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HELP! BCC HAS NOT EATEN IN 2 MONTHS

johnnymintbox Aug 14, 2008 05:19 PM

I had this girl for about 3 months. She'a about 5 years old and 7' in length. Good height and girth. The friends I got her from had her from birth. She was feeding every three weeks on live jumbo rats.

Once I got her I wanted to switch her to F/T. On 6/6/08 she was offered a F/T rat and ate it within 10 mins. She had not eaten for three weeks. She was offered another F/T on 6/20/08 which she did not eat after 24 hours of it being in her cage. She was offered another F/T on 6/29/08. She ate this one within a few hours and promptly escaped her cage for about an hour. SHe has subsequently been offered as follows: 7/13/08 - F/T, did not eat. 7/19/08 - Live, did not eat. 7/26/08 - Live, did not eat. And I've been trying to get her to eat a Live Large Rat for the past three days with no success.

I'm not dreadfully worried. She's shed twice since last she ate and her stools are healthy looking. She doesn't appear to be in any distress, no breathing problems. She has been spending more time underneath the liner of her cage though.

I've never had a picky BCC before.

The temp in her cage is 90 on the warm, 80 on the cool - and gets direct sunlight about 4 hours a day. Humidity is about 50-60%.

Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance.

Greg

Replies (9)

Joel_Thomas Aug 14, 2008 05:33 PM

Get her a couple of hide boxes, leave her be for a week or two then try to offer FTO rat.
Joel

jscrick Aug 14, 2008 07:20 PM

All the changes in routine and surroundings may have her a bit intimidated.
Is it possible she is gravid?
jsc
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"As hard as I've tried, just can't NOT do this"
John Crickmer

Slithering_Serpents Aug 14, 2008 11:47 PM

I don't believe your boa is alive in a cage in the sun 4 hours a day with no hiding places. If that were the case your boa would be cooked. Your whole warm side is 90F too. Fortunately your boa was well cared for with the previous owner, you're still running on the good they did, but it won't last. Learn about the care of any pet before you get them. You should have had your whole set up perfect before you even brought your girl home. You shouldn't have started with an adult BCC either. I feed my BCCs every three weeks unless I plan on breeding them that year, and trust me you have no business breeding if you can't even maintain an animal. It would have made sense to have your friends, who used to own the boa, help you out with the temps and humidity etc., obviously they did a good job and know what they are doing with a BCC.

Your temps are all screwed up, partly from the sun. Get your cage out of the sun. Then you can begin to straighten out your temps. Your warm side and cool side are too far apart. A BCC needs more warmth than a BCI. Ask the previous owners what temps they ran for her in the warm side, the cool side, and the basking spot (# temps) and mimick those. Then give her two tight hide boxes, on on the cool end and one on the warm end, not on the hot spot. Spray her cage (not her) once a day unless you have a real nice plastic cage that holds the humidity like a tub. But like I said, ask the previous owner about the temp/humidity they kept, that's what your girl is used to. You want to return her to the same type of environment she had before. If she's used to a Boaphile, buy her a Boaphile etc. If you have her in an aquarium, toss it and get a snake cage. She's suffering from your care, and her immune system won't be able to handle the stress indefinitely, and she will get sick in some way unless you do your job. Or just give her back and start the right way with a Colombian baby, which are much more forgiving of below par care. You should have gotten her eating really good first before trying to switch her to f/t. At least give her a few months of her being in a healthy stable environment first, so she can get used to the differences. Feed her live every three weeks until she's eating good, just have a big stick in your hand and be ready to whop the rat if necessary, and watch the whole time while she eats. You said she "escaped" her cage too, it's yours job to make sure she can never do this again too. That means a real snake cage with locks. You need that anyway to control your heat. She's not picky, you just don't know what you're doing yet. When your temps are correct she will never miss a meal, my BCCs don't ever miss one even when they are in a full shed. : ) Now how about a pick? : )
-----
Caden Chapman
slithering.serpents@gmail.com
http://slitheringserpents.com

johnnymintbox Aug 15, 2008 03:15 PM

She was kept for 5 years in the same cage that she is in now - outside 24/7 in Florida. There was no temperature or humidity control. They brought her inside when the night time temperatures dropped below 75 degrees. She has always been fed live rats - from a perch.

I appreciate the stern words of advice.

She escaped that one time because the glass to the top of her cage had to be replaced because of a crack. The one night it was covered with MDF board and rocks - she managed to get loose.
[img=http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/8098/1cos1.jpg]" alt="Image">

jscrick Aug 16, 2008 03:49 PM

That's one of those seriously negative aspects of keeping large snakes outdoors. Escapes are bad news for all of us. I'm glad you found the snake.
Another negative factor to consider is the inability to control pests and vermin (ants, flies, rats, etc.) your animal may attract, to its detriment.
jsc
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"As hard as I've tried, just can't NOT do this"
John Crickmer

bigjoe4747 Aug 16, 2008 01:01 AM

Hey donkey butt, have you ever thought that maybe this guy is trying to learn more about the animal he is keeping? I thought these forums that we all write here is to share and ASK FOR ADVICE!!!!!! I have a question for you, do you really give your adult BCCs' three hide boxes? What size cage do you keep them in??? Hey why not ask a couple more questions before jumping to conclusions? You know what they say about making assumptions, and what it makes you look like!!! A CLOACA!!! Heres a question for you. Have you ever, maybe as a little kid, keep a animal improperly? May it be goldfish, wild-caught lizards or frogs, bird or maybe even a boa. We all learn someday, we're all not boa freaks from birth!!!! Welllll maybe Jeff Ronne was! lol

jscrick Aug 16, 2008 10:44 AM

There has been much discussion in the past regarding meal size, frequency, and temperature maintenance of BCC. Just my experience with 50% Guyanan hets and 50% Suri albinos, but mine seem to do best at the cool end. My Suri Albinos can eat large meals at cool temps just fine. Just decrease the feeding frequency to about every 3 or 4 weeks.
They grow, but seem to stay very lean. My problem is keeping the heat low enough for my snakes. I try to cool the room as close to 80 degrees overnight as possible. It can easily get up to 90 degrees by noon. Once the room reaches the low 90's I start cooling it. I do not use individual cage heat at this time. I'm almost certain my temps were way too high last winter. I was using individual thermostatically controlled units for my breeders. We had almost no winter. The hot spot wound up becoming the entire cage. Front opening PVC cage thermodynamics was a learning process. Absolutely more ventilation was required for my situation. Hopefully I've got it figured out a little bit.
jsc
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"As hard as I've tried, just can't NOT do this"
John Crickmer

Slithering_Serpents Aug 16, 2008 02:06 PM

called a donkey butt. This is why I don't post in this forum very much. lol You can easily see that when a person has no real criticism they call you names!

He's learning plenty now. I gave advice for a boa in trouble. What I didn't do is explain my set ups. It depends on the boa. Some boas don't require a hide box at all, but some need it, especially when conditions have changed (the change in ownership). It's all about knowing each of your boas. I never ever told the guy to get three hides either. You need to read more carefully.

I have only been a boa freak since 1970 when I got my first boa, sorry if that isn't long enough. You shouldn't learn about your animals at THEIR expense. You should learn everything you can BEFORE you get your pet. Whatever it is. Even fish. There's plenty of boa culture information now (lucky for you), unlike when I started. You can learn from others. You don't have to half kill every animal you ever get trying to learn it's culture.

Who's the donkey butt now, darlin'?
-----
Caden Chapman
slithering.serpents@gmail.com
http://slitheringserpents.com

jscrick Aug 16, 2008 03:35 PM

As far as the original poster's snake receiving natural outdoor sunlight, I don't think it is necessary or beneficial. That may be the difference between the previous owner's success and the new owner's problems -- Outdoor locations may not be comperable.
Boas are crepuscular and nocturnal by nature. That's my understanding. The sun may just be to hot and stressful. That was the point I was trying to make with my earlier post, that the snake may be being maintained at too high a temperature. Too hot = too stressful. Solar/UV radiation not necessary.
jsc
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"As hard as I've tried, just can't NOT do this"
John Crickmer

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