• Responding to email notices you receive.
    **************************************************
    In short, DON'T! Email notices are to ONLY alert you of a reply to your private message or your ad on this site. Replying to the email just wastes your time as it goes NOWHERE, and probably pisses off the person you thought you replied to when they think you just ignored them. So instead of complaining to me about your messages not being replied to from this site via email, please READ that email notice that plainly states what you need to do in order to reply to who you are trying to converse with.

  • IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ!! About the Google Adsense ads being displayed

    =====================
    Posted 08/15/2025
    =====================


    Yeah, I know. They are a pain in the butt. But they pay the bills to keep my server running. Just a fact of life, I am afraid.

    Want to get rid of them? Simple. Just become a Contributor level member or above and they will be gone. -> Please click HERE."

    Is that too much for me to ask of you to keep this site running? Well, sorry about that. I too wish I could get everything for free. But alas.....

    =====================
    Addendum: 01/10/2026
    =====================


    Google Adsense ad revenue for December, 2025 was just $30 over the cost of the lease for the server running this site. So, in effect, the money providing the incentive for me to continue running this site is coming SOLELY from the paid memberships and sponsorships here. Which honestly ain't much....

Please HELP new boa not eating

C

crestednation.com

New member
Joined
Sep 26, 2005
Messages
20
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Location
Arizona
Hello all,
I recently acquired a 3 month old male cancun boa (last Wednesday). I left him alone completely until yesterday when I offered him a f/t mouse fuzzy. I left the mouse with him over night and it was still there when I got up this morning. His temps are fine, 90-91 at hottest point, around 89 on most of warm end, 80 at cool end. Any advice? What should I do?
Thank you so much for any help!
Nicole Corder.
 
If you've had the animal less than a week, I wouldn't be concerned. As was suggested, make sure you're offering the same type of prey that it was given before, then be patient.
 
Nicole,
I wouldn't be too concerned at this point. How long have you had him?

Remember, he has just gone through what is likely the most stressful time in his young life. He was taken from a place where he was comfortable and (depending on how you acquired him) he was either put in a deli cup at a show, or boxed up and shipped. Either way, everything he knew as familiar is gone and he is now in a completely new environment.

Give him some time to settle in and get to know the new people and new surroundings in his life.

Please keep us informed on his progress.
 
Hello All,
Here arrived here last Wednesday (the 26th) and he was eating f/t rat pinkies, but I do not have easy access to rat pinkies, so I bought mouse fuzzies. Could this be the reason that he is not eating or is it simply stress? Also, I have not handled him yet, should I wait until he begins to eat? Just one more question, lol, should I feed him in his cage or take him out into a rubbermaid container? If in the cage, I read the post on paper towels is it not a good idea to place the mouse on a paper towel to avoid him ingesting the bark?
Thank you all SO much for your help!
Nicole Corder.
 
Nicole,
If he has been started on rats, I would try to continue that trend.

I would also recommend that you always remove him from his enclosure for feeding. Snakes are creatures of instinct and habit. It would be much better to "condition" him to expect to be removed from his enclosure when it is opened, then to force him to guess each time if he is going to be fed or be handled. He simply won't be able to make that distinction.

It's not much of an issue at his current size, but it could become a real problem as he grows. Also, there is no chance of a foreign object ingestion if he is always fed within a separate feeding bin.
 
Thank you very much for your help! I will try to track down some rat pinkies for him. When do you recommend I try feeding him again? I just tried last night (Sunday).
Thank you SO much!
Nicole Corder.
 
Nicole,
Give him a day between attempts. If he doesn't show any interest in a frozen-thawed, you might try an initial meal of live prey to get him jump-started. Once he's got a couple of meals in him, it shouldn't be any problem to switch him back to frozen-thawed.

I would also suggest that you give him some privacy during feeding.
It is possible that he is too nervous about outside influences to concentrate on feeding. Once you have placed him and the prey in a feeding container, you could drape a towel over it to block out any outside movements that might distract him from the task at hand.

Good luck and keep us posted on his progress.
 
Hi Mike,
I tracked down a f/t rat pinkie and placed him a separate container with a cloth over it and he ate!! Thank you SO much for your wonderful advice! I did just have a couple more questions if you don't mind. Can I begin handling him after 3-4 days of digestion now? And how long will his pinkies be good for in the freezer?
Thank you very much for your time,
Nicole Corder.
 
Nicole,
That's great news.
For this first meal, I would wait the 3 or 4 days before handling him. You don't want to risk a regurge at this sensitive stage. In the future, two days is normally sufficient.

As long as the rat pinks are well packaged, they will be good for several months in the freezer. How many do you have? With regular feedings, he should soon be ready to move onto larger prey items.

Good luck and keep us posted on his progress.
 
Mike,
I bought 6, so I have 5 left and they are in a plastic bag inside of a paper bag. When do you think he should be able to move on to rat fuzzies? The rat pinkie definitely looked to be the right size for now.
Thank you again!
Nicole Corder.
 
Nicole,
The storage sounds fine and the on-hand quantity is not an issue. Had you purchased 50 of them, your snake would have outgrown them before the food supply was gone (not that you couldn't have just doubled up on the quantity per feeding).

As far as moving up to larger prey size, you'll need to make that determination based on the growth rate of your animal. There are a lot of factors that contribute to growth rate. ie: metabolism of the particular animal, ambient and high-low temperatures, prey size, and prey content - (rats are more nutritious then mice).

Just watch as your boy grows and adjust the size accordingly.
 
Hi Mike,
I just had one more question, I've now had "Amaretto" for 10 days and he has never came out of his hide. I know that this is normal for after feeding (which was Tuesday), but even prior to that he never came out. Although, after feeding he did drink quite a bit of water so I'm not concerned with him being dehydrated. Is this normal? Will he start to venture out once he begins to feel comfortable, or always remain in his hide?
Thank you again!
Nicole Corder.
 
Nicole,
I'm sure that Amaretto will relax and come around. Just give him some time. As he gets used to his new surroundings and people, he'll begin to open up.

I picked up a baby Hog Island in Daytona back in August and this little lady is just now starting to become a little more adventurous. I barely saw her at all for the first three weeks - other then feeding time.

Snakes, much like people, have different personalities and different ways of reacting to outside influences. Just love him for what he is and as he grows, so will your understanding of him. That's part of the fun of this crazy obsession we all share.

When do we get to see some pictures of this youngster?
 
pics of Amaretto

Ok, I finally got some pics of little Amaretto, he's a 4 month old male Cancun boa, who was sold as a Hypo, what do you guys think, a hypo? I apologize the pics aren't great, but I tried. :)
 
Pics

Ok, Here we go! Sorry the pics are bad, but I had to cut them down so far that they're not very good anymore. What do you guys think? Do you think he's a hypo or a normal?
 

Attachments

  • 000_0255.JPG
    000_0255.JPG
    183 KB · Views: 70
  • 000_0254.JPG
    000_0254.JPG
    108.5 KB · Views: 68
It doesn't look hypo to me, but then again, Hypo is a somewhat relative trait.
Precisely described, it means reduced melanin. With that in mind, any reduction of melanin in an animal would allow that animal to be considered hypo.

Regardless, he's a handsome young man.

Enjoy him.
 
Last edited:
Hello Mike or anyone else who would like to answer :),
I have yet another question, if you don't mind me asking. My boa ate one rat pinky about 1 week ago and still has not deficated. The past 3 weeks he has eaten and then deficated within 2-3days, and now I am worried. I double checked his temps and they are still about 89 on warm and 73 on cool and 91 at hottest point on warm side. He is not showing any signs of going into shed either if that would make a difference. Is this a problem and if so, any suggestions on what to do?
Thank you all for your time,
Nicole Corder.
 
Nicole,
I wouldn't worry about that at all. Baby boas grow very quickly and I've often seen cases where there was little to no defecation visable. In my opinion (no basis in scientific fact), sometimes the food items seem to be completely absorbed with little or no waste. This seems most prevalent when they're young and the food items don't have as much substance. A rat pinky does not have the bone structure and hair of an older food item. It may be that the stomach acids can completely eliminate it other then some urates.

When I have experienced this, it has always been my thinking that a little larger food item might be called for.

Regardless, it's not that uncommon - so don't worry about your guy.
 
Back
Top