# having problems feeding my boa.



## K-TRAIN (Apr 25, 2010)

i recently bought a kenyan sand boa from a breeder (the snake pit) at a reptile show, shes a adult female about 1 1/2-2 foot long at the least (never measured her)

anyway i keep her in a ten gallon tank for now, aspen i think? (i cant remember what it is exactly its the bag of snake bedding from petco that looks like really fine wood shavings)

with a ten gallon uth heater.


i took my snake out and put her into a plastic bin to feed, and she wont eat. im trying to feed her a frozen hopper that i thawed out in hot water, and she doesnt want it. 


how can i get her to eat?  are they really picky eaters?


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## Lorgakor (Apr 25, 2010)

Kenyans are ambush predators. Meaning they come up from under the substrate to snatch their prey. One of the top breeders in Canada that I know of advises to feed in the cage, placing the mouse on top of the substrate so they can come up and grab it.

You don't say how long you've had her? Did you give her a week or two to settle in with no handling before feeding? Did you check with the breeder if she is on frozen? Maybe she was on live before? What temp do you have her at?


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## K-TRAIN (Apr 25, 2010)

Lorgakor said:


> Kenyans are ambush predators. Meaning they come up from under the substrate to snatch their prey. One of the top breeders in Canada that I know of advises to feed in the cage, placing the mouse on top of the substrate so they can come up and grab it.
> 
> You don't say how long you've had her? Did you give her a week or two to settle in with no handling before feeding? Did you check with the breeder if she is on frozen? Maybe she was on live before? What temp do you have her at?



ive had her since 4/17 and i havent handled her since the 20th. and idk what she was fed on. i had to go with frozen though because the only live i have access to are adult mice, and i was told they eat hoppers as adults. 


and the temps im not 100% sure on, the thermometer gauge i used in the tank was broken (just found out when i went to feed her actually) but from past experience with other snakes it feels to be about 80-85 degrees in one side, and about 70 in the other (my typical room temp)


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## joshuai (Apr 25, 2010)

Lorgakor said:


> Kenyans are ambush predators. Meaning they come up from under the substrate to snatch their prey. One of the top breeders in Canada that I know of advises to feed in the cage, placing the mouse on top of the substrate so they can come up and grab it.
> 
> You don't say how long you've had her? Did you give her a week or two to settle in with no handling before feeding? Did you check with the breeder if she is on frozen? Maybe she was on live before? What temp do you have her at?


do not feed in cage put it in a tuperware and cover it with a towell and keep it dark and quiet and she will eat


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## K-TRAIN (May 3, 2010)

joshuai said:


> do not feed in cage put it in a tuperware and cover it with a towell and keep it dark and quiet and she will eat



i tried that last night, and this morning the mouse was still in with her. i have no clue why she wont eat.


are there any Pennsylvania residents that could tell me were i can find hopper mice? the place i go to closed down


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## Mack&Cass (May 3, 2010)

The problem with digging the snake up is that it stresses the snake out and they're less inclined to eat. We've been trying to get our pueblan to tweezer feed since we got her in December with no luck, because every time we have to dig her up and she gets all worked up and then won't eat until all the lights are off. You could take a frozen thawed and using tweezers to hold the tail, move the mouse around on the aspen, kind of as if it was running on the ground. Maybe that would convince your boa to come up and eat. You could always just leave the mouse on a dish as well in its enclosure (that's what we do for our pueblan) and if the snake is roaming around at night it might come across it.

We have aspen with all our snakes and don't take any of them out to feed and have yet to have a single problem, I know if we attempted to do that with our pueblan, she'd never eat. She's the most timid snake ever.

Good luck 

Cass


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## bitzy1 (May 4, 2010)

K-TRAIN said:


> i recently bought a kenyan sand boa from a breeder (the snake pit) at a reptile show, shes a adult female about 1 1/2-2 foot long at the least (never measured her)
> 
> anyway i keep her in a ten gallon tank for now, aspen i think? (i cant remember what it is exactly its the bag of snake bedding from petco that looks like really fine wood shavings)
> 
> ...



i have kenyen sand boa. she was a baby when i got her and she WAS a picky eater. sand boas are nocturnal(bad spelling) which means they come out at night and are asleep in the day. try puting her in a dark place and leave her be, as far as it goes with frozen food, my sand boa wont go near a frozen mouse, its just like a frozen t.v dinner. i would give her some live mice and see how she does. oh and sand boas are ambush predators, and i can tell when my boa is hungry is when it potions itself to where barely its head is sticking out they also do this in the wild and if a mouse happens to walk by, they get a shot from the bottom! fasinating snakes though
hope i helped.


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## K-TRAIN (May 4, 2010)

bitzy1 said:


> i have kenyen sand boa. she was a baby when i got her and she WAS a picky eater. sand boas are nocturnal(bad spelling) which means they come out at night and are asleep in the day. try puting her in a dark place and leave her be, as far as it goes with frozen food, my sand boa wont go near a frozen mouse, its just like a frozen t.v dinner. i would give her some live mice and see how she does. oh and sand boas are ambush predators, and i can tell when my boa is hungry is when it potions itself to where barely its head is sticking out they also do this in the wild and if a mouse happens to walk by, they get a shot from the bottom! fasinating snakes though
> hope i helped.


can they eat adult mice? i was told they need to eat hoppers. id go to petco and get a live mouse but all they sell are adult mice.


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## bitzy1 (May 4, 2010)

K-TRAIN said:


> can they eat adult mice? i was told they need to eat hoppers. id go to petco and get a live mouse but all they sell are adult mice.


well, it depends on the size. usually sand boas dont get too big. mine is 9 inches so of course it eats pinkies. i have heard that eat many weird things but to my instinct i only feed mine mice


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## K-TRAIN (May 4, 2010)

bitzy1 said:


> well, it depends on the size. usually sand boas dont get too big. mine is 9 inches so of course it eats pinkies. i have heard that eat many weird things but to my instinct i only feed mine mice


mines at least a foot long, and i was told its a adult whos ready to breed (if i wanted to breed it)


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## Rick & Brandy (May 4, 2010)

I have had mine for over 4 years, she only eats when she wants too. She has went 4 mo without food and has been just fine! (I have always fed her in a seperate tub! And always fed F/T) I would give her another week without handeling and then try again. As long as she doesn't look "flat" She should be fine. Next time, if you havent tried it, put her in the feed tub, and kind of tease her from above with the food. This is just something that has worked for me. Hope it helps!


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## Sarcastro (May 4, 2010)

all of mine are real picky eaters..a couple of mine I have a special feeding bag its just an old black pillow case that I put the snake and the mouse in tie it, then cover them with substrate.they just feel more secure with that little bit of pressure on them.I also use the bag when the eye caps during a shed don't quite come of  I just wet the bag and put them in.


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## LeilaNami (May 4, 2010)

K-TRAIN said:


> mines at least a foot long, and i was told its a adult whos ready to breed (if i wanted to breed it)


I have some kenyans and only one I've had trouble starting.  I eventually had to force-feed after numerous attempts for 8 weeks.  Absolutely do not feed in the cage.  Instead, use a small snake bag and if she's only a foot long, feed a fuzzy.  Try poking a hole in the skull of the fuzzy, squeeze slightly for some juices to come out, and put both in the snake bag and turn off the lights.  

Also, if she's already a foot long and you've only had her since 4/17, I wouldn't worry about force-feeding just yet.


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## K-TRAIN (May 6, 2010)

well i made a discovery that might be why she wont eat. could she be gravid?








i noticed that today, and the bulge is above her tail, not her head. i know a few snakes dont eat much while being gravid, so could that be it?


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## Elleken (May 6, 2010)

The way I get mine to eat is first find them and then move the bedding a bit so their head is visible. Take a F/T pinkie and do the zombie dance. It has worked every time for me. They eat like pigs now. Of course if she is gravid that could be why. I know oldhag was breeding them and she may have some advice.


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## OldHag (May 6, 2010)

For as big as she is, she should be a LOT fatter. I would say she has an intestinal blockage.  Looks like it to me anyway.  I could be completely wrong.  She doesn't look gravid.
I would find a vet. She's just too thin and that lump cant be good. Tumor? Blockage?

With my picky eaters Ive usually gotten them to eat by braining the pinkie then putting the snake and pinkie in a snake bag overnight. Or last effort I will feed them live though I hate too because Im such a whimp. I fall in love with the cute wee pink wiggley things.


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## Lorgakor (May 6, 2010)

I agree with Old Hag. That snake should be way fatter. And at that size she could take adult mice no problem. Has she gone to the bathroom in your care at all?


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## K-TRAIN (May 6, 2010)

OldHag said:


> For as big as she is, she should be a LOT fatter. I would say she has an intestinal blockage.  Looks like it to me anyway.  I could be completely wrong.  She doesn't look gravid.
> I would find a vet. She's just too thin and that lump cant be good. Tumor? Blockage?
> 
> With my picky eaters Ive usually gotten them to eat by braining the pinkie then putting the snake and pinkie in a snake bag overnight. Or last effort I will feed them live though I hate too because Im such a whimp. I fall in love with the cute wee pink wiggley things.


thanks for looking old hag, i figured you would be able to tell me about this. 


so you think she might have an intestinal blockage? the person i bought her from pulled a snake off the table when i asked him to see if hes got a mating pair, saying it looked constipated. so could that be the problem? if so is there any home remedy for fixing that that i could do instead of taking it to a vet? (dont know many vets in my area and the one i go to only takes dogs and cats)

do you know how much she should weigh on average at that size? i can put her on a gram scale and check the weight if you know how much they typically weight when healthy.





Lorgakor said:


> I agree with Old Hag. That snake should be way fatter. And at that size she could take adult mice no problem. Has she gone to the bathroom in your care at all?



alright i was hoping she could take a adult mouse, because i went to get hoppers to feed her and the store i normally go to closed down. so i have no place to buy anything other then live adult mice. and she has not gone to the bathroom at all as far as i can see.


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## OldHag (May 6, 2010)

You could try soaking her in warm water... sometimes that helps them..poo  
Ill go weigh my adult female thats about that size and post it.

The female thats about the size of yours is 10.6 oz or 302 g 
 My big girl is 12.9oz or 364g


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## LeilaNami (May 7, 2010)

It does appear to be intestinal blockage with a bulge like that.  My girl is probably twice as fat proportionally to yours.  

Old Hag: The original female is doing great btw! She's getting bigger! The other batch are almost twice as big now


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## bitzy1 (May 7, 2010)

haha, shes a fatty!lol beautiful colors though i have some pictures of mine on my page, check tehm out, and yes that could be a reason. i rarely like force feeding snakes but i would if i had to. for their own good. if she doesnt eat for another week i would consider it.bitzy


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