Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have Ksb that has not eaten since I brought him home, I have tried 3 weeks in a row and the only thing he has done was constricted the prey but not eaten. (he is not about 11 weeks old)
I have tried the deli cup and that was where he constricted the prey but did not eat. I am very worried because he is so young and not eating. He is in a 10 gallon tank Aspen shaving, 2 hide one on the cool side one on the warm, Temp is about 90 degree's. Any suggestion would be welcome. Before I got him he had one live pinkie and on F/T pinkie I have been using F/t Pinkies has well.
Help!!!!!!!!!!

Lower temp to 80 to 84 deg.F. Spray container interior with as fine an atomized mist of water as possible. No bright lights. Feed in the evening. Use pre-killed prey. Do not disturb.
By do not disturb, I mean put him in a closet. Shut the door. Don't check till morning.
jsc
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"As hard as I've tried, just can't NOT do this"
John Crickmer

Sorry. I got that wrong. Was thinking Boa constrictor ssp.
NOT Sand Boa.
jsc
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"As hard as I've tried, just can't NOT do this"
John Crickmer

I keep all my sand boas on clean dry play sand from home depot. 1/2 inch or so for babies and about 3-4 inches for adults. your temps are ok but going up to 93-95 on the hot side might not hurt. i've temp gravid females basking at 105 degrees with the cool side dropping down to 85 and they always stay where it's hottest. try not to handle them a day or so before feeding them to let them settle in. go ahead and feed right on the sand. place the pink to the side and front of the head not right in front of them. they strike prey with a side ways lounge rather then the straight froward strike of most snakes. most will eat during the the day but leaving it of night will work for pick eaters. i get a lot of calls after shows about babies not eatting and 9 times out 10 they are on aspen or are being feed in a deli cup on paper with low temps. going to sand and raising the temps a little usally does the trick. hope this helps.

Thank you both for the advice, he is on Aspen, Is playsand safer than Calcium sand.

play sand is 3 bucks for 50lbs verses 7 bucks for 1 lbs. calcium sand does dissolve in the stomach and play sand doesn't. but calc sand sticks to mice more then play sand does, and the finer calc sand sticks to the sand boas more giving them a dust look to them. and the play sand is a little closer to what they live in in the wild. I've been using play sand for over 16 years and have never seen an impaction from sand so the add cost for a sand that dissolves isn't something that is needed. plus with 5.5 breeders living in about 20 lbs of sand each the calcium sand get just way to pricey but it does look nicer if cost isn't a issues.

I had a problem eater... he didn't eat for months and then i discovered that the food sparked an interest until he realized it was dead. So i tried just twitching it and if i did it too fast hed lose interest completely. After a while i found if i just barely touch the food with the tongs a couple of times while he's watching he'll take it every time. Maybe that help... i know mine was the most high maintance feeder ive ever had to deal with.

How old was your at the time. Mine is 11 weeks now.

Don't know if you have gotten him to eat yet but a couple of things I did to get them to eat was feeding them at night and I rub the F/T pinkie on a rat before I give it to him. Not sure if that stimulates him or not to eat the pinkie but mine has not refused one since I began this method recently. Let me know, hope it turns out well for you.
John