Reptile & Amphibian Forums

About a month and a half ago I received a rubber boa from a friend of mine. It hasn't eaten since I've had it, I offered it food last week, 3 pinkie mice but it just pushed them around, never seemed to take interest in eating. That's not the main concern, I have some ideas to try and stimulate a feeding response, but tips and tricks for getting rubbers to eat would be appreciated. The real issue is that the boa is beginning to turn white. The scales that are turning white look like perfectly normal scales except that they lack pigment. After doing research online I read that sometimes snakes will start to turn calico later in life. It happens a lot in retics and corns. Another thing I read is that some snakes lose scale pigment from coming in contact with certain types of plastic, like plastic water bowls. It happens sometimes to dogs noses when they have plastic water bowls, their noses start to turn pink. It also said that losing pigment does particularly harm the snake, so would leaving the plastic water bowl in the tank be considered cruel, or just an experiment...? (wouldn't it be interesting to see and all white rubber boa?)

Also, if you'd like to see pictures of the boa I can find a way to send them to you, is there a way to post them on here? I'm new to this forum.

Thanks,
-Randon

Randon:
You haven't provided enough detail in order to assess your situation. All I can say is that Rubber Boa scales turning white is not normal. After injury, replacement skin and scales with be white before total healing has taken place. But as the healing continues, such new skin and scales will become pigmented. In the case of burns and some major injuries, scales will often become pigmented black as well as brown.

How large is your specimen? Was it captive bred from the wild and if the latter, from what state or region?

When did this phenomena begin happening or did the snake have some white scales when received? What percent of the snake's scales have now turned white. If the condition is progressing from few to many scales becoming white, that would suggest some chemical irritant or a pathogen (fungus?) many be the cause. Are the white scales of normal size or are they slightly enlarged or is the tissue beneath the scales somewhat swollen ? Is the boa's skin supple or somewhat dry looking? How do you insure the snake is hydrated?

Give details as to how you are maintaining the specimen. What is the type and size of cage or container in which the snake is housed? What substrate is being used? What temperature(s) and lighting is being used over the 24 hour period?

Richard F. Hoyer

P.S. I can be contacted at charinabottae@earthlink.net