Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a finicky CB '03 male B. gabonica rhinoceros that usually only eats once for me about every 3 or 4 weeks or so (occasionally after 2 at the very best). I try freshly killed, frozen thawed, stunned, rat pup, mouse, various teases with tongs, leaving overnight, braining, disembowling, feeding with cover, feeding out in open, light, dark, etc...
I keep him at an ambient temp of 80 F and soak him for 30 minutes once or twice weekly. My female is already almost 2.5 times his mass and she rarely misses a meal.
I realize that every 2 weeks would be ok for a gaboon, but three or four is not good in my opinion. Are there any gaboon feeding or husbandry tips that I am missing out on?

I'm not sure I can call myself seasoned yet, but I've cared for a number of gaboons over the last year. Most have been no problem to feed, but they seem to respond to the kind of teasing that just scares a lot of other snakes. Try holding the mouse by the tail (with tongs of course) and moving across in front of the sanke, just above and in front of its nose. Sometimes just holding it an inch above his head or a little off to one side helps. They seem to be programmed for this kind of sneak attack from below.

On the other hand, we have one that just prefers to have you hold the mouse level in front of it, and it'll politely take it off the tongs. Go figure.
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Larry D. Fishel
Side effects may include paralysis
and death but are generally mild.

He just ate for me after I left a FT mouse in front of him for 15 minutes and turned out the lights. That makes it only 6 days between his last 2 feeds. Fantastic! Looks like we are on the upswing.