Posted by:
shell74
at Tue Nov 18 14:24:33 2008 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by shell74 ]
Its been many years since I have been into snakes. I brought home a baby Hogg Island Boa about 4 weeks ago from a reptile show. She is about 15 inches long. The vendor told me that she was eating frozen small mice/hoppers. She has under tank heater as well as basking spot, hide box etc...
I had been trying to feed her every few days.I started with a size that seemed appropriate for her, the large frozen pinkies seemed to be good compared to her girth. I also tried frozen pinkies, fuzzies, small mice, we tried everything, I sure did waste alot. I tried rubbing them on a live mouse, taping her on the nose, annoying her with them, splitting the head to leak brains (I read that they loved the blood and guts), putting them in a smaller container, nothing worked. I finally broke down and bought a pregnant mouse and she had babies. We cant find live mice around here that arent huge. Yesterday, I tried with the live large fuzzies and she ate 2 of them pretty quickly. I know reptile shows are traumatic and a new enclosure and whatnot can cause stress. I was just so desperate to see her eat, I didnt want her to lose strength/mass.
I do know the bad things about feeding live rodents, please no lectures about what could happen, I actually have 200 mice in the freezer of various sizes for her and my milksnakes. We have had boas in the past and always fed frozen or at least pre killed rodents.
What else can I try to get her to accept the frozen mice? Is there a rule of thumb for babies, if they refuse frozen for so long, should give a live, just so she gets food? How often should I try or how often should I expect her to eat at this point (frozen or live)?
Your help is greatly appreciated!
Shell and Deliah (Hogg Island Boa)
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 Feeding Baby Hogg Island Boa - shell74, Tue Nov 18 14:24:33 2008
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