Jamaican Boas Breeding

All of the holdbacks ate both chick thighs with the exception of H6, who only ate one. This should make for an easier transition to quail chicks, as the bulge in the belly is similar to that of the few that have eaten quail chicks, but with two, smaller items, the process of eating should be much easier (and less daunting).

All three pinkie-eaters ate their unscented pinkies. I may bite the bullet and try to probe these three sometime in the near future, as they are as ready for sale as they'll ever be. Here's hoping there's at least a pair in there.

All other non-holdbacks ate their one chick thigh. I'm going to give them a few weeks of just eating chick thighs before I try to convert them to scented pinkies again.

T1 ate the f/t anole, T3 declined, T4 ate the chick thigh.

This was the first time since before the experiment that T3 was offered f/t, and the food was clearly messed with over night, but not eaten. I think T3 got used to eating live during the experiment, and we will see how much of a process it is getting him back onto f/t. He will be moved back to a tub shortly and I will update on his progress.

As for T4, this means that he is not off feed entirely, only that he refuses to eat anything other than chick thighs at the moment. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about that. I could start making the attempt to move T4 over to chick-scented pinkies instead of anole-scented. I had assumed anoles would be easier, but apparently, this is not the case. The lesson here is that the individual snakes will each have their own individual preferences; there is not a set hierarchy of preferred food items, eg anoles>birds>pinkies. So, for future reference, it may be prudent to offer a snake that is not feeding well a variety of food items, rather than assume that, for instance, a snake that will not eat anoles is refusing to eat entirely.

Excellent reporting and analysis, as always!

Originally Posted by Snakesitter

Excellent reporting and analysis, as always!

Thanks. I've actually started going back for details I've forgotten, so I'm trying to be thorough. Haha.

Moving day for T3. I took the opportunity to snap some pictures, but I think he's getting ready to shed in a few days. As you can see, he's still a little behind the others, but quite developed compared to where he was only a couple of months ago.

Looking fantastic!

Originally Posted by Helenthereef

Looking fantastic!

Thanks, Helen.

Gorgeous little guy…looks not so quite trusting of the camera, though. ;-)

Originally Posted by Snakesitter

Gorgeous little guy…looks not so quite trusting of the camera, though. ;-)

haha, no, not that one. I tried to get a shot of him striking. I had plenty of opportunities, but none of them came out. I'm sure I'll get another chance sometime.

Feeding day again today.

All holdbacks were each fed two chick thighs.

All non-holdbacks were fed pinkies scented with chick brains and covered in chick fuzz. Fingers crossed.

The three pinkie eaters were each fed two unscented pinkies.

T1 and T3 were each fed a f/t anole and an anole-scented pinkie. T4 was fed a chick-scented pinkie ala the non-holdback group.

I will update in the morning with results.

OK. Not a bad night. All holdbacks ate. E1 was the only one not to eat both chick thighs, but still ate one. I'm not sure if this is a refusal to eat the second, or simply a lack of interest. To put it a different way, E1 may have noticed the second one and thought, "no thanks," or could have eaten the first one and then curled up to sleep it off without even realizing the second one was there. I may be switching to quail chicks soon, as some of these guys (who have been the most reliable feeders) are starting to get nice and big.

T1 ate the anole, but passed on the pinkie, as usual. Even managed to move it a solid 6 inches from where I left it. Clearly living up to his name.

T3, however, ate both the anole and the pinkie. This is great news, I may try a scented pinkie alone next week and see what happens.

T4 completely passed on the chick-scented pinkie. No surprises there. Back to thighs.

Of the non-holdback group, all but one passed on the pinkies. That one has been set aside and will be given scented pinkies from here on out. The others will be given chick thighs. Still, that's two more potential pinkie eaters for the day, so no complaints from me.