|
Q:
|
My 7 foot boa was bitten by live prey and refuses even frozen/thawed. he hasnt eaten in 4 months. what can i do?
|
|
my 7 foot boa was bitten by live prey. he refuses any food live or frozen/thawed. he hasnt eaten in 4 months. ive tried everything from braining the thawed prey to leaving it in his hide. im out of ideas. what can i do? all his living conditions are right.
|
|
Assisted Answer
|
11/8/2008 2:50:39 PM
|
|
aaron
|
|
Hey,
Welcome to the site!
What is the timeline of what happened? Was he bit 4 months ago, or recently? How long have you had him and was he a good feeder from that time? Are you more concerned about the refusal or the bite wound? (pictures help if the latter)..
More info would be great, I'm sure some boa people can help ya out.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Member Comment
|
11/8/2008 3:16:04 PM
|
|
juddb
|
|
To add to what Aaron asked? What type of enclosure is s/he in, temps/humidity, etc.... One more thing, has a vet seen him/her yet? For the wound i mean.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Member Comment
|
11/8/2008 3:30:15 PM
|
|
tmth
|
Could you stun the live food so it won't fight back? Or scenting with chicken broth, mouse, or other 'tasty' flavor?
I also would recomend seeing a vet if you're concerned about the injury. :)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Assisted Answer
|
11/8/2008 10:34:21 PM
|
|
Sonja K. Reptiles
|
You may want to try to assist feed him. I've never done it with an animal that was 7 ft, but if you can get the help of someone, it could be worth a try. (?) What I mean by this is to try to put the head of the prey item into the snake's mouth (you may have to use the edge of a credit card or something to start) and see if it's instinct to wrap will take over. If so, just gently lay him down and he'll hopefully finish. This has worked for me under different circumstances, and it's been with smaller animals, but still could be something to take into consideration.
I would keep track of his weight and I wouldn't consider force feeding it unless there was considerable weight loss, and I would definitely consult a vet before doing so, too, to see if there was an underlying cause.
About a year and a half ago, we decided to stop breeding our own rats. So, we gave our male Retic one of the breeder rats - live. He struck at it and wrapped it right away, but the rat was able to turn its head to the side and bite the snake before it died. The Retic went back to eating, I believe it only skipped one feeding, & he has never been offered live since, but to this day, he wraps the F/T and keeps it wrapped for a looong time! Sometime for a half hour + ! I believe that it's directly related to that one incident.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Accepted Answer
|
11/8/2008 10:45:43 PM
|
|
amarilrose
|
I would ask what you are doing to thaw and offer the f/t prey. There are probably thousands of different ways you can offer f/t prey, and all of the different variations don't work equally well for all snakes. I have personally kept snakes for about 16 years, and I have NEVER brained f/t prey, or scented with broth. Many people swear by these methods, but I find them unnecessary. Fresh killed prey may be a better option, though I can say with certainty, it would cost me more than twice as much to obtain live prey than frozen... but no matter what the cost, everyone's focus is of course on getting your snake to eat.
I place my frozen rodents in small ziplock bags, inside a large ziplock bag (a double bag essentially), and set the bags to soak in a bucket of hot tap water (hottest possible). I have found that if I get distracted and the rodents sit in the thaw bucket for longer than necessary, they start to stink, and may become unpleasant to some snakes. Some of my snakes seem to react better to the f/t prey when it is a little warmer than normal body temp, some need the right kind of movement stimulus (I have a nice large hemostat to present them), and some just need to be left alone in the moment to appreciate their prey (I leave the room). I feed all but one of my snakes in a container separate from their cage (some people swear by this, and some swear against it -- I like to do this because it prevents/reduces cage aggression and the snakes get conditioned to expect food when they are in the feeding bin = stronger feeding response at the RIGHT time). One of my female Ball Pythons won't touch her f/t rat until she has killed 2 mice; I place the f/t rat in the feeding bin, then the snake, then I introduce one live mouse at a time, which she attacks greedily, and eventually gets excited enough that she eats the f/t rat, which is the much more appropriately sized prey item than the tiny little mice she likes so much.
When any of my snakes need a "movement stimulus," as I call it, I present the prey head-first while grasping it at the scruff of the neck with the hemostat. I will slowly move the prey towards the snake, at about the pace of a cautious live rodent, then turn it away from the snake, as if the prey is uneasy about the situation and is moving to evade. It seems to be the turning away that gets most of my snakes really fired up, and after about one to three back-and-forth passes, they will usually take the prey. Many times, the temperature of the prey item does affect how well they react to the movement (warmer = better).
All that said, the other questions that have been asked here should be considered, as all of these factors could easily cause your problem -- and you may be facing a combination of more than one of these.
Best of luck! I hope this helps.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Member Comment
|
11/9/2008 12:41:49 AM
|
|
Jeffriey
|
|
In addition to the above questions do you know the approx age, the sex and how long have you had it.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Member Comment
|
11/9/2008 2:35:25 AM
|
|
Melmo
|
|
Is the snake refusing all prey or, due to the bite have you just responded by only offering f/t, and p/k prey? How serious was the bite? Sometimes we as keepers forget that these animals were made to take these prey items and are quite capable of dealing with the injuries that sometimes result. If it's you that is having the issue since the bite I would suggest giving him a size smaller then his typical live prey and following it up with a small sized f/t prey item when he's mosty gotten it down. A few times of this approach and you should have better luck in your attepts to convert him to full time F/T.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Member Comment
|
11/9/2008 2:37:22 AM
|
|
Melmo
|
|
Scratch that. I should read more carefully and probably sleep a bit more before I attempt to go through any additional questions. How often have you been offering food? Too often can stress them more and cause a longer fast then would originally occure.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Member Comment
|
11/9/2008 7:38:45 AM
|
|
Jojos
|
|
I didn't read all the response but those I read were good advice. My advice is also be patient he will eat F/T but it takes time. I hope you'll answer those you asked questions... The questions if answered can help the experimented members to give you even more better advice. Great bunch of people here! :)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Member Comment
|
11/10/2008 6:06:41 PM
|
|
ghostcamo
|
|
hey man what i do whit one of my ball pythons witch is a very agressive feeder and rarely getts a good shot on his own. now what im about to say might sound cruel and unusual feeding method but between having an injured snake or a good head shot im leaning towards the head shot. anyway first things first you have to either sedate the mouse either by putting it in a plastic bag and spinning it round and round for a couple mins then hold its tail and dangle it infront of the snake. this will make the rodent less agitaed and move alot less with alows your snake to get a clear head shot. another thing i do is just basickly just flick the rodent in the head to knock it out now i know it might seem cruel and what not but like i said before id rather my snake be injury free, with the mouse knocked out its not moving but is still alive so your snake is still gonna constrict it the same as live prey! thats what i do with him you could try that out
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Member Comment
|
11/10/2008 6:44:23 PM
|
|
magsj387
|
|
Another good idea is if you really want to stick with prekilled frozen thawed ect... take the snake get a decent sized bin, rubber maid, whathaveyou and put the snake in there and just leave him with the prey. i do that with pesky feeders from time to time and they almost always take if left alone for a decent amount of time.
but in the case of not eating i wouldn't worry too much, one of my young ball pythons wouldn't touch a thing no mater what i did or how hard i tried for 6 months then one day, she just changed her mind.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Author Comment
|
11/12/2008 9:47:34 PM
|
|
ieatthedead1
|
|
ok.... first off thanks for all the advice. ive taken him to a vet and had a check up done. he was negative for parasites and looked clean and well taken care off. as for the temps and humidity levels of his living area he is always at 86 degrees during day and a shed cooler at night. humidity levels are at about 60 to 70% all the time... due to his wood enclosure. he is very responsive aqnd moves around alot. before this incident occured he was a great eater... taking down two jumbo rats live a week. every feeding done in a seperate container. since the bite happened he has eaten maybe twice and both times it was frozen thawed prey. since then for about 4 months he snubs any type of food. whether it was fresh killed... yeah i do what i have to for my snake... and frozen thawed for extra odor. anytime i thaw my prey i submerge it into hot water for a couple hours checking on in periodically for it to be "squishy." then i either soak it in hot water for about 10 minutes or bust out the hair dryer. either way the rat is luke warm and should look temping. all ive ever fed is live and now i know i have to switch over to frozen thawed. this is new3 for me... and for him so if theres is any extra ideas im all ears! thanks!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Member Comment
|
11/13/2008 7:29:56 AM
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Member Comment
|
10/6/2009 2:49:25 PM
|
|
bwaffa
|
|
This question has had no activity for 14 days and will be closed by an administrator unless the original poster takes action.
Recommended Action: Points awarded
An administrator will select responses and assign points at their discretion.
Original poster, please close this question out and assign points. If you have any further information in the resolution of your problem, please post it here so that others may learn from it.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You are not logged in. If you would like to participate (it's free!), you must log
in, or Become a Member!
|
|
|
|
Most Popular Tags
Ball
,
Ballpython
,
Bci
,
Behavior
,
Boa
,
Breeding
,
Buying
,
Caging
,
Care
,
Chondro
,
Cornsnake
,
Crested
,
Crestedgecko
,
Eggs
,
Feeders
,
Feeding
,
Feedingproblems
,
Gecko
,
General
,
Genetics
,
GTP
,
Health
,
Heating
,
Humidity
,
Identification
,
Illness
,
Incubation
,
Infection
,
Leopardgecko
,
Mites
,
Morelia
,
Morph
,
Morphs
,
Parasites
,
Python
,
Regius
,
Respiratory
,
Shedding
,
Snake
,
Substrate
|
Latest Questions
|
|
|
|
points:150
|
|
|
|
points:100
|
|
|
|
points:250
|
|
|
|
points:100
|
|
|
|
points:250
|
More Questions
|
|
|
Latest Answers
|
|
|
|
points:250
|
|
|
|
points:150
|
|
|
|
points:100
|
More Answers
|
|
|