Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi I've kept rosy boas for almost 10 years and successfully bred them twice. My uncle owns one of the offspring from the first clutch, a female. Shes probably 6-8 yrs old now and we have had no problems trying to get her to eat until now, other than regular seasonal stuff. But its now February and she hasn't eaten since early summer of last year! We have never had to force feed a snake before and don't particularly want to but it feels like it might become our last option. She is in decent physical shape not super thin or anything like that she just hasn't been eating, defecating, or shedding. Any help on this subject is greatly appreciated, thank you.

If you've been keeping rosies that long I will assume you have a feel for their behavior in captivity, as in the seasonal fasting that you mentioned.

She may not need to eat yet. Definitely not unheard of in a rosy that age. She may resume come March.

Any changes lately? Stress is a possibility. Rosies "learn" their cages. As adults, when a radical change is introduced, they may stop feeding until they learn their new cage and feel comfortable. I've seen that. Babies adapt quickly. Older adults can take time.

A soak in 75-80 deg water is a good thing for captive rosies once in awhile. It hydrates them and gets things moving, if you know what I mean. I've raised neonate rosies up to big fat adults with no water in their cages - all water was offered in soaks. During drier season, every two weeks. And they almost always pass fecal matter then.

Hopefully her fasting is temporary. In the meantime, give her a basking spot of up to 85-90 degrees and see if she uses it, even sparingly.

Good luck.
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Mark

thank you for the info i was thinking it may be seasonal and as far as soaking that has skipped my mind for some reason i will try that. thanks again for the information