Jamaican Boas Breeding

Feeding update:

All holdbacks have been offered quail chicks. I'm not quite sure they're ready, but the chicks aren't considerably wider than some of the larger chick thighs, and the thighs have been becoming incrementally less obvious in the belly, so to speak. We will see if they elect to eat, but if not, they have all eaten every week for some time, so I'm not overly concerned about missing a week.

The three non-scented pinkie eaters were fed non-scented pinkies
The other nine pinkie eaters were fed chick head-scented pinkies
T3 was offered a f/t anole and a pinkie. Next week, perhaps, I will try the scented pinkie alone

Also, it appears that T1 ate two anoles last night. Clearly, T1 has eaten, but as for the idea of two (as opposed to just one), I have been checking daily and am certain there were three anoles in the cage yesterday, and this morning I can only find one. This was day three of the experiment, so it appears that they are willing to eat quite often. I will continue the experiment for a little while longer, but if this rate of consumption continues, I will likely stop soon, so as to prevent fatty liver disease, or other problems caused by overfeeding.

I will update tomorrow with feeding results.

Hello from T2's new owner! For the sake of providing as much information as possible (with Chris already doing a fantastic job on that front), I'll try to post updates on T2, now known as Harper.

I've been trying to leave him alone as much as possible since bringing him home, but I did to a quick photoshoot yesterday before weighing him (15.3 g). I offered him an anole-scented f/t pinky Monday night, but he didn't eat. Not a big concern, as I had been warned of their temperamental appetites, but I also wonder if having presented it on the floor of the enclosure may have been a mistake. I'm going to provide a higher feeding station in the future and see if that has better results. If not, I may have to invest in some frozen anoles as that seemed to do the trick for this little guy in the past.

Super excited to be working with this species - thanks again, Chris.

Congrats Gillian on the new pet, and being so supportive of the information sharing effort Chris has led! I hope the little guy eats for you soon, and look forward to your progress reports.

As a supporter of unlimited meals, I and my belly hereby protest on behalf of the good T1 and his/her expanding appetite. ;-)

Other than that, great report!

Originally Posted by GillianC

Hello from T2's new owner! For the sake of providing as much information as possible (with Chris already doing a fantastic job on that front), I'll try to post updates on T2, now known as Harper.

I've been trying to leave him alone as much as possible since bringing him home, but I did to a quick photoshoot yesterday before weighing him (15.3 g). I offered him an anole-scented f/t pinky Monday night, but he didn't eat. Not a big concern, as I had been warned of their temperamental appetites, but I also wonder if having presented it on the floor of the enclosure may have been a mistake. I'm going to provide a higher feeding station in the future and see if that has better results. If not, I may have to invest in some frozen anoles as that seemed to do the trick for this little guy in the past.

Super excited to be working with this species - thanks again, Chris.

Thanks for chiming in, Gillian. I'm glad to know that you'll be continuing our updates on Harper, as information regarding transition to new habitats is something I likely won't be able to provide on my own. I look forward to hearing your updates.

Originally Posted by Snakesitter

As a supporter of unlimited meals, I and my belly hereby protest on behalf of the good T1 and his/her expanding appetite. ;-)

Other than that, great report!

Well, the unlimited meal plan is starting to concern me, haha. T1 ate yet another anole last night, and is looking EXCEPTIONALLY full. I have read that these guys have a propensity for overeating, so this experiment may need to be canceled early.

Feeding update results:

Not a great night. Only one of the holdbacks ate the quail chick (holdback #5), so I'm thinking I jumped the gun on that one. We will be going back to chick thighs for at least another couple of months.

In addition, only two of the nine scented pinkie eaters ate their scented pinkies. There could be some issues with the pinkies themselves, as I had stepped up to larger pinkies this week, and that may have interfered with reception rates. We will try again next week with small pinkies and see.

Of the three non-scented pinkie eaters, the same two ate this week, and the same one as last week declined again. I will try a non-scented again next week, but if that is not taken, will be putting that one back on scented, at least for a short period.

The two, stubborn chick-thigh eaters ate their chick thighs.

T1 ate another anole (night 4)

T3 ate the f/t anole, but passed on the pinkie.

I (reluctantly -- down, stomach!) agree with your analysis. :-)

Not *all* bad...just not unicorns and rainbows and 3.25% mortgage rates. ;-) Fingers crossed for a better result next week!

Originally Posted by Snakesitter

Not *all* bad...just not unicorns and rainbows and 3.25% mortgage rates. ;-) Fingers crossed for a better result next week!

Haha. Yeah, I was trying a lot of new things this week, so I'm not super upset about the fail rate. We'll see how next week goes.