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What are the feeding triggers for viper boa's?

I have a viper boa that juvinile viper boa that doesn't seem to want to eat anything. I've tried the small frogs, pinkies, scented pinkies with tuna, tried anoles as well. He struck a little when I first got him, but he never would connect and then it seems like he just gave up. He's not terribly thin or anything but it's been a few months. Can you train them to eat pinkies through force feeding?

I don't think its stress related because my other viper boa will eat absolutely anything and is totally docile to hold. The non-eating v.b. I don't even hold to reduce stress. Is there any almost sure-fire tactic to get them consistently back on pinkies? I've also tried cupping but he seems to just snuggle with the pinkies overnight.

Any thoughts welcome...

THERES ONE THING YOU HAVENT TRIED...HOUSE GECKOS...IF ITS REFUSING EVERYTHING ELSE, YOU SHOULD TRY A HOUSE GECKO...JC

No I haven't tried house gecko's. I'll give them a shot, and if that doesn't work then i'll just have to wait them out.

Just out of curiousity, anyone have a favorite source for house geckos?

Strange thing today. It was the first rather sunny 65-70ish spring day here in Boston and so I took one of the non-feeding Viper boa's and took her outside and put her in the flower bed. Thought she'd like to pretend to be wild for a couple of mins. Boy she went into evil snake mode and started striking at everything. Me, the flowers, and anything that moved. Then she almost tried to crawl under a rock to escape. Phew. lol.

I don't know if this was a defensivene posturing simply because she was out in the bright light. But she was striking like a rattler. My thinking is next time i'll take her outside in a large deli cup, let her see the light and warmth and then place a fuzzy rat in there. Maybe that will trigger some feeding fiestiness.

Anyone think this could work?

Maybe bright light is a feeding trigger. My bedroom is rather dim/ soft ligthing so maybe that is why they usually are tame and easier to handle. I guess what i'm asking is does any expert here know what value light plays in this species role, specifically when it comes to feeding. I might go and setup a uv flourescent light over their tank to give them some more daylight during the day. Does anyone do this?

Hi,

I have always loved Condoia! They are amazing! My knowledge on them is very little, but is growing fast.

Whenever I bring my snakes outside they do the same thing. They almost get a smell of freedom and go beserk. It's kinda strange.

Here is a picture of my generally tame western hognose playing dead!!!!

Wow, that's some death pose! Does it only do this under stress or what?

Are the Viper Boas nocturnal like a lot of the Candoia? My C bibroni bibroni go nuts when I take them out into direct sunlight, but are much calmer if I take them out at night. I suspect vampiric genes....

Further to my last post about nocturnal Candoia, I have had a much smoother time feeding my c. Bibroni bibroni since I stopped waking them up in the middle of the day and trying to get them interested in food while all they wanted was to crawl back under a rock, and started feeding them in the evenings.

So I wouldn't think that more daylight would help: at least not at feeding time. Maybe you should observe their natural daily behaviour for a couple of weeks, identify the time they are most active, and try feeding them then, so that you fit in their natural routine.

Mine ALWAYS feed if I offer food once I have noticed they are moving around their tank for an evening or two. If I try to feed them on my schedule and hoick them out of the hides willy-nilly, they sometimes do , sometimes don't, feed.
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