Reptile & Amphibian Forums

This Saturday will be three weeks since I got my rainbow and she still hasn't eaten. Conditions are the same.. high humidity and low 70s for temps. Has a hide and part of the rubbermaid has coconut fiber bedding and the rest is paper towels with some branches and a water dish. I haven't tried feeding it live mice because I don't want to get her hooked on them but I'm guessing at this point I have no choice?
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0.0.1 D. Leucomela
0.0.1 D. Azureus
1.0.0 Leopard gecko
0.0.1 Blue-tailed monitor
0.1.0 Brazilian rainbow boa
0.0.1 Pearl river map turtle
1.0.0 Red eared slider
1.0.0 Yellow bellied slider
0.0.1 Red bellied slider
4.1.0 Painted turtle
1.0.0 Three-lined musk
0.0.1 Musk turtle
4.1.0 Diamondback terrapin
1.0.0 Duck
0.1.0 Cat
0.1.0 Dog

The F/T mice that I try giving her she ends up coming back to multiple times smelling it for long periods of time but just never goes for it. I've left it in over night and covered the cage with a towel.. any more ideas or should I just go live?
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0.0.1 D. Leucomela
0.0.1 D. Azureus
1.0.0 Leopard gecko
0.0.1 Blue-tailed monitor
0.1.0 Brazilian rainbow boa
0.0.1 Pearl river map turtle
1.0.0 Red eared slider
1.0.0 Yellow bellied slider
0.0.1 Red bellied slider
4.1.0 Painted turtle
1.0.0 Three-lined musk
0.0.1 Musk turtle
4.1.0 Diamondback terrapin
1.0.0 Duck
0.1.0 Cat
0.1.0 Dog

If it is a baby I wouldn't hesitate trying live. Out of our clutch there are two that won't touch the F/T (though they'll spend awhile smelling it). If we still have them we will likely go fresh killed from there and wiggling it on tongs.. then to F/T with tongs.

We did have an adult that came to us at 10 years old, and she only ate live. By switching to killed, then F/T over time we were successful.
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1.1 96, 04 Het Albino - "Suzie" & "Lumpy"
1.0 06 TH-Moonglow - "Gargamel"
1.2 01 BRBs- "Gobball", "Larva" & "Tofu"
2.7 08 BRBs

Was just gonna say the same thing.

One additional step many overlook is stunned (whacked but still twitching)

Each animal is different, many can change over time. A new trick I just found is for mousers - BRB's that won't eat rats. I have a couple and still working on it but in one case a 4+ year old never bred female would always refuse rats, and of course was a slow grower. When she would eat it'd only be mice and I'd feed her 4 -6 for one meal. Takes a while as I only feed one at a time. A few weeks back I had an extra pre-weanling rat, about the size of a mouse. I tossed that in and wham, she took it down. Light came on and I went out to the rodent factory and got some more. Wham, Wham, Wham, she ate four rats. The female that always refused them. Now I'm thinking I can transition her onto pre-weanling rats only. From there work on size....????

Along similar lines, another female, 3+ years old was a picky eater for the first couple of years, typically only smaller than usual (for her size) prey and only one. Again, she grew slowly. Then all of a sudden her appetite grew. Dunno what changed but now she's eating like a champ and pretty much at breeding size.

Like Jeff says, listen to them.
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Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

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

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

I think stunned is a more selling description than whacked & twitching!

I'm new to this myself, but I think you might want your temps a little higher than low 70s. My thermostat is set at 77.5 and I'm pretty sure you don't want temps much lower than that.

Maybe someone else will kick in here; but given that reptiles rely on heat to really get their organs working, I could see a snake not eating if it wasn't getting quite warm enough... maybe?
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1.1.0 beardies
1.0.0 bloodred corn
0.1.0 striped anery corn
0.1.0 leopard gecko
0.1.0 golden gecko
0.2.0 mourning geckos
1.1.0 cats

soon to be:
BRB- thank you Dave!

whacked and twitching is such a.... wonderful mental image! We did have to do that once though.. whacking rats is not my thing.
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1.1 96, 04 Het Albino - "Suzie" & "Lumpy"
1.0 06 TH-Moonglow - "Gargamel"
1.2 01 BRBs- "Gobball", "Larva" & "Tofu"
2.7 08 BRBs

yeah, well I'm pretty much used to it, with over 200 snakes in the house and raising the feeders myself, I'm whacking rodents every week!!!! do love the baby snakes, their feeders are small enough to not require whacking the feeders (no teeth to fight back with)
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Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

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

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

ha, the rat I tried to whack was the largest rat I could possibly find (for a 9ft snake). I whacked it... it seized, and immediately died. I think I did it wrong...
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1.1 96, 04 Het Albino - "Suzie" & "Lumpy"
1.0 06 TH-Moonglow - "Gargamel"
1.2 01 BRBs- "Gobball", "Larva" & "Tofu"
2.7 08 BRBs

For my bigger rats, to prevent the bloody mess that can come from to hard a whack, I swing them so the back of their neck hits the edge of the 5 gallon bucket. Done right and it snaps (or really damages) spinal column. Lotsa twitching and a satisfied snake.
-----
Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

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

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

It is common for baby Rainbow Boas to refuse frozen and thawed rodents. Most of them like live hopper mice best but will also readily take live pinky rats. I start most of mine on live pinky rats or hopper mice and make sure they are eating and growing. They will all switch over to eating frozen and thawed though many of them take some time and patience. Making slow gradual changes seems to work best If you feed your snake several meals of live and then the next time offer a stunned but still breathing same size and kind of rodent they will often eat it. Try feeding the stunned meal to your snake for a couple meals and then switch to freshly killed for several meals and then to frozen and thawed. Some baby snakes like their dead prey dangled in front of them and some are scared by that method and take them left in with them instead. Watch how the snake reacts to a dangled rodent. If it shys away you should not force the issue. If it seems to be investigating and smelling the rodent then be patient but be prepared to wiggle it a little if the snake seems to lose interest. As you know they often eat best at night with little or no light or activity around their cage. They often will also eat better if fed in a very small container. A deli cup works good for this. Live pinky rats are safer for the snake than mice though a small hopper mouse cannot hurt a Rainbow Boa. I use a general rule of thumb that I do not offer any rodent live if I would not want it to bite me. A hopper mouse can pinch when it bites your finger but it will not draw blood and does not hurt. Rat bites cannot hurt you or a snake until the rat weighs about an ounce and a half.

>>This Saturday will be three weeks since I got my rainbow and she still hasn't eaten. Conditions are the same.. high humidity and low 70s for temps. Has a hide and part of the rubbermaid has coconut fiber bedding and the rest is paper towels with some branches and a water dish. I haven't tried feeding it live mice because I don't want to get her hooked on them but I'm guessing at this point I have no choice?
>>-----
>>0.0.1 D. Leucomela
>>0.0.1 D. Azureus
>>1.0.0 Leopard gecko
>>0.0.1 Blue-tailed monitor
>>0.1.0 Brazilian rainbow boa
>>0.0.1 Pearl river map turtle
>>1.0.0 Red eared slider
>>1.0.0 Yellow bellied slider
>>0.0.1 Red bellied slider
>>4.1.0 Painted turtle
>>1.0.0 Three-lined musk
>>0.0.1 Musk turtle
>>4.1.0 Diamondback terrapin
>>1.0.0 Duck
>>0.1.0 Cat
>>0.1.0 Dog

I'll reiterate that she may need a bit warmer on one end, at least 76, 77-78 is better. I get mine to eat f/t by wiggling them on tongs (or tweezers if you have a baby). First and foremost, get her to eat something, try live for sure. After a couple weeks of her eating live tho, try the tweezers. Sometimes a little wiggle is all it takes
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7.22 BRB
10.20 BCI
1.1 Mandarin Rat Snakes
0.1 Kenyan Sand Boa
0.2 Corn Snakes
2.8 Leopard Geckos

Its been three weeks and today I went and got her a live one and she ate it no problem. Definitely a relief!
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0.0.1 D. Leucomela
0.0.1 D. Azureus
1.0.0 Leopard gecko
0.0.1 Blue-tailed monitor
0.1.0 Brazilian rainbow boa
0.0.1 Pearl river map turtle
1.0.0 Red eared slider
1.0.0 Yellow bellied slider
0.0.1 Red bellied slider
4.1.0 Painted turtle
1.0.0 Three-lined musk
0.0.1 Musk turtle
4.1.0 Diamondback terrapin
1.0.0 Duck
0.1.0 Cat
0.1.0 Dog

np
-----
0.0.1 D. Leucomela
0.0.1 D. Azureus
1.0.0 Leopard gecko
0.0.1 Blue-tailed monitor
0.1.0 Brazilian rainbow boa
0.0.1 Pearl river map turtle
1.0.0 Red eared slider
1.0.0 Yellow bellied slider
0.0.1 Red bellied slider
4.1.0 Painted turtle
1.0.0 Three-lined musk
0.0.1 Musk turtle
4.1.0 Diamondback terrapin
1.0.0 Duck
0.1.0 Cat
0.1.0 Dog

Factoring in the long wait and lack of food, I'd give her at least a few days. Better safe than sorry!!!
-----
Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

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

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats