Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a baby that I purchased in april of this year as a hatchling. I got her from Backwater. She has not fed on her own since Ive had her. Ive tried live, f/t pinkies. I have her in a small tub. Her temps are 90 on the hot, 80s on the cool. She has 2 hides. I put a water dish in there every other day. Ive been told they really dont need water. She will not eat. Ive tried scenting with lizard, brained, really warm, putting her in a dark container over night, everything. Ive had to force feed her like 5 times. I know that really stresses her out so I leave her alone after only to put another pinky in about 7 days later. I wait to FF her as long as I can in the hopes she will eat but she never does. What can I do? I cant FF her her entire life can I? Sooner are later it will be too stressful for her and me right? Backwater said that all their snakes eat at least 3 times before they sale them. But she was so tiny when I received her, and she has never, ever even shown interest in food. She is on aspen bedding. Ive just run out of ideas with her. I feel so bad. I really have left her alone to let her settle, but this has been since April. Are there defective snakes? I know in the wild most do not make it, but man. Is it possible to get a snake that is inbred and just off?

You received this boa in April, and it was really tiny? With rosies being born in Aug or Sep, one would think a baby would be a bit more sizeable by April. I am just going on your words when you said it was tiny.

I have babies that were born this Aug. They are big enough for fuzzies easily. I have Ariz, Baja, Sonora and California locales. Just giving you an idea of size.

Before you throw in the towel, here are some suggestions:

>Warm end: 83-84 deg (babies do not need warmer)
>Cool end: Less than 80 (down to 65)
>Substrate: Soft pine shavings like 1/2 inch deep to burrow. No, pine is not bad. Aspen is fine to use too.
>Hide: Just some newspaper or similar paper over the substrate.
>Water: Once a week at most for 24 hrs. That is it. More often if the ambient humidity is low, otherwise do not keep water more than 24 hrs.

Too much local humidity for more than a few days is not good for rosies. Babies are more sensitive.

>Food: Rosy babies prefer fuzzies over pinkies, or rat pinks over mouse pinks. They can handle the size typically.

What kind of rosy??? - I had a litter of trivirgata from Baja some years ago, and those things would not feed for anything. I finally cooled them from Oct-Feb. They started eating in Feb with gusto. So that is something else you can try.

Lastly, I don't know Backwater, but I have heard some stuff. Rosies are sensitive snakes (but when kept correctly - e.g. no high humidity, no super cold temps) - they are very strong and robust captives). If the snake was not kept correctly from the beginning, well, you can get this. Or maybe you got a weak one, but then why would they ship a snake that was not in good condition (unless they really do not care..)?

I'm having a similar problem, just not as long term as you. I bought a baby in August. It hadn't even had its first shed when I bought it. A few days after I got it home, it shed. I figured it'd be ready to eat then. I've tried pinkies and mealworms but it just won't eat. It hasn't shed again. I've also tried pieces of pinkies but no luck there, either. Warm end is 85-87, cools down to room temperature (mid-70s) on the other end. I found a few mites on her a month ago so I took her off the aspen shavings and put her on newspaper. I'm about to go back to aspen. She doesn't seem to be otherwise in ill health but she just won't eat. I'm used to ball pythons going on long fasts. I also had some large Burmese that wouldn't eat from October to February. But a snake this size having never eaten in its life concerns me. Any tricks anyone has used? BTW, I have a nice colony of Mediterranean house geckos that live in and around my house. Will they eat baby geckos or pinkies scented with the geckos?