Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just received my new BRB on Friday. He was born May of this year. The Breeder said he last ate on Tuesday (last week) and he ate 2 hoppers and a fuzzy.

I put him in his new cage Friday morning when he arrived and left him alone so he could get settled in. I went to feed him last night and he didn't seem at all interested. I left a hopper in his cage for an hour and a half, but no luck so I removed the mouse. He does look a little opaque like he may be getting ready to shed, but I am not positive.

I know with other snakes, like Ball Pythons, it is recommended that you wait at least a week after you get them to try and feed. Is this the same for BRBs? How long should I wait before trying to feed him again? How long should I wait before I worry about him not eating?

Hopefully he is just getting ready to shed and will eat as soon as he does, but I'm not convinced that this is the issue.

Thanks,
Nick

Nick,
. Make sure the cage temperature and humidity are correct. The snake may still be stressed about being moved. When feeding little BRBs I find they will eat best if left alone for a day or two before feeding and if fed in the dark and if the food is a very small live adult or large hopper mouse. After they become accustomed to new surroundings they will usually eat prekilled mice in the daylight with no problems. They will even often eat when opaque. Do not leave the snake unattended with an adult mouse.
Jeff

>>I just received my new BRB on Friday. He was born May of this year. The Breeder said he last ate on Tuesday (last week) and he ate 2 hoppers and a fuzzy.
>>
>>I put him in his new cage Friday morning when he arrived and left him alone so he could get settled in. I went to feed him last night and he didn't seem at all interested. I left a hopper in his cage for an hour and a half, but no luck so I removed the mouse. He does look a little opaque like he may be getting ready to shed, but I am not positive.
>>
>>I know with other snakes, like Ball Pythons, it is recommended that you wait at least a week after you get them to try and feed. Is this the same for BRBs? How long should I wait before trying to feed him again? How long should I wait before I worry about him not eating?
>>
>>Hopefully he is just getting ready to shed and will eat as soon as he does, but I'm not convinced that this is the issue.
>>
>>Thanks,
>>Nick

Thanks for the info. The humidity is above 90% and the temps range from the mid eighties on the warm side to 72 on the cool side. I had tried feeding a frozen/thawed mouse last night, but I will pick up a live hopper tonight and see if that will work.

I usually feed in a seperate container, but since he is stressed I put the food in his tub. Is it ok to leave a live hopper in the cage with him?

Thanks,
Nick

Nick,
. If the snake has been eating prekilled food it might be better to wait a few more days and try a fresh prekilled mouse. It sounds like you have the cage right so the snake probably did not eat due to stress or it may have not switched to dead prey yet. If it has not been switched yet I would feed it live for the first few meals at your house and then you can switch it over to prekilled after it is acclimated and you see that it feeds and digests okay. It is okay to leave a live mouse in as long as the mouse is not big enough to harm the snake by biting it. It really depends on how big the hopper is and how large it's teeth are.
Jeff

>>Thanks for the info. The humidity is above 90% and the temps range from the mid eighties on the warm side to 72 on the cool side. I had tried feeding a frozen/thawed mouse last night, but I will pick up a live hopper tonight and see if that will work.
>>
>>I usually feed in a seperate container, but since he is stressed I put the food in his tub. Is it ok to leave a live hopper in the cage with him?
>>
>>Thanks,
>>Nick

This message is for you Jeff. Since you obviously know more about these than I do. I bought an adult pair of Brazilian Rainbow Boas at the last Raleigh NC show. These were both WC and pretty much freshly imported. They were left in a bag without water or food for a week at least(probably longer). When I got them home on 08/31, I set them up in a cage with high humidity, 2 hide boxes(one on warm side,one on cool side), and a huge water bowl. They were both dehydrated but I got that taken care of. Now, I have weighed them both, Flagyled & Panacured them with the correct doses, but still can not get either one to eat. I've tried everything. From lizards, mice(live,F/T, & fresh pre-killed, to rats(live, F/T, and fresh pre-killed, gerbils, hamsters, and baby chicks. Neither one seems to be interesyed. I've even tried the python trick of putting them in a bag overnight & that don't work either. The guy I bought them from told me to bring them to the next show we'll both be attending & he would help me resale them to get my money back. I won't do this. I would never try to pass them off to someone else knowing there is a problem with them. They are both beautiful snakes and my intentions are to keep & breed them. But I've got to get them eating if I want them to live. Neither one had ticks or mites, which was really a surprise!
Do you have any hints, comments or suggestions on how I can get these feeding? Any help at all would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Cricket

Cricket,
. When I used to get imported BRBs I had good luck with them. Most of them came in pretty rough looking with external and internal parasites and BIG appetites. They all ate very soon after I got them. It did not seem to matter what I offered though some would not initially eat dead prey they all took live mice and live small rats readily. I wonder if perhaps yours have something else wrong with them? No external parasites makes me question what they may have been treated with to get rid of external parasites? I also wonder how long they were dehydrated and if that may have damaged their kidneys? Are they drinking now and passing lots of liquid and solid urine like BRBs typically do? Flagyl and Panacure are the commonly used treatments for internal parasites but they do not kill all internal parasites. You may need to treat them with Droncit (Praziquantel)if they have tapeworms or flukes. Tapeworms can be present and cause no problems until they get very large or enough of them infect the snake. Are you sure they have the right temperature in their cage. New imports are pretty defensive and will hide out in the best hiding spot even if it is way too cool or too warm. The only other thing I can think of is that they might have some sort of infection? You might need a vet to do some lab work to find the problem.
Good luck with the snakes.
Jeff.

>>This message is for you Jeff. Since you obviously know more about these than I do. I bought an adult pair of Brazilian Rainbow Boas at the last Raleigh NC show. These were both WC and pretty much freshly imported. They were left in a bag without water or food for a week at least(probably longer). When I got them home on 08/31, I set them up in a cage with high humidity, 2 hide boxes(one on warm side,one on cool side), and a huge water bowl. They were both dehydrated but I got that taken care of. Now, I have weighed them both, Flagyled & Panacured them with the correct doses, but still can not get either one to eat. I've tried everything. From lizards, mice(live,F/T, & fresh pre-killed, to rats(live, F/T, and fresh pre-killed, gerbils, hamsters, and baby chicks. Neither one seems to be interesyed. I've even tried the python trick of putting them in a bag overnight & that don't work either. The guy I bought them from told me to bring them to the next show we'll both be attending & he would help me resale them to get my money back. I won't do this. I would never try to pass them off to someone else knowing there is a problem with them. They are both beautiful snakes and my intentions are to keep & breed them. But I've got to get them eating if I want them to live. Neither one had ticks or mites, which was really a surprise!
>>Do you have any hints, comments or suggestions on how I can get these feeding? Any help at all would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
>> Cricket