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I've got a 4 month old bci that seems healthy; it sheds in one piece, been growing fine, never had ri, defecates fine etc. however its always been reluctant to take prekilled. It takes live fine but for obvious reasons I would like to avoid live. Usually when I have a prekilled mouse that is still very warm, I try dangling it in front its mouth it shows interest but it usually takes 10-15 minutes till it strikes and eats it. On several occasions I've left it overnight and my boa would just stay next to it. I feed it conservatively; once every 7-8 days so its definately not overwheight. My question is: is that its "personality" or is there a remedy to this very reluctant and frustrating eater. Thanks alot

I would try tapping the snake on the head with the p/k mouse thats what works for me its kinda like fishing you just gotta keep working the bait different ways until you get a strike!!

Ahhhh your boa is just a baby give it sometime and keep trying, its obvious that he is a good eater if he take lives well enough, so sometimes you just have to wait them out until they realize that its food that your waving in front of them... They can just be timid and not understand that you are just trying to feed them but more often i just try to wait them out and know that next week they will be hungrier and prolly take it with no problem... But patience is the key... keep us posted on how it goes...

Sincerely,
Rose Hipskind

PS.. the nose bonking sometimes works for us too but sometimes it will just scare them more.. soooo
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www.srsnakes.com

Hi,

In the event that you have temps, humidity, and the right size cage, you’re not holding him too much and you have plenty of hides, it just may take some time for the little guy to build up some confidence. I agree with srsnakes, the whole nose-bonking thing can scare a snake. That is no way to help your little one build up courage.

He is what I do and I have had great success with this. Take a Rubbermaid or similar style box that is just large enough for the snake to maneuver in a bit. Put a live fuzzy in the box. The fuzzy should be to young to injury your snake. Put your snake in the box, cover the box with the lid and then place the box in a quite area with a blanket over the top. Give him a complete hour to eat…no peeping…Then if he has not eaten try again in 7 days.

Putting a snake in a nice quite dark place with food constantly in contact with them really works well in putting them into feed mode.

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Jeff
0.1 Wife (Homo sapiens sapiens): Kim
2.0 Hogg Island Boas, Bob Sears Line (Boa Constrictor imperator): Ham-let and BLT
1.1 Smooth-Scaled Sand Boas (Eryx johnii johnii): Xerxes, and Sa'rai
1.0 Kenyan Sand Boa (Eryx colubrinus loveridgei): Solomon
0.2 Kenyan Sand Boas, 100% het anery (Eryx colubrinus loveridgei): Sheba, Jasmine
0.1 Doberman (Canis familiaris): Princess Grace
1.0 Pitbull Mix (Canis familiaris): Popcorn
1.0 Rough Collie (Canis familiaris): Dante
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