Baby BRB isn't eating....

[Courtney_LynneXx]

Hey guys, we got a baby brazilian rainbow boa on the 19th of this month and he refuses food, he even cuddles with it (live & f/t pinkies and Fuzzies) he has no intreset in them. His temps and humidity is perfect.... We have another one that's a little bigger in the same rack system that eats like a champ.... Any ideas?

 

[Courtney_LynneXx]

* and we were told that he was born on may 6th

 

[Snakesitter]

Just to double check -- I've heard people say conditions were fine and it was based on bad information -- temps should run around 72F on the cool end to 82F on the warm end, or high 70s if no gradient is provided; and humidity should be over 90%.

Did you offer rats or mice? Baby Brazilians sometimes need live mouse hoppers to get the feeding cycle started.

Good luck!

 

[rainbows-r-us]

Cliff is right, first step is to verify and re-verify temps/humidity. From the pic with all the condensation on the wall humidity looks good.

Live mouse hoppers are baby BRB's preferred food.

For best feeding response, it should be done in the evening with no prior disturbance. Drop the feeder in, close the lid and walk away for 10-15 minutes. If it has not coiled on the hopper, remove and wait a week to try again. Repeated attempts just stress the baby out. While working this out I would suggest minimal handling to reduce stress.

Another possibility would be mites, check the water bowl and bedding for what looks like pepper flakes.

And as a reassurance, I had one baby go four months from birth before it took the first meal. Did not waste away, simply did not grow. Once it started eating it did just fine, grew and was healthy. While not recommended, it just shows these creatures can survive for a long time with no food so this is not a race to save your baby.

 

[Metachrosis]

Nobody mentioned an acclimation period for the new location ?

I would leave the thing(literally)alone for no less then 2 weeks
before attempting another feeding trial
More breeders need to make this a top 10 "must do" advisement with every animal they sell,regardless of genre it applies to all boides.
Novice keepers do not understand the importance of dealing with snakes/reptiles on basic instinct driven reptile terms.
They were in fact thriving wild animals before they were hobby trinkets

 

[Courtney_LynneXx]

Yeah his cage temps are 77 cool and 81 warm. We've have him for 2 weeks and he's lost 2 grams. He looks way to tiny to even attempt a hopper mouse though

 

[rainbows-r-us]

They can take hopper mice as first meal. You could go with a smaller hopper, more of a crawler......

 

[Courtney_LynneXx]

He's only 25 grams.... I don't know I just feel like he's too tiny :/

 

[rainbows-r-us]

25 grams is small, even for a newborn. I'd still go with a larger fuzzy mouse.

 

[Courtney_LynneXx]

Ill give it a shot..... He just cuddles with them..... Like has no interest I'm eating them

 

[Snakesitter]

I agree, 25 grams is a bit small...not too much though, I've had newborns clock in as low as 27. If he does not want a hopper, as Dave suggested try a mouse fuzzie. Again, no hurry -- he'll be fine for quite a while. I would offer no more than once per week.

 

[Courtney_LynneXx]

He ate !

 

[Snakesitter]

Woot! What size finally got him going?

 

[Metachrosis]

Great!!