This is my first post here primarily because this is the first time I've needed help this badly. I bought a pair of rosies about 6 weeks ago. The male has a great feeding response, has shed and is fine. However, the female is always hiding in the substrate (normal I know), is very timid, curls into a ball when I try to handle her and has yet to feed. I've tried a lot to get her to eat such as live pinkie, thawed pinkie, bleeding live pinkie, feeding in a deli cup, mouse maker on a thawed fuzzie, and live fuzzies. All she has ever done is hide from the food, show no interest, and even coil up and mess herself. The previous owner took good care of them and they are both healthy adults. At first I thought it was from the stress of the move but now I getting very worried. I use aspen in both tanks, water dishes one day a week and basking temps of 88F. When should I consider force feeding her which I know is the last resort? Both snakes have identical setups (10 gal) and a normal light cycle. I really need to get this girl to eat before she even thinks about fasting for the winter Please help!
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Need help feeding rosy!
Replies (2)
Give her a hiding place and stop messing with her for a while. She's being very timid and will probably continue to be until she feels safe. If she isn't terribly skinny, don't worry too much about her eating habbits yet. If she is skinny, don't cool her down yet until she comes around and takes a few good meals, or you can even keep her awake into the winter. Once she starts feeling safe, you should notice her coming out occasionally to look around. Then you might want to hide a mouse in something that she can go into and find on her own. You said she is an adult and you tried to feed her in a deli cup, none of my adults would comfortably fit in a deli cup.
Good luck
High Desert Herper gave you good advice. I didn't see where they were adults. They sounded like '04 babies from your description. Unless her whole enclosure is too hot, she should be fine well into November. Work at making her very secure environmentally, and try tricks you learn about through research. Live and bird scent can be helpful, but nothing is guaranteed. It sounds like you may be doing some of the breeders job with establishing the female.
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Jamie W.
(url)http://rosyboas.tripod.com(/url)
