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Hi, I have a two year old female rosy who has essentially never missed a meal until last week when she killed and then ignored her food. This week she was completely uninterested in her live mouse. Her tank is set up with a hot side (no hotter than 90) and cool side. She has aspen substrate and cave to hide in. The one change to her living condition is the introduction of a younger male rosy about three months ago. I have no idea if they have bred and have no idea how to tell if she is gravid (forgive me for sounding uninformed). So here are my questions: Could the new tank mate stress her out enough to not eat? If she's gravid, how do you tell? And I guess my third question is this: Am I missing something? Thanks.

1.1 rosy boas
0.1 Dumerils Boa
1.3 Ball Pythons

It sounds like you have a gravid rosie. You could also probably remove your male now and expect some baby rosies. GL

There could be a few reasons that she's not eating for you.

Two years old is a bit on the young side to breed a female and most breeders recommend waiting until the female is at least four years of age so that they have done most of their growing and are more capable of producing a healthy litter with minimum strain on themselves. I'd recommend removing the male and giving her a couple more years to mature in case they haven't bred yet.

If she is gravid, many females will still eat but will want smaller meals. If she's been taking mice, try offering crawlers or fuzzies.

You could also be experiencing a seasonal slow down. Many rosys will stop feeding during the colder winter months regardless of whether or not you're cycling them. Give her a week and offer s small prey item. If she still does not eat, offer her small prey items on a biweekly basis.

There is really no way to tell if she's gravid or just not eating due to season at this stage. If you begin to notice a significant increase in girth then she probably is but this usually takes some time to develop.

-Alice

Thank you both for your insight. We removed the male and will try another feeding within the week. If she is gravid what kind of heat should we provide? Is there a middle ground between possible gravid and just cooling down for the season?

1.1 rosy boas
0.1 dumerils boa
1.4 ball pythons
1.0 corn snake

I would be very surprised if your rosy was gravid for 3 reasons:

1. She is a bit young & if you have an even younger male in there he might not be ready to go yet either.

2. You would have noticed copulation as it happens multiple times a day over as much as several months.

3. It's the wrong time of year.

It's probably just their natural tendency to not feed during the winter months.
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Thanks,
-JC
rosyboas.to

1.1 San felipe (CB'93)
0.1 ghost San felipe (CB'98)
1.0 ghost San felipe (CB'03)
0.1 het ghost San felipe (CB'04)
1.0 ghost-line San felipe (CB'98)
1.1 hypo Borrego (CB'99)
1.1 albino Whitewater (CB'02)
1.1 double het for snow (CB'95)
1.0 snow rosy (CB'04)
1.1 Joshua Tree (CB'96)
1.0 Bagdad (CB'99)
1.1 Harquahala Mts. (CB'04)
1.1 Temecula albino (CB'02)
0.1 Temecula albino (CB'05)
1.1 Hemet anery (CB'05)
0.1 Boa constrictor (CB'92)

Just wanted to thank everyone again for their advice. Our rosy ate two pinkies for us yesterday, small but better than nothing.
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Thanks..... Caine53

1.1 rosy boas
0.1 dumerils boa
1.3 ball pythons
1.0 corn snake