what he saw it was missing teeth on one side,and its tounge was coming out the side. he thinks it might have a broken jaw. Now from what i can tell, and these are my observations in the last 24 hours.
his jaw is straight when you look at it
i tried to feed him a live mouse, he bite and then coiled alittle, then he let go, i removed the mouse, i thought that since he tried to constrict that he wants to eat. so i tried a fresh killed mouse, dangled it, then left it in his cage over night,he didnt eat.
his tounge comes out straight(normal)
I cant see anything weird about his head, it looks normal.
im keeping humidity up misting about 3 times a day
hot side is 35 coolside is 25
he was W/C, i shouldnt have got him.....ive learned my lesson
thanks guys

[boywithscales]

oh yeah i put pedialite in his water,to try and give him some extra energy, is this ok? or bad?

[JonD]

Alot of w/c amazons will only drink off the walls of thier enclosure so I'd recommend a heavy misting every other day. As for the jaw, they could and will sometimes get dislocated from striking the enclosure. They reset them sometimes right away or might take a while. Have you checked it for ticks and mites?

[HeRpZ03]

The way i got pedialyte and water into my LTC amazon, i put the pedialyte and water mixture into a syringe and place the syrinnge into the mouse's mouth and filled it. (mouse is of course a f/t mouse) this has worked wonderfully for me. And i wouldn't try to feed it for a few days. And as JonD mentioned, you should be on the look out for mites/ticks. Has it defacated yet?

[HeRpZ03]

woops double post..

[boywithscales]

no it hasnt craped, ill try the pedialyte thing though