Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok, I have a suriname red tail boa. The only thing that I don't like is how do I know when the boa is hungry and will eat. How do you know? What signs are there any? I have had my boa for a couple months and I like it. I have figured out that my boa will not eat if it is going to shed. Ok.....great I figured that out. When the eyes get milky and than it starts to yawn and stuff....I know that it will not eat. What is frustrating is that I may go and buy a rat and than either will figure it out by accident that it is going to shed or something like that. I feed my snake that is 3 1/2 feet long once a week a rat. I just wish I knew when it was not going to eat just than. Some of you may be in luck about just keeping the rat for later to feed....but my wife hates all reptiles and keeping a rat around pisses her off.....just want to know if there any tips that you can share or things to look for in the snake that will let me know when it was hungry before I spend money for the rat.

First off. many people overfeed their snakes. They simply do not need to feed often. One simple trick to get them to eat is wait till their hungry. Space out the feedings. Do not gorge the snake with a lerger feed item.

One good rule of theumb for you might be to feed on a defecation schedule. When the snakes poops, you get a rat to fill it back up.
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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 (05/26/2009):
36.51 BRB
29.42 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

That is assuming you have the right temps / humidity / hides / clean the cage etc.
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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 (05/26/2009):
36.51 BRB
29.42 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

I feed my boas after they have at least defecated the last meal and once I see them start cruising around their enclosures, usually that means they are looking for a snack. My young boas get fed every 7-15 days, adults get fed every 2-4 weeks.

True red-tail boas (surinams, etc) do not normally feed as often as other common/colombian boas, their systems cannot handle a heavy feeding schedule and they can be prone to regurg if overfed. You did not mention how big or old your snake is.

I sounds like you may be feeding live, there are a myrid of reasons to not feed live, the first being possible injury to the snake (even when supervised, I know because I used to feed live), not to mention the suffering of the prey animal. If you need links or more info I would be happy to provide them.

Good luck,
-April
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'There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."' -Rainshadow

I suggest keeping the Boa getting rid of the wife or at least
trading her in for a better nicer model ,LOL

Sorry I could not help it I couldn't resist

The others have given you great sound advice

. . . Lar M
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Boas By Klevitz
Boas By Klevitz

Guys,

Will a uneaten and live rat be ok in my boa cage for a few hours?
I know I made a mistake....I should have not left the rat in the cage...I am new..... here is my webcam. I will be home in a few hours....any issues here....please don't get to pissed at me.

http://www.mvanlone.publicvm.com username: jvanlone
pw: jvanlone

and remove that rat!
He can seriously injure your boa!
Rats are fairly smart prey animals, if your snake has not eatten it there is a chance the rat may attack your snake.
Please please get home and take it out ASAP

Some links for you to look at later to understand why I am saying what I am... these contain some graphic pics:
http://www.pangeareptile.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6124&highlight=ball python

http://bellsouthpwp.net/j/b/jbuncc/feeding.htm

Please look into changing over to feeding pre-killed or frozen-thawed. If you only have one snake, you may be able to find someone locally that can add a bag of frozen feeders to their order and then you can stock up for a few months. You can pre-kill the rats with CO2 (dry ice at the grocery store), ask if you need to know how to do it, or by whacking them or breaking their necks (last two options can be messy sometimes).

Good luck, I hope your boa is okay.
-April
Dangers of Live Feeding

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'There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."' -Rainshadow

I will be leaving work in a hour. I really, thought that it would be ok to give the snake the rat during my lunch I was hoping that he would eat during that time. Since I had to leave to go back to work, I figured it would be ok until I got home. (WRONG)!!!! I have been worried sick and more worried about my snake than anything. I plan on killing the rat and throw it in the freezer. Tell the wife to chill out. As I have been watching the snake I have noticed it yawning a couple of times. I think I know the issue. The snake is going to shed soon. That is the problem here why it did not eat. Yeah, I learned a lesson. After I deal with the Rat I will go over the snake make sure it is ok. Clean out the cage. Sorry if I had accidentally upset everyone.....I AM WORRIED ALSO.....be home at 4:00 PM EST....I will never do that again.....I was only trying to make sure it was able to eat....I should had made sure I had time and watched the snake to eat which I usually do.....

I got home and I killed and froze the rat. I checked the snake and it was fine. I think though that it was stressed cause of the rat and all. Since the rat is in the freezer the snake is back to itself again. I learned a lesson. Now, the wife is PO at me cause there is a rat in the freezer. My wife hates me and my snake...oh well.

hey, at least you learned, never, ever leave a live prey animal in an enclosed space unattended (especially a rat). now that being said, wives come and go, a snake is for 20 - 25 years of pure happiness and enjoyment. haha
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retic is king of kings

1.0 Tiger Retic
1.0 Albino Tiger Retic
0.1 Striped Tiger Retic (het albino)
0.1 Salmon Boa
1.0 Albino Boa
0.1 False Water Cobra

your wife would hate to see my freezer . I also stress that feeding pre-killed, or frozen/thawed meals are the only way to go. Since you admitted that you don't know how and when to feed, I'm curious about your set-up and if your temps are correct, as well as the humidity. They're very important to the longevity of your Boas life.
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Snake room janitor

My setup is perfect, my cage looks like a animals plastic type of cage. The humidity and heat is right on as well. I have a thermostat that keeps the ambient temperature right on 90 degrees on the hot side. There is a heat mat on the bottom hot side of the cage as well as a heat lamp (gives no light) inside of the top of the cage on the hot side. The cool side is around 78 degrees. I have a nice size tupperware cake pan that has water in it and I have it sitting over in the hot side. The humidity is right around 65 - 70 percent. I have both the heat lamp and heat mat plugged into the thermostat and if it gets over 90 degrees on the hot side it turns off both devices.