Hey everyone, i got my central americ boa 2 weeks ago, he ate the first time but the second week whcik was 2 days ago he didnt eat, then i call a good friend and he said that it was prablly because the snake was cold and he was too so i put a heating pad under ther tank and he is much better, he siad it works 100% all the time, is he right?? Now is it okay that if he skipped his feeding day, its every friday, should i just try again today and go back on his scheduale for every friday?? what do you all think, please help me.
What is his viv like? Had you not been heating him at all? Give a complete run down please.....substrate, hides, heat, temps and type of thermometer and humidity levels. If his viv isn't right he isn't going to eat, among other things....he could be on his way to all sorts of health issues.
the UTH should be on all the time, but I would not let it run at 100% of its capacity, as most 'pad' type uth's can heat to over 100 degrees EASILY. There should be a thermostat, or at least a dimmer, controlling the output. Snakes can go more than a week without eating, so you don't have to worry about one day, but the more pressing concern is making sure your snake is in the correct environment.
Ok well he has heat but this was about 2 months ago sorry i havnt been on, now im force feeding him because i took him to the vet. so every day im force feeding him canned food. Hes getting alot bigger now and hes sheeding, before he didnt eat for 1 month so i knew somehting was wrong.
Whoa whoa....force feeding is never a good idea unless he was losing significant amounts of weight i.e he had folds of skin and his back bone was showing a lot. Force feeding is incredibly stressful to any snake which would probably cause him not to want to eat for you anyways. Is your vet a certified reptile vet? If not they probably don't know half as much as they should. My cat and dog's vet is a complete retard when it comes to reptiles so I take my snakes somewhere else. My Ball Pythons usually don't eat from November to January or February every year and they don't lose weight and begin to eat again afterwards. A month is not that long depending on the age of the boa. What kind of temperatures do you have in the enclosure?
I'm with Skunky.... Canned food? And force feeding? Wow. A month without eating is no cause for force feeding. You need to seriously look at your husbandry first, before blaming the snake for not eating. And every day? Wow.
I think they make Canned Iguana food....same people that make the pointless spray on vitamin crap. Dude, you need to get your husbandry straight: stop force feedin him and stop feeding him whatever canned crap it is you have. If you don't it is likely he will die and you will never get him eating normally. Please seriously consider the health of your snake.
that the same ppl who make the vegan snake food steaks?? I think I saw something about this on the web somewhere and honestly thought it was a wind up.
Canned Iguana Food is nothing but crap that can't pass for dogfood. Dogfood is regulated, reptile food is not.
Well I dont see what the problem is, I mean, I see everybody feeding their monitors canned food this boa cant be no different. I do agree that proper husbatry is nessesary but of this animal isnt eating, any good food will do until it does.
Betcha the snake dies....Canned food everyday,,no heat,,wtf....Lets face it this guy did not do his homework before acquiring this pet...I know this will offend but oh well, Is there humidity for it.How old is it? what size prey, are you taking the food out of the can first?
OK, we know canned food is not a good choice to feed a snake and we know daily is probably not good either. Until the OP poster comes back and gives more information we can just let this rest.
Whoa Whoa Whoa, wtf are you all talking about, ok first of all the vet is smarter then any one of you. The reason he is eating canned food is because hes not eating any thing else and hes becoming anorexic and i will try to feed him a small rat next week. Second what are you talking about no heat, i have a heating pad and he has humidity. Ofcoarse it is stressful but he didnt eat for 2 months, and its better then him dieing. Now if you guys do not know this question then i know more about boas then you, why do they use canned dog food to force feed huh?? I have been looking at my husbandry and its going good, so if its anyone who should be doing their homeworke it should be you guys for deniing that this is bad. So can anyone please answer this question, ofcoasre i know because i have learned from the best.
Well, now we are about one response away from the thread getting locked. You were asked about heat because you said you had none. You came back 2 months later and said you had heat but were now force feeding dog food. What do you expect us to think? All you have told us is there is heat...what are the temperatures? What type of thermometer are you using? What is the humidity? How many hides does he have? What is his size? How big/old is he? THOSE are the questions that need answering if you expect anyone to be able to help. If you don't want help because your friend and vet know more then perhaps this thread is finished. Your post (and some others) are a bit rude and inflammatory, there will be no more like it. Answer the questions at hand only. To everyone else, I already said this is not a good situation, so answer or don't...but answer wisely.
Just a point I'd like to stress: all vets are not alike. Exotics are a special sub-section of veterinary teaching, and one typically has to specialize in this field to have a deep understanding of the subject. Sure, one covers SOME exotic medicine in classes, but the required in depth knowledge of the subject is only obtained at later stages if one chooses to specialize in this field.. SO, my point being...is your vet an exotics-specialized/trained vet, or is he your normal run-of-the-mill small-animal vet with some exotic exposure? Anyway, if your snake is shedding and growing, that is a good sign and I'm happy to hear it...and that is what's important.
I am just curious how you are actually force feeding canned dog food? Is it through like a huge syringe(sp?)? I just think the idea of feeding a snake dog food doesnt seem right. I would invest into a pinky pump so he is actually getting his typical food item. Or you could try adding mice/rats to the dog food by chopping them up or blending them or something. I know sounds really gross but this could help him switch over. You could also try force feeding a rat/mouse. Not sure if any of the last stuff stated could work but feeding dog food doesnt seem right and have never heard of this alternative. And please dont take this negatively. Gered
Whoa, Clementine what are you talking about my other posts were rude, have you even read this forum or did u just go staright away with the talking because only one post was rude and it was after everyone ese was being rude, maybe you should think before you type. I had a good heat light and i thought that it would be good but it wasnt good enough so i put a heating pad and i told you that on the first post Clementine. He has a temepearture in his tank that ranges 80-90F and has a basking area of 90- 95F, Im using a digital thermometer, humidity is 50-60%, he has 2 hides, he is about 2 feet and an average size of a baby you would buy at a store, and i do not know how old it is. There i answered the question. Clementine you wouldnt know, would you rather have your snake die then never to eat canned food, i answered those questions Clementine, answer me one simple question that you should know, why do you feed a snake canned food, why do you feed a snake that doesnt want to eat anymore so you feed it canned dog food?? Answer my simple question and i do not know why you said any of my posts were rude, if you should be saying it you should not be saying it to me but everyone else.
