Jamaican Boas Breeding

Originally Posted by Helenthereef

T1 is showing character and initiative!

Originally Posted by Snakesitter

T1 is a creative little thing!

That's a very nice way of putting it. Haha. He'll come around eventually. Can't eat anoles forever.

Feeding Update:

All holdbacks (e3, H2, H3, H4, H5, and H6) were given 2 chick thighs. All but H4 ate them both. H4 only ate one. I'm not seeing any kind of pattern as to who eats both and who doesn't, so I'm assuming it's a largely situational/random issue.

T1 was fed a heavily pinkie-scented anole, and ate it. I'm going to keep gradually trying to move this one toward pinkies in this manner.

T3, P1, and P2 all ate their usual unscented pinkie.

E2 (who ate a scented pinkie last week) was also offered an unscented pinkie and declined. I will try another scented pinkie next week.

T4 and the N group were all fed pinkies scented with the innards of a chick. N2 and N4 ate the pinkie, T4, N1, N3, and N5 all declined. I am going to be getting more aggressive with switching these guys over to pinkies, so they will be offered only chick-scented pinkies for the next few weeks.

Tough love! Hope it works.

Originally Posted by Helenthereef

Tough love! Hope it works.

Thanks. Me too. I'm thinking that the highly male ratio of the N group could indicate that they are only reluctant to eat pinkies out of a decreased appetite in general, as males tend to eat less than females. Limiting their options may help encourage the switch, as they won't be able to just wait a week for their more preferred food item. Plus, we have established pretty definitively that these guys can go some time without eating, with no real danger of harm, so there isn't much risk involved. I'll keep everyone posted.

Good plan, and fingers crossed!

Feeding update:

All holdbacks ate 2 chick thighs.

T1 ate an anole.

P1, P2, T3 all ate unscented pinkies.

E2, T4, N1, N2, N3, N4, and N5 were all offered chick-scented pinkies. Only N2 ate. E2 and N4, who previously ate scented pinkies, did not eat this week. Not sure if this is a new refusal or simply sporadic appetite, but I will be continuing to offer scented pinkies and nothing else to this group for a long period. I know they can handle the fast, and I'm hoping pickiness will decrease as hunger increases.

Originally Posted by cguarino30

'm hoping pickiness will decrease as hunger increases.

I know it always works for me and vegetables. ;-)

Good report, and good luck!

Originally Posted by Snakesitter

I know it always works for me and vegetables. ;-)

Good report, and good luck!

Yeah, promising them ice cream afterwards wasn't working, so now I'm going with a more direct approach. Haha. Thanks.

H3 shed out last night. Here are some new pics. You can see the blacks are getting a lot more defined, and he's starting to develop a bit of that golden hue. Man, I love this guy. He's actually so calm that I can scoop him out of his tub bare-handed. It's amazing how much they've all calmed down since they were born in August. He sat through almost the entire photo session without showing the least bit of defensive behavior, though he clearly got sick of the camera toward the end and eventually took a snap at it.

Gorgeous little guy there!