Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey all, I'm hoping I can get a little advice...

I'm working in a pet store, and there's a young suriname boa that hasn't eaten in over 2 months. I don't know the total history on this guy, or what shape it was in when it came in, as I only started working there recently and I'm not in the reptile department. Right now, the boa is looking pretty bad - it's losing weight, and has what looks like a retained eye cap (one eye is blue and appears 'rough' around the edges), and a retained tail tip (about 2 inches on the end of the tail are duller, and it looks like there's a thin line seperating this area from the rest of the tail). The boa was moved to the back today, and we put in a humid hide to try and loosen the retained pieces of skin. Any other reccomendations on what to do to remove the stuck shed would be appreciated.

Now, as far as feeding I know that the staff have tried braining pinkies and mouse-maker, among other things (btw, only mice have been attempted - no rats in stock that are anywhere near small enough). Now, I don't have any experience with boas, and don't know if there's something we should try that works particularily well on boas (I keep mostly cornsnakes personally). Is it worth trying lizard-maker with boas? We don't have any small gerbils (live or frozen) now, but would scenting a mouse with gerbil bedding be worth a shot? I've also read that dipping a mouse in chicken broth might work? Most importantly, what should we try first?

Oh, other conditions at present - the boa is in a small tank in a warm room, the tank has an undertank heater on one side (don't know the temps currently, can try to find out on monday). Substrate right now is paper towel. A water dish and one hide with damp paper towel in it are in the tank. Overall humidity of the tank is also currently unknown (again, I can check on Monday).

Any advice would be appreciated.
Dawn

...you didn't give the size of the snake. In a nutshell up the humidity substantially, temp over heat pad should be about 88-90 at one end of tank, cool end of tank low 80's. Hide boxes at each end-snake will thermoregulate on its own. Forget the lizard-maker or mouse-maker crap and offer a small live mouse (ie for a 2 foot long boa offer a weanling mouse, preferably dark-colored) under supervision. A fuzzy rat (about 7-10 days old) is an alternative. Gerbil-bedding exposure wouldn't hurt any. The bit of retained skin and eyecap are secondary problems to extended poor environment. Feeding in reduced light probably would help. Check for mites around eyes, in the fissure under the bottom of lower jaw, and in water bowl (little black dots, plus some will be moving on snake). The most readily available effective treatment would be No-Pest strip available at Ace Hardware (1" x 1" piece/10 gallon tank-place in deli cup with a dozen 1/4" holes). Good luck. Scott J. Michaels DVM