# please help nicaraguan boa



## redbellypacu (Sep 21, 2003)

hey i need some help with my nicaraguan boa she is not eating the mice that i buy her anymore i used to feed her 2 small mice every 7-10 then she started killing them but not eating them so then i got a large mouse and she killed and did not eat it.could this mean i should try and feed her something else or just keep going with the mouse and hope she eats i was thinking of trying some kind of lizard but i dont know.if i do get her a lizard to eat what one would be the best because i never bought a lizard to feed to a snake i was thinking a green anole since they are only $2.50. also she has noteating for 3 weeks


----------



## redbellypacu (Sep 21, 2003)

i went to go and buy a lizard yesturday and the guy said the best thing to get would be a house gecko,a baby water dragon and an anole. i bought a baby water dragon for $5 and i could not bring my self to feed it to my boa so if anyone can tell what it eats and how big it will get so i know how big of a tank i will need for it. and for my boa i will just stick with mice it will eats when its ready to.


----------



## Death in #'s (Apr 29, 2003)

Shedding time is a very stressful time for boas, especially baby boas, beacuse predators can snatch them up no problem. Give her a week and try again, some boas will eat right up to the point of the shed, and some won't eat until they feel they are safe

Also, remember that it is getting late in the year. Some boas will slow down on their feeding a little during the colder monthes. This is natural from what I hear.

dont forget dead food is the key
if worse comes to worse crush the skull open on the mouse and smear the brains on the mouses face

or u could biol some chicken broth and did the mouse in it (dead mouse) just for a second so it will be warm and they will smell it


----------



## Guest (Oct 25, 2004)

Also, check your temperatures inside the terrarium.

What is your set-up, including cage size and all heating appliances?

Sometimes in the fall/winter, the terrariums aren't heated as well as people think they are. The reptile gets slower, appetite diminishes, and eventually may get ill.


----------



## TANK (Nov 18, 2003)

Nine times out of ten it is temperature related. I would do as Bull said and double check the temp.

If she is in shed than she may not eat as well.

I personally have never had a Boa go into any kind of lethergic state when not purposely trying to get them to breed. I know that Pythons are known to go off feed for months at a time, Boas USUALLY do not.

I dont beleave that you will have any luck feeding the boa with other herps. If she doesnt eat in a week try a baby chick. I have had VERY finicky eaters demolish baby chicks when everything else didnt work.

If all this fails to work..........TAKE HER TO A GOOD VET! It may be bacteria/parasites.


----------



## redbellypacu (Sep 21, 2003)

Bullsnake said:


> Also, check your temperatures inside the terrarium.
> 
> What is your set-up, including cage size and all heating appliances?
> 
> Sometimes in the fall/winter, the terrariums aren't heated as well as people think they are. The reptile gets slower, appetite diminishes, and eventually may get ill.


 i did check my temps and they are the same as always 87-92 and at night it gets down to 80 on the cold side.

the setup is a 7x4x3 with ceramic heat emitters and uv lights and also night lights that give off a moon like glow i also have a heat rock that i never put in but it does have a temp control on it. i have 2 big water bowls in there for her to soak in or drink out of. 2 hide boxes, branches and fake plants to climb on i have also put off on handling her also since she is not eating i dont want to add any strees. i know she is not in a shed since she shed a week ago she goes into a shed every month.

i do know when i got her she was infested with mites and that took a month to get rid of and i also got rid of her old tank that used to be a 55 gallon tank so i would nto have a out break or anything and my vet gave her a good bill of health so i dont know. i think i will take her to th vet so i know what is going on and i can getter her back to normal and handl her like i used to.


----------



## redbellypacu (Sep 21, 2003)

well i went to the vet 4 days ago and he said that she was healthy but she was loseing weight she lost 25 grams so for so now she is 310 grams. he said bring up the humidty and temp and i did the hot side is 95 the cool side 87 and still not eating he said there are some boa that are wild caught like mine might eat birds and lizards but i dont know what to get so i am staying with rodents.i tried every size mouse out there now i think i will start with rats and work my way up until she eats. so any advice or anything you could give me i would love to hear it. i just dont want her to die


----------



## BoomerSub (Jun 23, 2003)

Try day-old chicks, that would probably work better than the mice.

-PK


----------



## redbellypacu (Sep 21, 2003)

well last night i decided to leave my snake and a large mouse together in a 2 gallon plastic tank with the lid on a bowl of water for them to drink so i left for an hour and i thought i was going to see a chunck taking out of my sanke but instead they where sleeping on top of each other so i turned the light off and left came back at 1230 and they were both up. then i decided to go to bed when i woke up and thought i was going to see a dead mouse but i did not i seen that my boa broke out of the tank and the mouse was alive so i left the mouse in there and the mouse climed out of the tank some how and was walking around for 10-15 mins then heard a sound and it was my boa coming out of her hide to kill the mouse that wanted to join her in her hide box.so know my boa has eaten one large mouse in 6.5 weeks hope she keeps this up to gain back her weight.


----------



## nova (Aug 9, 2004)

Congrats on getting her to eat, but be careful when leaving mice with snakes, mice can seriously damage snakes, or kill them.


----------



## Gumby (Aug 13, 2004)

In the fufture if your snake isn't eating, make sure the heat is correct.

I had a baby Pueblan Milksnake that wasn't eating so I called up a friend who is the naturalist for my county. This is a bit gruesome, but he said to cut the tail off of a mouse, and carefuly open the snakes mouth and force 1/4 to 1/2 of the mouse's tail into the snake's mouth and it will swallow the rest. After doing this twice in 2 weeks, the snake started taking pinkies on it's own.


----------

