Reptile & Amphibian Forums

So here's the story. I dropped a LOT of cash on an adult 1.2 trio of Isabels back in Summer of 2010. The females had the potential to be gravid, and therefore were not eating. In Novemberish one the the females gave birth to 2 stills, one weak live baby that died a week later, and a few slugs. She then died a couple weeks after that. The breeder thought she may have been bound up with the rest of the babies.

The other female ended up not being gravid, but still to this day has not eaten one thing.... not even interested. The male ate one thawed rat pup right away, and hasn't eaten anything since. However, they both are VERY willing to snap an bite at me, so I know they have the energy, lol!

I've tried various sized mice and rats, both live and dead. I recently got my hands on some frozen chicks and they turned up their noses at those too. The breeder said they were eating very well on thawed rats, and is at a loss as to why they won't eat for me.

They still have fairly good body weight, but not as hefty as they were when they came in.

They are being kept in a large sterilite tub, with a damp moss hide a large water dish and newspaper for substrate. The room temp is around 70-75, and the heated end is set at 85.

I am ready to pull my hair out with these two. I seriously would not have spent all that $$ had I known this would be the result. I am worried for these remaining two, as I really do not want them to die. They are absolutely breathtaking animals and it would be a shame to lose their genes.

Can anyone help me??

-----
Aubrey Ross

©
www.SlipstreamSerpents.com

In my experience some adult candoia eat alot, & some very little. I had a Solomon Island ground boa a while back that only ate 4 meals in the 4 years I had it. As long as they are not looking too thin I wouldn't worry too much.

One thing you could try is feeding them a big Cuban tree frog, or a lizard of some sort. I know starting over on switching them back to rodents would be a pain, but that might get them eating again.

Dan

..stupid ? thought....western hogs eat tuna dipped pinks....
I actually think the tuna reminds them of lizard for their reasons...not ours....but anyways...small rat pup dipped in tuna...you have nothing to lose....you could go lizards or lizard scented fuzzie mice or rats....size appropriate for them....but if they ate rats...lizard is going backwards...
-----
........JY

Along those same lines, I know some have had success with reluctant feeders by using appropriately sized goldfish. As Dan stated, lizard or frog could also be tried if necessary.

Kelly

Sorry about your nice boa,shipping gravid animals is always a bad plan.Make sure your other snakes are housed seperatly-with a good hide-somewhere they won't be bothered.They also enjoy belly heat and this may raise temps to stimulate feeding.These can go a very long time without eating.DO NOT feed them a CUBAN tree frog-they are POISONOUS!-look it up.jenni/

Oh wow, good to know! I guess I shouldnt give advise about feeders I've never used myself!,lol. I just named the 1st big frog thats easy to come by.

Dan

When I lived in Virginia,Cuban tree frogs colonized the,out of season(end of winter),swimming pool at the town houses where I was staying.I caught tons of them,to get them out before they set the pool up for summer.I didn't know they were an invasive species-just thought I was doing a good deed.OOOPs!Anyway whatever is on thier skin is really awful stuff.jenni/

Perhaps be sure they are housed separately where they cannot smell or view each other as the presence and/or scent of a female may send the male off feed. They often can sense high pressure so if you live in a northern climate and they have not eaten for six months then that may be normal especially since they have not lost weight but think the female is off due to her living off her fat and old eggs. Perhaps rig a rain chamber and roate them in it for 3-4 hours a day for a week and get them moving A LOT and activated A LOT and exercised and that should spark one or the others hunger. The female is perhaps lingering by living off undeveloped eggs and she may eventually pass something and hit the food hard afterward. Probiotics is an option after the rain chamber as I have seen probiotics make pythons that have not eaten in nine months eat the very next day after the stuff was administered. As far as food goes, if they are eager to strike at your hand then try to get them to strike at small food item on forceps as they may hold and eat it if you back off and leave the room. A hungry snake eats so if they are otherwise healthy then there is really no worry there and they will eventually come around although it is not too uncommon for female boas or snakes for that matter to demise from egg issues. A vet can perhaps get a scan and see if she is holding eggs but that's obviously expensive so perhaps try all you can this spring and by summer they should be eating as they were raised in north america and should kick onto food within 60 days.

Dan

Thank you all for your helpful replies! I really appreciate all the advice you have given. I will try a goldfish this weekend, and see how that goes.

Does anyone know where I can get larger frogs? I sometimes see pixie frogs at the pet stores, but not sure if those are ok. I also don't want so be spending $20 or more on a feeder animal if possible, lol.

Also, what is a "rain-chamber"? I've never heard of this before.
-----
Aubrey Ross

©
www.SlipstreamSerpents.com

As you are perhaps aware, frogs will introduce parasites to the candoia so would obviously recommend waiting them out for another month forcing plenty of exercise and perhaps change their entire arrangements etc prior to resorting to frogs or even administering probiotics via a tube before trying a frog. If you need a frog to scent rat pups then you can perhaps freeze the frog and rub the slime/juices all over a rat pup and that works often when you box the snake in a tight shoe box with the food so its close by and feels secure eating or cannot move away from an easy meal. There are several dealers in the ads section that offer frogs and a gold tree frog (from asia) may be a good choice as they grow large and would last a long time in the freeze as a scent item.

Dan

I would also give them a water dish large enough to soak in, my C. paulsoni love to soak. My adults eat ~1 time/month. Last year a gravid female didn't eat for ~4-5 months.

-Chris
-----
Christopher E. Smith
Contact
Captive Bred Herps
Wildlife Research & Consulting Services, LLC

Yeah, they have a very large water dish, but I rarely see them in there. They really like the moss hide, though.

I tried goldfish yesterday. They totally ignored them as well. Uggh... I guess I will see if I can get my hands on some frogs. Any good sources you know of? Or just search the classfieds?
-----
Aubrey Ross

©
www.SlipstreamSerpents.com

Do the snakes have good weight? If they have good weight I would wait them out (not try frogs, etc...).

-Chris
-----
Christopher E. Smith
Contact
Captive Bred Herps
Wildlife Research & Consulting Services, LLC