Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just recently acquired a new baby BRB and was having trouble getting her to eat. I have her humidity between 70 to 80 percent with a moist hide box. I am doing everything I can to keep that up. The warm spot is about 90F and the cool spot is around 78F. I have tryed teasing her with f/t fuzzies and hoppers, I have tried live fuzzies, I have tried scent transfering, I have tried placing her in a bag with a f/t hopper as well as feeding her in the dark, but nothing seeks to work. She is still a neonate (about 1' with a body girth of a little less than a dime) and I am worried that she may begin loosing weight if she doesnt start eating soon! It has been about three weeks since her last supposed meal and I am worried! Maybe just paranoid. Is there anything else I can do? Is her cage humidity and temp sufficient? I am all out of ideas here?

I just recently acquired a new baby BRB and was having trouble getting her to eat. I have her humidity between 70 to 80 percent with a moist hide box. I am doing everything I can to keep that up. The warm spot is about 90F and the cool spot is around 78F. I have tryed teasing her with f/t fuzzies and hoppers, I have tried live fuzzies, I have tried scent transfering, I have tried placing her in a bag with a f/t hopper as well as feeding her in the dark, but nothing seeks to work. She is still a neonate (about 1' with a body girth of a little less than a dime) and I am worried that she may begin loosing weight if she doesnt start eating soon! It has been about three weeks since her last supposed meal and I am worried! Maybe just paranoid. Is there anything else I can do? Is her cage humidity and temp sufficient? I am all out of ideas here?

Your temps are too high. There are some suggestions I have for you. Lower those temps 8 to 10 degrees. I think you must be having a really hard time keeping your humidity to the level stated, but I'd increase it more. A ceramic heat emitter in a 10 gallon tank will be removing the humidity in an hour or less. The top will have to be almost completely covered to prevent this. Remove the lights completely or don't ever turn them on. Get a different hide that is not clear (that in itself defeats the purpose of a hide in the first place). Make sure those temps are measured correctly, because in a tank that small with a thermostat controlled CHE of 150 watts I find it difficult to beleive you actual have that great a temp gradient.
Make sure her water is deep enough for her to submerge in .

That's alot of stuff, but it is important to make some dramatic changes quickly. I wouldn't bother her at at until the environment is adjusted-not even to feed.

Let us know how it's going.

Linda

she is in a 10 gallon tank with cage carpet. She has a shallow water dish (big enough to bath in). Her cage has an ultrasonic humidifier that runs all day (off at night) with a humidity between 70 and 80 percent. she has a 150 watt ceramic heater with a thermostat on her. The temp is 90 at the hot spot and about 78 at the cool spot. She has fluorescent lights on durring the day off at night. she has a hide box (white sides with a see through top) with wet moss inside. she also has a plastic plant and a branch to climb on. I was reading some of the posts on the forum and I think my temp and humidity may be off! any help is apprechiated. Thanks!

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It does but the thermostat has has a a temp control on it that I keep turned down. I can make it as cool as I need to. I need to know what temps would be best though?

I haven't kept a rainbow boa before but I have kept many other snakes (corns, columbian boas, bulls, balls to name a few) and one point in time they have all refused food. I found that the best way to do it would be to take it out of its tank and keep it in a small sweater box with only a water bowl and a good hide box & heat pad. Do not touch or even open the box for about 3-5 days. After that time I would place a prekilled mouse in the box at night and leave it overnight undisturbed. Allow it to eat several times befor placing it back into its tank. If this doesn't work then I don't know what to tell you but it always has worked for me with many other snakes. Best of luck.

prevetherper,
...Little BRBs do great with a temperature gradient in their cages from the low 70s in the cool end to the high 70s or low 80s in the warm end. I use a Raytek IR temp gun and check the body temperature of my snakes with it. Most of the time my BRBs are in the part of the cage that maintains their body temperature around 73. If you have a temperature gradient in the cage they can move around to thermoregulate. They often move closer to the heat right after eating and back towards the cooler end after they have digested. If you keep them in cages that are too small to have a temperature gradient then try to get the entire cage in the low to mid 70s. I have had little BRBs spend the winter with their cages in the high 60s and they still ate and digested meals with no problems. If your thermostat is proportional and very sensitive it may work okay with a heater of 10 or 20 watts. If it is not proportional it will be way too hot when it is on even with a smaller heater. In a small cage it is probably coming on and heating the cage too hot quickly and then cycling off until the cage cools back down. The big heater will evaporate the moisture out of the cage. If you seriously limit the ventilation in the cage the humidity and heat will stay in the cage and you can heat it using a much much smaller heater.
Jeff

>>It does but the thermostat has has a a temp control on it that I keep turned down. I can make it as cool as I need to. I need to know what temps would be best though?

Ok! I adjusted the temperature and it now now cycles between the 70 and 75 degrees consistantly. I have also covered the cage top halfway with plastic to help retain humidity. My humidity guage still reads 80 but I am convinced its broke! The cage is sopping wet and I cant see the bottom of the cage because its so foggy. The humidity has to be at 100 percent by now. I think the guage just isnt showing it. Also I covered the clear top on her humidity box, so that no light would shine in. After doing all of this I tryed feediing her again but no dice! She wouldnt even look at it. Is there anything else I can do to get this snake to eat? I really dont wanna loose her to starvation. Thanks again for all your help!

Give it a couple days before you feed her again. She's going to need time to adjust to her new environs.