Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok guys, I posted a few weeks ago that I was going to be picking up a Brazilian Rainbow Boa from the richmond show, and I did get one. She is an ABSOLUTE BEAUTY, and actually as far a personality I might like her more than some of my lizards. Unfortunately, she hasn't eaten yet since I have gotten her. I have offered her food twice. The guy I bought her from said that he had been feeding her f/t fuzzies, so I have offered the same. Her last meal was 17 days ago. I know that snakes can go without eating for extended periods of time, and I know that it is some peoples practice to only feed once a month. I dont think it is at a dangerous point yet where she NEEDS to eat, but I think that is odd that she hasnt eaten when it has been offered. She is about 16in long, and I have her in a 20L glass aquarium with one of those red heat lights on her 24/7. The cage temps are 90-92 under the light and in the low 80s high 70s farenheit on the cool side. If anyone could shed some light on this for me, I would really appreciate it. Thanks!
-Dustin
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1.0 Bearded Dragons
0.3 Fat tailed geckos
0.1 Brazilian Rainbow Boa

Dustin,

Your cage temps sound O.K. A little high in the warm end. You could stand to drop them to 86 or so.

Where are you measurig your temps? You should be measuring the temperature of the substate. This is where the snake spends it's time. There are about a million questions I could ask you about your cage set up but it's probably easier if I just e-mail you a copy of my care sheet. Send me a message and I'll include a PDF copy in my reply if you're interested. In the meantime here's a little advice on feeding:

Don't attempt feedings daily. If the animal refuses, wait 3-5 days before you try again. When you do try, run the tap water as hot as you can get it. Let the mouse soak/thaw for a good 5 minutes or so. This does 2 things 1) thaws completely and 2) warms thoroughly to give the impression of live prey.

When I offer food to babies, I place the WARM food item in front of the animal's nose on the floor of the cage and walk away. Just drop it there and give the snake some space. If they're shy about eating, it doesn't help to wiglle the prey or tap them on the nose with it. This only works once they're used to taking food.

sometimes it helps to place the animal and the WARM food item in a small deli cup or a paper bag for 45 minutes or so. Try feeding at night when the lights are out, rather than in the day.

You could always try a live hopper. Jeff has recommended this to several people in your situation and it has worked with consistent success (knock on wood).
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Mike Lockwood
www.tooscaley.com

hey mike. I have actually seen your care sheet, and based my cage set up off of it. I had posted a message a few weeks ago when I was talking about picking one up, and you gave me a link to your website to see your care sheet. The only difference is I keep her on paper towels rather than any sort of moss. I was planning on switching her over once I got her established eating. I do take the temps at the bottom of the cage with one of those temp guns from pro-exotics. I also forgot to mention that I have a waterbowl with about two inches of water in it in the cage as well. I dont mind answering a million questions about my set up, if it solves any potential problems. thanks for the help.-Dustin
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1.0 Bearded Dragons
0.3 Fat tailed geckos
0.1 Brazilian Rainbow Boa

A couple of suggestions....try a live hopper mouse at night and adjust temperature. I keep mine cooler than Mike. If your snake spends most of it's time on the warmer side your temps may be okay, but if the majority of the time it stays on the cooler side drop those temps to no more than 82 and no less than 74. Make sure your humidity stays high. Above 90 % always for those young ones. Don't handle it too much until a few days after it eats. An overly detailed description of your enclosure and what and how things are being done will likely pinpoint a trouble spot by someone on this forum.

Congrats on your new baby.

Linda

I hope I bought this photo taken by the breeder of this little darling when I bought the snake! I also hope she makes lots of little squigglies mid to late summer.

yea your temps seem a little high to me . . My setup rarly gets higher then 80*, it is usually 74-80 and she spends her time on the cool side!

But i suppose there will be variance between snakes.

If all else fails try feeding it live food. it seems to be pretty young (16" isnt big at all) The guy might have been lieing about feeding it F/T.

goodluck
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Russ
1 Brazillian Rainbow Boa (< 1 year old)
1 Rosy Boa (G/F's Snake)

Somehow i have to feed both?!
Melbourne, Fl

Hey guys, thanks for all the info,but she finally ate! I still dont know why she refused for so long, but I am just happy she finally decided to have some dinner. Since it has been unanimously stated that my temps are to high, I will definately lower them to the 80s. One question I do have, is what do you guys do to maintain humidity? I am a little worried that my humidity is not as high as it should be.
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1.0 Bearded Dragons
0.3 Fat tailed geckos
0.1 Brazilian Rainbow Boa

...The opinions on the temperature were not 100%. Mike keeps his warmer and his do great. Many of us keep ours cooler and they do great. You cannot argue with success. I have 48 2006 baby Rainbow Boas here. These snakes are eating machines. I offered live pinky rats ands live hopper mice and 47 of them ate over the last couple of days. The one that did not eat killed a live hopper mouse and then left it. That one snake shed today and will probably eat next time I feed them. I keep mine in the mid 70s. Many of mine will eat frozen thawed mice but will not eat them every time offered. Live hopper seem to be their favorite meals. They will often eat a live hopper mouse after passing up live pinky and fuzzy mice, frozen and thawed mice and even live pinky rats which seem to be their second favorite meal. I keep the humidity high in my cages by limiting the ventilation and providing damp substrate or realtively large water bowls in comparison to the snake and cage size. Most snakes need dry substrate and good ventilation. These snakes do well on damp clean substrate with very limited ventilation.
Jeff

>>Hey guys, thanks for all the info,but she finally ate! I still dont know why she refused for so long, but I am just happy she finally decided to have some dinner. Since it has been unanimously stated that my temps are to high, I will definately lower them to the 80s. One question I do have, is what do you guys do to maintain humidity? I am a little worried that my humidity is not as high as it should be.
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>>1.0 Bearded Dragons
>>0.3 Fat tailed geckos
>>0.1 Brazilian Rainbow Boa

I keep ALL my BRB babies in shoe box racks with no additional holes in the tubs. Every one has thrived in that setup. I even keep/kept my high-end exotic BRB's that I bought, both Hypomelanistics and Anerythristics. Again, ALL have done very well in them. My latest feeding, last Monday evening, I offerred food to 56 babies. (26 were only two days old) All but one in full blue shed ate. Several others were also in shed and ate anyways.

>>...The opinions on the temperature were not 100%. Mike keeps his warmer and his do great. Many of us keep ours cooler and they do great. You cannot argue with success. I have 48 2006 baby Rainbow Boas here. These snakes are eating machines. I offered live pinky rats ands live hopper mice and 47 of them ate over the last couple of days. The one that did not eat killed a live hopper mouse and then left it. That one snake shed today and will probably eat next time I feed them. I keep mine in the mid 70s. Many of mine will eat frozen thawed mice but will not eat them every time offered. Live hopper seem to be their favorite meals. They will often eat a live hopper mouse after passing up live pinky and fuzzy mice, frozen and thawed mice and even live pinky rats which seem to be their second favorite meal. I keep the humidity high in my cages by limiting the ventilation and providing damp substrate or realtively large water bowls in comparison to the snake and cage size. Most snakes need dry substrate and good ventilation. These snakes do well on damp clean substrate with very limited ventilation.
>>Jeff
>>
>>>>Hey guys, thanks for all the info,but she finally ate! I still dont know why she refused for so long, but I am just happy she finally decided to have some dinner. Since it has been unanimously stated that my temps are to high, I will definately lower them to the 80s. One question I do have, is what do you guys do to maintain humidity? I am a little worried that my humidity is not as high as it should be.
>>>>-----
>>>>1.0 Bearded Dragons
>>>>0.3 Fat tailed geckos
>>>>0.1 Brazilian Rainbow Boa
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Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC)
0.2 kids (CBB, selectively bred from good stock)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:
12.24 BRB
11.13 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

You should make sure you have a good cover on that doesn let humidity out (not the steel mesh) After that i keep a water sprayer next to the cage and spray every now and then, but recently i invested in a humidifier for the cage.

It is super-nifty. It pumps humid air into the terrarium constantly, and in my setup it keeps the tank at arround 80% humidity without me haveing to spray at all!

Another thing is to make sure you are using a good substrate that holds moisture (tree bark type stuff) Not the aspen chipps you usually see. Also, get some moss and spray it and put it in the snakes hide spot. I do all these things and my snake seems very happy, and has been shedding very good.

goodluck!

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Russ
1 Brazillian Rainbow Boa (< 1 year old)
1 Rosy Boa (G/F's Snake)

Somehow i have to feed both?!
Melbourne, Fl