Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi all. How long should I let a neonate SIB go without eating before I start force feeding? I have 1 that I have had for 1 month, and it hasn't eaten for me yet. I've tried anoles, frogs, house geckos, pinks, and even nightcrawlers. Haven't tried small fish yet. The other one I have ate when I first brought it home (1 pink), but hasn't eaten since. They are both 4 grams.
-----
1.1 Ball Python 0.0.1 corn snake 1.0 Bearded Dragon
0.0.2 fish 1.2 cats 3.1 kids 1.0 husband and now...
0.0.1 Pink Zebra Beauty Tarantula
2.0 Solomon Island Boas

This is just my opinion but ONLY IF you have tried everything, then I would try force feeding a pinkie head. I tried everything under the sun with my SIGBs but nothing worked. I even force feed tiny guppies but it was messy and I don't think it provided the same nutritional value as a pinkie head.

I found that force feeding a pinkie head was very easy and did not require much 'forcing' so-to-speak. If done correctly, you should be able to gently insert the pinkie head partially to the point where the snake will do most of the work by doing whats natural and swallowing it. I really think there is simply not enough known about what triggers a feeding response from these little beauties! In the wild, the adult females must give birth to large litters probably b/c the survival rate among the young is very low. feel free to email me if you have any questions about force feeding ....... jason.
cjasno@aol.com
-----
My Homepage

Jason is pretty much dead on in his post. I think that since the females can have such a large litter that the ones that were born "healthier" are the ones to survive. I've got some that eat like pigs and others didn't do as well. I've come to the conclusion that Jerry Conway REALLY DOES know what hes doing. When I go to breed my adults, I will have breeding colonies of Green Tree frogs and Green Tree Skinks ready to go also. Pain in the ass to do? yep. are these boas worth it? absolutely. I would email Jerry if you havent done so already. Hes a really nice guy and will help you out all he can. I've have lots of papers on these boas and the research shows that while these boas will/do eat small mammals, the stomach contents show a lot of frog and skink remains (more so in the little ones)
email me also @ randysreps@cs.com if you have a question
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/pacificislandboas Randy

WOOHOO!!! He ate!! Thank you for your replies, both of you. I was getting close to the end of my rope with him. I decided to leave him overnight in a seperate container with the last of the feeder house geckos. It was a HUGE gecko comparitively. This snake only weighs 4 grams.....Well, we checked this morning and....no gecko! But, we do have a VERY fat sausage snake. He held out for 1 month, eating nothing. The other one ate 2x for us, a house gecko and a pink. Thank you for all your support! Hopefully, I'll get some pics up soon.
-----
1.1 Ball Python 0.0.1 corn snake 1.0 Bearded Dragon
0.0.2 fish 1.2 cats 3.1 kids 1.0 husband and now...
0.0.1 Pink Zebra Beauty Tarantula
2.0 Solomon Island Boas

Thats great to hear!!! They can be a little difficult. I want to mention this also, I know Jerry Conway and others say to feed them every ten days or so but I have not had any eat again for around three weeks. I feed them the smallest pinks (one day old) and as you say, they are full!!!!! Maybe its my setup for them but feeding them once every three weeks is working.

Randy

Hey Randy,
I've had one eat 2x, so that's every 14 days, and then this lil guy once in 4 weeks. They are SOOO different from the other snakes I have. I spent about 1 year looking into them before I made this purchase, and Jerry and his site have been invaluable, as well as all the people on the board.
Thanks again!
Kathy
-----
1.1 Ball Python 0.0.1 corn snake 1.0 Bearded Dragon
0.0.2 fish 1.2 cats 3.1 kids 1.0 husband and now...
0.0.1 Pink Zebra Beauty Tarantula
2.0 Solomon Island Boas

>>Thats great to hear!!! They can be a little difficult. I want to mention this also, I know Jerry Conway and others say to feed them every ten days or so but I have not had any eat again for around three weeks. I feed them the smallest pinks (one day old) and as you say, they are full!!!!! Maybe its my setup for them but feeding them once every three weeks is working.
>>
>> Randy

My little guy is eating once every 5 days and boy is he eager now that he is on pinks...well peachfuzz now. (Got him last April) He has pooped and is out snapping at anything in that time. I wondered about the length of time between feedings.
I started him on Dusky Salamander larva. It was the one thing I tried that they went wild over. Helps that I live on a stream and have kids to catch them. After a few meals of sals it was easy to switch to tiny pinks as they already were taking off of tongs.

Now my adult WC aspera.....yeah she goes a couple weeks.
-----
Sonya

Failure is not an option. It comes bundled with the software.

Sonya-----My babies must just be wierd!!! They have both shed a couple of times and are getting big (for Candoia) I think what works for some doesnt work for others. Maybe its something in these really cold Nebraska winter days/lighting/pressure changes ect Randy
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/pacificislandboas