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Our two viper boas (One 1 ft and one 1 1/2 foot) wont touch mice. We even tried rubbing skin from a lizard alll over it, but the snakes wont touch it. They have yet to eat in our care. Weve had them for about 1-2 weeks. We even tried feeding them anoles, but they didnt eat them. We are buying that lizard-maker stuff, but i dont know what else to try!! Any suggestions?

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How do you have them set up? What type of enclosure? substrate? hides? temps? Are they housed together or seperately? Is the enclosure near any drafts of cool air? Are they near the floor or higher? Do you handle them constantly? How about a run down of what you are doing to try and help eliminate what you may not be doing?

The most obvious question is when(time of day) are you offering the prey items? alive or frozen/thawed? Do you move them in any way to feed them? Are you patient when offering food(allowing the Viper to approach), or do you corner them with the feeder(holding the prey against the head and body); applying to frozen/thawed? If offered alive feeders, is there room enough for the Vipers to choose not to interact?

I have had certain wild caught Vipers take up to 3 months of being completely left alone before they began to readily accept prey(provided sufficient weight, heat, and clean water). Stress is the biggest factor with Vipers. If they do not feel secure, most will not settle in.

Right now they are in each a 10 gallon with a heat lamp, paper towels as substrate, but on top of that we have torn up paper towels for them to hide (which they usue readily. The temps on the hot side are around 85-90. No drafts. Housed seperatly. Higher than floor. We handle them occasionally.

We tried to feed them in the afternoons (so i geuss thats a problem considering they are nocturnal). Alive prey. We do move them to a serperate enclosuer(also a problem i geuss). We are VEYR patient and give them PLENTY of time. There is plenty of room in the box for them tog et away, and we usually stun the feeders.

Thanks so much for your input! VERY helpfukl!
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First, your temperatures are too warm. The Candoia group requires warm end temperatures around 80F, though you could safely go up to 85F so long as they have access to a cooler end in the mid to upper 70's...not really possible to give that kind of gradient in a ten gallon tank though. All the Candoia require large enough water bowls to soak in, secure hides and peace and quiet. New animals need time to acclimate. Stop handling them and allow them to settle in with no disturbance for at least a week before attempting to offer food again. If they're in a high traffic area of the house, move them somewhere quieter. Offer a prey item in the evening and in their cage...if you're using live prey, supervise the feeding but from a distance. Many snakes won't eat if you're standing over the cage. Frozen thawed prey is the best option, placing it near their heads with tongs and then leaving the room entirely. In my experience, most of them will take f/t prey like this. The exception in my collection is my WC male who I had to make a number of accomodations for early on.

Here's a link to Jerry Conway's site (THE expert on Candoia):

www.kingsnake.com/candoia/husbandry.html

Raven

Pretty much what Raven stated, but I would get rid of the basking light and screen top. After looking over your webpage, that type of set up works good for your desert Beardies, but not for a swamp-dwelling Viper. Try a piece of Plexiglass (with ventilation holes drilled in) over the top of the tank with either heat tape or a heating pad under one side. Your temps are too high. Around a high end of 83 and a low end of 77. Don't guess on temps! Have a couple of options for visually telling the temps...thermometers, thermostats, those little stick on strips for aquariums as a last resort.

Again, a shallow water container large enough for the Viper to soak in is a necessity.

Try a few changes and slowly work your way to a stable point.

I could not agree with SRX any better.

Joe
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2.2 Solomen Island ground boas
0.1 Solomen Island tree boa
1.0 green tree python
1.0 jungle carpet python
1.0 coastal carpet python
1.0 Boa constrictor imperator
0.1 Borneo short-tailed (blood) python
1.0 CB sunbeam snake

Have done all that now. I closed the top most of the way, leaving only a small venitlation crack in the screen. I know they were different then the beardies, we also have many other types of snakes and boas, but candoia are so much different! They havnt eaten yet. Should we just not go for a heat source at all then? Undertank heater or...low wattage bulb? Thanks so much, you all have been a great help. The temp on the cage ambient temps is about 77 and warm end is about 81. (with basking light attached much higher from cage)

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