I moved my Boa's tank and he stopped eating.

[Kaimetsu]

So my Boa constrictor hasn't eaten in around a month since I moved his tank from the spare room to the living room, his tank is near the ground now but there's not much I can do about it. I've already tried to feed him three times and had to throw away three rats. Usually I hold the rat in front of him and he takes it right away, now he acts interested for a minute then ignores it, I try offering it a few times then leave it with him over night.

Hes in a 4x2x1 animal plastics enclosure with an undertank heater and a ceramic heat emitter on one end with a thermostat controlling them both set to 88. His water dish is big enough for him to soak in and he seems to spend more than half his time in it. I also switched from using paper towel substrate to using aspen bedding which figured would make him more secure. For a hide he has a shoe box sized sterilite container upside down with a hole cut in it.

I've had him since he was a Tiny baby in the spring of 2010, I only assume hes a male because of his size and because his spurs are much bigger than those on confirmed females I've seen. I'm just gonna wait another week and try to feed him again, maybe he just needs more time to adjust, but I get anxiety when he won't eat.

The second picture on this page is me volunteering with him at a nature center.

http://naugatuckvalley.blogspot.com/2014/04/rain-moves-earth-day-celebration.html

And here's a video I made last summer of him eating and some pictures at the end of him exploring my back yard.

http://youtu.be/LAnhXUfj4eA

 

[RzezniksRunAway]

If he's spending a lot of time in his water dish, he might not appreciate that Aspen. Mine don't like it, it's too dry. I'd also check your ambient temperature (general air temp) and check the actual temp of the basking spot. If needed, bump the thermostat up on the ceramic to 90 or a little higher. You moved the location of his tank, so the temperature has changed. Cypress mixed with cocofiber is what my boa prefers as his substrate, about a 50/50 mix kept slightly moist (not dripping). My male boa has access to a basking spot of 100 (lowers to about 90) through a modified Retes stack (stacking of wood so they can hide/bask at the same time, used for monitors a lot). The cool end of his enclosure sits at around 75 during the day, drops to about 70 at night. Even though your thermostat has stayed the same, the temperatures surrounding the enclosure did not, so the interior temperature probably changed. (Hopefully that makes sense).

 

[Smokehound714]

Lol hunger strike. He's mad at you for moving him from his spot

 

[RzezniksRunAway]

He must think he's a ball python, haha. =)

 

[bigt0006]

Hes probably still adjusting to his new location. Also boas should be fed less often then other snakes most people suggest one feeding every 10 days boas are suppose to have more of a square look to them if they look round there over fed

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[Kaimetsu]

Just in case the temp has something to do with it I moved the thermostat prop from right under the heat emitter over to the corner of the warm side. Also It's finally summer weather here so the ambient room temperature is a few degrees warmer. We'll see if it helps as I'm gonna try to feed him on thursday.

 

[Smokehound714]

Lol he's like: "The audacity! I'll fast just to spite him and make him waste rats and those green papery things he's always losing!"

 

[Kaimetsu]

Just realized I never posted an update on this, he ate a few days after my last post and has been eating regularly since. Either he just needed time to adjust to the move or it was too cold for him.

Here he is enjoying the nice weather with me the other day.