Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Help!

I have a hog island boa, 1st year snake not eating at all.
I have taken him to the vet twice and he has been on b12 injections for the past 2 weeks. I have had him for three months now and he shows no interest at all in eating live or frozen thawed rats or mice. Temps are all in the proper ranges with hides on warm and cool sides. I heard that hog islands will go off feed during the winter. any one have any ideas about this. He's not losing weight but he could sure use some

I have 1.2 hogs and they are some of the strongest feeders that I have in my collection, even through the winter. Do you have your male around any other female snakes? how old is he? what did the previous owner feed him and did the previous owner ever have this problem with the snake? I am no expert but I have some experience and i will try to help you as best i can and hopefully some one else will respond also.

Marcus Williams

I bought him form my local reptile shop. Where my reptile guy said he was eating frozen thawed fuzzies. I did not personaly see him eat as I have bought several snakes from him before and have always been happy. I know he was housed for a while with two columbian red tails of similar size. I am not sure of exact age but I believe he was born mid 05' cb bred is what I was told as there does not appear to be a wild population of hog islands. The vet I go to is the vet for the zoo in my city and she gave him a clean bill of health, except of course he is not eating. He thermoregulates and moves around some mostly at night and otherwise appears fine.

Sometimes males will go off feed during mating season if a female is around but this mostly occurs with older males. If you have been dealing with your reptile person and he has never sold you bad animals before, just try leaving the prey item in over night like the other person suggested. I bought an albino that would only eat like that for his previous owner but now he takes it right off the tongs. Your snake might just be taking a little longer to acclimate to his new environment. I would inform your reptile guy about this and see if he has any suggestions and if he does or does't he will atleast know what is going on in case something turns out to be wrong and hopefully you can get your money back. To me 3 months is a little to long for a baby boa not be eating, this is just my personal opinion and I would be just as concerned as you are. Call your reptile guy up and see what he has to say. Snakes can go several months with out eating if fresh water stays available but I would stll call the reptile shop back up.

Marcus Williams

Posted by: tsnake at Sat Mar 25 08:18:49 2006 [ Report Abuse ] [ Email Message ]

I bought him form my local reptile shop. Where my reptile guy said he was eating frozen thawed fuzzies. I did not personaly see him eat as I have bought several snakes from him before and have always been happy. I know he was housed for a while with two columbian red tails of similar size. I am not sure of exact age but I believe he was born mid 05' cb bred is what I was told as there does not appear to be a wild population of hog islands. The vet I go to is the vet for the zoo in my city and she gave him a clean bill of health, except of course he is not eating. He thermoregulates and moves around some mostly at night and otherwise appears fine.

My reptile guys answer is force feeding which in my opinion is not an answer unless it is life or death as that could do more harm than good. I've tried leaving thawed and pre killed in overnight several times nothing seems to work. I'll probably make another appointment with the vet. Thanks for everybodys response's so far

Try something a breeder told me to do. Take the rodent and place on warm water and let it sit there for a few minutes change the water for some more warm water, paper towel dry then place the rodent on a paper plate inside the cage. Leave him alone come back later and it is usually gone. Try it, it worked for me, maybe it will for you hog also.
Joel Pretz

I have a trio and a yearling. All are strong feeders all year long. I would make sure that your cage placement does not get a lot of disturbance, and partially cover the front/top depending on your setup. Then I would take a small cardboard box and make a rodent hide/nest. Put some rodent cage bedding in there with a few pinky rats, and turn off the lights and go to bed.