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I purchased 3 newborn Central Asian Sand Boas last week . They are just newborn and maybe 1 month olds only . They are really so small and tiny even I am wonder if they can swallow pinkies .

They guy who is working for the pet shop told me he has tried t fed vitellus to the newborn sand boas . He said he was just placed the vitellus on a plate and the newborn sand boas will "drink" the vitellus on the plate . I don't think that's a good way to feed the newborn sand boas vitellus as their diet .

I am now trying to feed the newborn sand boas pinkies , therefore , I can't make sure if all of the small sand boas will accept pinkies as their diet . If they don't accept pinkies , I am considering to force feeding the small sand boas baby food or some other diet instead by syringe .

I don't think that's is good idea to force feeding the newborns by syringe . Unfortunately , it seems to be the final choice if they do not accept pinkies in these 2 weeks .

I am now just considering if baby food (maybe mixed with vitamins for reptiles) will works for raise these tiny snakes or pinkies will be the only choice ?

Perhaps , maybe you can recommend some other good methods for solving this problem for me .

thanks.
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3.5.0 Boa constrcitor
1.1.0 Python breitensteini
2.3.0 Candoia aspera
1.2.0 Candoia carinata paulsoni
0.0.1 Cylindrophis ruffus
0.0.1 Eryx miliaris miliaris
0.1.0 Iguana iguana
0.0.1 Varanus prasinus

Life with scales ! That's my Scale Style !

Do you have any photos of these Central Asian Sand Boas, and what is their weight? My E. miliaris started out tiny, at about 4-6 grams and would take 2-3 hour old live pinkies a week.

Keep us posted,

Chris
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Christopher E. Smith
Contact
Captive Bred Herps

These are 2 photos of my miliaris .

Their weight is 5.70 and 5.55 and 5.20 grams .

thanks.

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3.5.0 Boa constrcitor
1.1.0 Python breitensteini
1.1.0 Python regius
0.0.1 Cylindrophis ruffus
0.0.5 Eryx miliaris miliaris
0.1.0 Iguana iguana
1.0.0 Varanus prasinus

Life with scales ! That's my Scale Style !

I'd say try newborn (that day) pinkies. My little house snake takes those, and has since I got him weighing 4 grams and awfully slender. If that doesn't work, you could try force-feeding pieces, like tails from fuzzy size mice. Good luck!

-P
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1.0.0 Normal corn snake (Frito)
1.0.0 Creamsicle corn (Tang)
0.1.0 Ghost corn (Raynham)
1.1.2 Bay of LA rosy boas (Rivet, Cali, and Cali's unnamed babies)
0.1.0 Cape Gopher (Mole)
0.0.1 African House Snake (Casa)

When I worked at the pet store, if the snakes were really tiny we'd cut the pinkies in half, but of course that only works if they will eat f/t.

I just had this problem and maybe I was lucky, but here's what I did. I took a day-old pinky and removed the head. Using a probe, I mounted the head and proceeded to gently poke the snake until I pissed it off. One time it snapped at it and took it off the probe. After several tries it bit it solidly and swallowed it down. Haven't got it to do it since. This is the same way that I feed newly hatched Scarlet Kings.

By the way, where did you get your Cylindrophis?

Mitch

Thanks for your reply .

I got the Cylindrophis from a local pet shop . It's a WC specimen imported from mainland China .

thanks.
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3.5.0 Boa constrcitor
1.1.0 Python breitensteini
1.1.0 Python regius
0.0.1 Cylindrophis ruffus
0.0.5 Eryx miliaris miliaris
0.1.0 Iguana iguana iguana
1.0.0 Varanus prasinus

Life with scales ! That's my Scale Style !

Hi -

I had to look up the word "vitellus". But I agree. That doesn't sound like a good plan for feeding your sand boas.

Yours would be able to eat tiny pinkie mice if they wanted to. While you're trying different things to convince them to feed, if you are afraid that they are loosing too much weight, just insert cut mouse tails into the back of the boas' mouths. They are the perfect shape. The snakes' feeding response will take over and they will swallow the tails voluntarily.

That at least gets some nutrition in them. You could even coat the tails with vitellus if you wanted to.

-Joan

>>I purchased 3 newborn Central Asian Sand Boas last week . They are just newborn and maybe 1 month olds only . They are really so small and tiny even I am wonder if they can swallow pinkies .
>>

newborn pinky mice ("reds" should be small enough for the snake to take. I had a very small eastern king hatchling who was able to take down a day old even though it "looked" too big for the snake's mouth to get around. I do find that looks can be deceiving with tiny snakes like this. A nice rule of thumb is, if the width of the pinky at its widest part is equal to or smaller than the width of the snake at its widest part, you should have no problem with the snake being able to get it down on its own. The question then becomes will the snake want to eat it or not - not that it can't eat it.

Another alternative is as someone else mentioned -- rodent tails. I honestly have better luck using the tails from fuzzy/hopper rats rather than from adult/subadult mice. Mouse tails are very boney with little meat in comparison to baby rat tails. With the rat tails you are probably getting more meat into the snake the with a pinky overall..you are just missing out on the organ/milk content of a pinky so the nutritional makeup is not quite as good. Again the rule of thumb applies. If the width of the tail at it's widest part is equal to or smaller than the width of the snake at its widest part, it can be safely given. I also like to cut the tails from the frozen rodent at an angle to create a nice pointed "wedge" that slips into the snake's mouth easier. I usually dip the end of the tail into some water before feeding it to the snake.
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PHWyvern