Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello!
I have a female Kenyan sand boa, I've had her for about a month now. She is about a year old, we think, because and she's almost 24 inches now. I want to switch her to frozen meals... She takes small mice now, but she is a difficult feeder... she's only eaten once since we got her. I just tried to offer her a mouse yesterday night and she seemed interested, but didn't kill or eat it.

I am keeping her temp at about 90 now, so maybe this will resolve her picky eating problem, but I need some advice on how to switch her to frozen food...any advice would be nice, as I have read a few books, but nothing seems to give any tips on changing a snake from live to frozen prey...Thanks!

(Also...off topic but of interest...when a Kenyan hunts, what are they looking for exactly? is it mainly smell or vibration that draws them to the prey?)

First off, I'm guessing you're KSB is 2 years old. At one year, 24" would be a freak giant. But, on to switching to f/t. Usually easiest to switch first to pre-killed. I've never had an issue with KSB's switching over; it's always been a matter of time before they accept it on their own. Waiting for about a month before feeding, then giving a live mouse, followed by a pre-killed mouse will often work. If not, you can try shaking a the mouse in front of the snake. Typically, if the snake is hungry, it will take the food. After awhile of this, the KSB will take the pre-killed food readily, and it should easily be switched over to f/t simply by giving it f/t.

Typo. It was supposed to say 2 years old.

Also, from what I've seen of mine hunting, it appears that it is the scent that gets live feeders going. On those that eat f/t, they seem to be entirely visual. (only a couple years experience, a lot of people on these boards that way over trump me in this field)

Ah! thanks so much Keego, I appreciate the info ^_^

You can try always offering the live mouse with use of forceps so she reconises the tool when you give her the thawed version. in my opinion you should be killing the mouse just before feeding so that she doen't get an unneeded injury.
Chain feeding can also work well. feed her a smaller mouse(fuzzy or small hopper) as she is just finishing it put the thawed mouse at the tail end of the one about to be consumed and the snake will take it just like it was part of the first one offered. after it has a taste of a thawed mouse it will recocnize it as food. Sometimes this takes a few trys and doesn't work with all animals.
Also make sure the meals aren't to big, some prefer smaller meal than what they could eat.
I have a female that should be eating small hopper that will only eat pinkies(not even fuzzies)I haven't tried to change her diet yet but will soon.

Thanks so much for the info...I will definitely try that when she eats next!

I put them (snake) in a paper grocery bag with a f/t mouse and clip the top shut for darkness. After a couple hours check on them and they almost always take the food. The bonus is that if you always feed like that then they arent looking to you for food every time you open the cage.

Thanks so much for the tip! I tried that one out, she didn't want to go for it, but perhaps she is just stubborn.
Thank you very much! ^_^

Do you have a temperature gradient? You say it's 90, but does she have a cooler end to go to too. Always watch their behavior. Where do they spend their time. If they are PLASTERED to the cool end of the tank as if they want to will themselves through the glass, they need a cooler end etc.

As far as switching, I find it's easier in snakes with a nice prey drive. Get her eating more reliably first, otherwise you're noting going to get good results. Her age might make it complicated too. I usually start babies as soon as I can. But here's what I do. I start by feeding them live in their cage, they're on paper towels as new borns so it's not that big of an issue. Once they do that reliably I start picking them up and moving them to a deli cup w/ lid with the same type of towels in it and give them a live. Once that's working well and they eat reliably on that I give them a few extra days to be hungry, so they have a HUGE prey drive and offer a F/T in their deli cup with them. At that point I have a baby kenyan trained to 1. eat in their feeding "cage" and 2. eat F/T.

Now with my older animals that are "picky" (I have some females that I can't get to go after anything if they aren't able to hide under their bedding) I get some good sized "tonges" (I use what are called Sponge forceps, 9" size, see ebay). Move the mouse around like it's alive. I've found that Kenyas really respond well to something "tickling" or putting slight pressure (like footsteps) on their back about 1 or 2 inches behind their head. Once the snake grabs the mouse I remain holding the mouse and move snake/mouse to an empty container for the remainder of the meal.