Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hey i recently got an indonesian tree boa it is around 17 inches long and in the middle he is about an inch thick. i first bought him a fuzzy mouse and he completly ignored it. today i bought it an anole and i fist put the anole and the snake in a small tank i use for feeding but after a half hour i just put the 2 in the snake tank. now i think he is trying to find the anole but the anole is too fast. so if my snake does not eat the anole what should i try to feed it next?
thanks

Small tree frogs or geckos might work. But first I would catch the anole and put it and your boa into a much smaller, bare feeding cage and leave them overnight. You may be right about the lizard being too fast, but if there is no place to really run or hide, your boa should have a much better chance at tracking and catching the anole.

Good luck,
Billy

>>hey i recently got an indonesian tree boa it is around 17 inches long and in the middle he is about an inch thick. i first bought him a fuzzy mouse and he completly ignored it. today i bought it an anole and i fist put the anole and the snake in a small tank i use for feeding but after a half hour i just put the 2 in the snake tank. now i think he is trying to find the anole but the anole is too fast. so if my snake does not eat the anole what should i try to feed it next?
>>thanks

Did you ask the previous owner what the snake had been fed on before you purchased it? If not, contact the seller and find out.
If for some reason you are unable to contact them, try day old, defrosted chicks - they often work for tree boas and pythons.

You should take a look at the Candoia forums here at kingsnake.

http://forums.kingsnake.com/forum.php?page=1&catid=194

C. carinata are notorius for switching to mice. Don't even bother with chicks, these are not typical tree boas. If it is 17 inches, then it is capable of eating mice-however it may never have done so. You will need to get geckos as feeders if the following does not work. Try LLL Reptile for geckos. However, these 2 methods first:

1) get a HOPPER mouse (not a fuzzy) and put it in the cage with the snake in the evening and leave it alone over night. Carinata will respond to hoppers over others.

2) get a pinkie and "cup" it with the snake also overnight (I have done this by placing the cup in the cage so it keeps temp and humidity).

Keep in mind that these are not easy snakes to keep, but once you have the right setup and have them on small mice, it is much easier. Make sure your temps are 75-80 and humidity at 40-60% (i.e. somewhat humid but not wet). I have found that C. carinata responds well on reptibark substrate with plenty of hide spots (they like to ambush prey). They spend a great deal of time on the ground.

Good luck and I hope that helps!
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John R. Stebbins
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0.1 Candoia bibroni australis
0.2 Candoia carinata carinata
2.0 elaphe guttata guttata

I should have said that C. carinata are notorious for being difficult to switch to mice!

Also, keep in mind that since these guys are so small, they are not able to eat large mice. Start with hoppers and never offer anything larger. Once they are eating hoppers, start trying f/t small mice or fuzzys. The fuzzys just don't interest them live...
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John R. Stebbins
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0.1 Candoia bibroni australis
0.2 Candoia carinata carinata
2.0 elaphe guttata guttata

9 days old this one, but I'll have a go anyway. I have to agree with John because he is right on all counts, BUT and a big but it has been said quite often about males being notorious with their breeding season off feed marathons. This being said, my female C. carinata carinata is still eating like a champ while my adult rather large male C. b. australis is currently off feed due to photoperiod and slight temp cycling and although it's been several months he is still of healthy tone and weight. Almost all of the Candoias in captivity are wild caught so the seasonal changes will be strong with them, even though they may have been in captivity long enough to have been switched onto our seasonal cycle. Anyway if you're worried, either try green treefrogs as I've had great luck with them, or go with what John said and use crawler or hopper mice and leave them in the cage a while but make sure they have food so they won't eat your snake. Although usually frowned upon, my australis has perches and so will come down on the mouse from above and has not been eaten yet even after many ends of breeding season fasting breaks. Hope this helps if you have not gotten him to eat yet.