feeding desert rosy boa

[Natemass]

well ive having some difficulty feeding my desert rosy boa. its about 16in long and still wont take anything down. i know when they are young they(in the wild) eat lizards but there are no lizards i can feed it becuz anoles are WC and im not spending $20 + to feed him a lizard. i tryed scenting a fuzzy with a anole and he just struck it but didnt eat it, so idk any tips?

thanks

 

[Kriegan]

:? Is it not taking pre killed mice, even if you wiggle it a bit to resemble movement?

 

[Natemass]

i feed all my snakes frozen rodents and hes the only one who has yet to eat. all the rodents that are sold at stores around me are adult mice then all sizes of rats-small medium and large

 

[Kriegan]

i feed all my snakes frozen rodents and hes the only one who has yet to eat. all the rodents that are sold at stores around me are adult mice then all sizes of rats-small medium and large

Hallo,

Alright, I need more info. to analyze what could possibly be wrong with your picky boa. How old is it? If it's too young you should try offering some frozen pinkies, or if not possible, buy the smallest mice or smallest rat alive in the store, and pre kill it for him while wiggling it a bit and see if it takes it. If the frozen ones you're offering are too big, or he's having trouble finding the food because of no movement, that would be a problem.

Also, how long have you had this snake...when was the last time it shed? Could it just started it's pre-shed phase? IME most snakes will start refusing food when they're upcoming a shed, some will continue eating until a few days before, but that varies..so there's no guarantee this is the reason it's not eating.

Hmm I also remember you had a severe mite problems some weeks ago, right? Check carefully to see if this one has any mites around it or in it's enclosure, this could be one of the possible problems why it's stressed out and refusing to eat. Snake mites are a pain in the ? to get rid of once they've already established their colonies, and will spread to your other snakes and enclosures very fast

Regards,
Ulrich

 

[Natemass]

yes i had a problem with mites on one of my snakes and that snake only. i made sure that the infected snake was far far away from my other snakes. i also made sure that my rosy didnt have ne and the snake ive had for about a month and hasnt shed in my care. he/she seems not be loosing weight or anything. i have offered it fuzzys wich is the next size up from a pinkie and hes def capable of taking one of these down. ive tryed the dangling method, dragging it and just leaving it in there. he just wont take it. heres a pic of him and the enclosure hes in (if it comes up)

thanks for your info hopefully you can help me

 

[Natemass]

the pic does really show his girth but hes big enough to take down the fuzzy and hes not inpacked cuz the sand is digestable.

 

[Kriegan]

:? I can't see the pic?

Edit: Ok I'm finally seeing the pic now. Although I can't see the full enclosure from that pic, I have to assume you are keeping the temp. high enough and the humidity very low, but are still providing it with a shallow water bowl once every week, or every two weeks taking it out but making sure it's well hydrated.

Other than mantaining the proper temp. and humidity levels, it looks quite healthy to me and if it still hasn't shed in your care, this might be the reason it's starting to refuse food. Ask whover sold it to you, when was the last time it shed, and when was the last time it was fed?

I also have to ask, have you already tried leaving the frozen rodent with the snake alone after it has noticed the wiggling for a few hours? Hmm if not, you could try slicing open the fuzzy a bit and offer it so it catches the rodent's scent and induce its appetite.

If after doing all this, your boa is still refusing food..and it's not a mite problem, an environment problem or any infections...IMO I think it's either starting its pre-shed phase or it just might be ready to hibernate. Just make sure you are meeting the temp. and low humidity requirements for it to settle in its new home. Keep offering food once a week and see if it improves. I wish you good luck!

Regards,
Ulrich

 

[Natemass]

dont worry guys he ate thanks though

 

[Kriegan]

Great news!!

 

[brandi]

hi guys! I just saw this thread, nice loking rosy. Glad to hear it finally ate. If you know, could you tell me what the locality is?

If it is a California locality, well its already chilly over there and they are starting to hibernate. If its an Arizona locality, well its still hitting low 80's here so things are still moving around - not quite time to sleep yet.

Hope he does ok!

 

[Natemass]

i believe its south cali arizona area i looked up my color on some website and according to that its a desert rosy boa and is from south cali/arizona if i remember correctly

 

[brandi]

Thanks Nate, that is a HUGE area, with a wide temp variation. Some animals in the Cali side of that range might already be hibernating, while some of the AZ snakes are still up and about.

Glad to hear that it ate. In future, you might try scaling back to a smaller food item. If its refusing fuzzys, try offering pinkies for a week or two and then offer larger once it's eating well. Or, if you plan to keep it warm and it does for some reason go off its food again, try giving it some house geckos or mediterranean geckos. They are usually easy to find, if not on the walls of your house, at least at your local pet store. Our neighborhood Petco sells house geckos for about $6. I've had a couple picky rosies that successfully started feeding again after a couple geckos. Good luck!

 

[Natemass]

the only thing with feeding house geckos from petco is that they're wild caught. you obv no the dangers of that, but on another note from the pic can you tell me what rosy i have. theres so many