Your Reptile and Amphibian Resource and Information Site

Back to Boa Constrictors Forum   Forums   Home   Members Area  

Boa Constrictors Forum

Britt_any02   ShadowAceD   Britt_any02   Fairy Frog Mother   Britt_any02   Fairy Frog Mother   Britt_any02   Fairy Frog Mother   Fairy Frog Mother   Britt_any02   Fairy Frog Mother   Britt_any02   Fairy Frog Mother   Britt_any02   Scimma   Fairy Frog Mother   Britt_any02  
 Member  Message

 #2058221


Britt_any02
View Profile

 She’s not eating

I just bought a female Het albino boa over a month ago (and spent way too much on her), but she won’t eat for me. The guy we bought her from breed his own live rats, and we are trying to get her to eat F/T. He told her to give her time, and she will adapt to them, but now I’m a little worried. She doesn’t even act interested, what should I do. Also, she act a lot different than my other boas. She raises her head straight up in the air and moves it around funny. The guy we got her from housed all his snakes together and now she is by herself. Any suggestions?????
08/16/09  03:36pm

 #2058522


ShadowAceD
View Profile



   Message To: Britt_any02   In reference to Message Id: 2058221


 She’s not eating

Take her to a vet. Boas are typically very indiscriminate eaters, so switching from live to frozen/thawed should not be a huge deal. I have to ask what the temps/humidity/substrate are ... but, that is not as foremost a worry to me as some of the other things you said. Here are a few things that are concerning though she was housd with other snakes ... and there is a parasite that reptiles can get specifically from coming in contact with another reptile’s fecal matter. These parasites fill up the intestines and bloat the stomach, causing discomfort, irritability and a lacking desire to eat. I lost a boa to these parasites as they had caused a secondary infection in her stomach her immune system was incapable of fighting. I had to euthanize her because it had gotten far beyond what could be handled by modern medicine.

Now, as for the lifting her head and moving it around thing ... that is not really specific enough to make suggestions. Most of my younger boas exhibited that behavior in earlier stages when contemplating escape. Now, when she does this ... does she fall over? If you flip her on her back, does she had trouble righting herself again? If so, that is symptoms of IBD. I don’t want to say that is it, but I suggest you remove this animal from the room if it is around any other snakes and houseit separately.

But, the bottom line is ... take her to a vet. ASAP. She needs to go if just to have a simple check up.



08/17/09  01:02am

 #2058857


Britt_any02
View Profile



   Message To: ShadowAceD   In reference to Message Id: 2058522


 She’s not eating

She doesn’t flip over or anything, she just raises her head a lot. She’s in her own separte cage in the same room as the snakes, is that enough or does she need to be in a separte room. I pid way too much for her too, since I’m knew to this I jumped the gun and bought her. I’m going to have to research and find a reptile vet in my area, thanks very much!!!!
08/17/09  02:45pm

 #2058866


Fairy Frog Mother
View Profile



   Message To: Britt_any02   In reference to Message Id: 2058857


 She’s not eating

IF ( and thats a big IF) it was IBD it is highly contageous to other boas and pythons. Whenever you bring home a new snake, It should be quarentined in a seperate room, and you should not touch any of your other snakes after handling her ( change clothes and wash hands before going between them.) The prognosis is very poor for boas with IBD, and even worse for pythons. There is no test other than a liver biopsy to determine if this is indeed what your snake has.

IBD signs include "Stargazing" where the snake looks up and stares off into space, Seisures, and lethargy.

This does not mean your snake has it though. Young snakes do check out new surroundings, and have more of a tendancy to lift their head to check things out. If she can right herself after being put on her back, its a good sign that its probably not IBD.

Your snake could be going into shed...but you mentioned having had other boas who didnt display this behavior...and I think youd recognise the signs of shed. Double check your humidity and temps to be sure all is correct (85 on the hot side, 75-80 on the cool and 55-70% Humidity) and be sure it has access to plenty of fresh, clean water. Do not use pine or cedar shavings. Aspen or cyprus mulch, Coconut fibre, or heck, plain old newspaper or paper towels lining the bottom as long as she has a couple of hides- one on the cool side one on the hot side, are all fine.

If she poops, you will want to bring in a fecal sample to the Vet. ( the fresher the better) That way they can send it off to check for parasites.

Good luck! I hope shes just getting adjusted. Sometimes it takes them a few weeks to settle in...but Boa constrictors dont usually have too much of a hard time eating unless they are stressed or sick.




08/17/09  02:59pm

 #2059044


Britt_any02
View Profile



   Message To: Fairy Frog Mother   In reference to Message Id: 2058866


 She’s not eating

Well she’s not a baby she’s an adult female, but I know what you are talking about because our babies raise there heads up and look around. It’s different than that though. She hasn’t shed and all of our other snakes that we got around the same time already shed’d. She hasn’t gone to the bathroom, and she doens’t even seem tempted when we put a F/T rat in there so somethings wrong. Thanks, I just didn’t know if I was freaking out for no reason, because I haven’t been around boas that long.
08/17/09  06:10pm

 #2059565


Fairy Frog Mother
View Profile



   Message To: Britt_any02   In reference to Message Id: 2059044


 She’s not eating

What are her temperatures and humidity like?
Is there any wheezing or whistling when she breathes?
Whats her set up like?
What kind of substrate do you have her on?
Do you have any photos?
08/18/09  01:10pm

 #2059722


Britt_any02
View Profile



   Message To: Fairy Frog Mother   In reference to Message Id: 2059565


 She’s not eating

Her temps range, on the hot side it’s between 89-94 on the cool side it stays between 82-85. The humity goes from 75-90%. She’s in a tubaware, with newspaper, and water bowl and a cardboard boxs as a hide. No noises when she breathes. I talked to the orignial owner and he said we will work something out about shipping her back. Do you think that would be the right thing to do?
08/18/09  05:09pm

 #2059916


Fairy Frog Mother
View Profile



   Message To: Britt_any02   In reference to Message Id: 2059722


 She’s not eating

that is both too warm and too humid!

Boa Constrictors should be at around 85 on the hot side, above 90 you are baking her brains. Also her humidity should be between 55 and 70%

Right there is probably why shes not eating.
08/18/09  09:26pm

 #2059919


Fairy Frog Mother
View Profile



   Message To: Fairy Frog Mother   In reference to Message Id: 2059916


 She’s not eating

the cool side should be between 75 and 80

sorry missed that in my post.

Hopefully it hasn’t been that hot for over a month.



08/18/09  09:28pm

 #2059933


Britt_any02
View Profile



   Message To: Fairy Frog Mother   In reference to Message Id: 2059919


 She’s not eating

I may be thinking about it wrong, I’m not home to check it. I’ll double check when I get home. All 9 of our other snakes are perfectly fine, and they love to eat, and are very active. My big male loves to stay on the warm side in his hide away so I know it’s not too hot. As for the humidity I’ve asked every person I’ve bought a snake from what’s normal and 90 is good for when they shed, I even read that in a book. But I will double check it. Like I said I’m so knew at this that any information you can give me is very appreicated. I’ll let you know what it is when I get home, thanks.
08/18/09  09:47pm

 #2060003


Fairy Frog Mother
View Profile



   Message To: Britt_any02   In reference to Message Id: 2059933


 She’s not eating

90% Humidity is good for Rainbow boas in shed, not Boa constrictors. That high of humidity you are risking fungal infections. Tubs are fine if adequately ventilated.

Double check several sources. I grew up with boas, and still have them. And I still check stuff.



08/19/09  12:17am

 #2060429


Britt_any02
View Profile



   Message To: Fairy Frog Mother   In reference to Message Id: 2060003


 She’s not eating

Okay I sure will, I double checked with my husband and the highest the humidity got was 88, and that’s when we put more holes in there cages so decrease it. Thanks, I will look into some more sites and books. We just bought a cage yeaterday that has a built in heat source and it tells you humidity and temp, so that should work out better.
08/19/09  04:20pm

 #2060858


Fairy Frog Mother
View Profile



   Message To: Britt_any02   In reference to Message Id: 2060429


 She’s not eating

That will make your life a WHOLE lot easier, yes!

I was worried because tone of voice does not come across when posting, and I was afraid you might think I was being accusitory. I used to work in a pet food shop, and people had the most insane notions about what animals needed or didnt...and sometimes Id be told by upper management to push certain products because they got a price break from the company and the profit was really good. They didnt like it much when I pushed the cheaper, more effective solution...but it got customers to come back after they checked with their Vet to find I was right.

One day these places will learn having informed, properly trained staff are more likely to keep their buisnesses going for the long haul, not just a quick profit.

There is a whole lot of misinformation out there. Even when given a solution here, its best to check several sources. Saves a lot of heartache and vet bills in the end, usually.

Sometimes, an animal gets sick and theres no way around it. Hopefully, she will be alright and feed for you.



08/20/09  12:08pm

 #2064866


Britt_any02
View Profile



   Message To: Fairy Frog Mother   In reference to Message Id: 2060858


 She’s not eating

Sorry I haven’t replied in a while. I shipped the snake back, and the original owner was really nice about it. He seems to think she is pregnant. So we will see in a couple of months:). Thanks for all your help. On another note there was a guy from kingsnake that sold me a snake and it was infested with parasites, and he wants no part in it. So my luck with snakes right now is not so good. I bought 3 more snakes from that guy at the same time, so now I don’t know if they have parasites.
08/28/09  09:44pm

 #2065752


Scimma
View Profile



   Message To: Britt_any02   In reference to Message Id: 2064866


 She’s not eating

I am a firm believer that there should be a way to black list individuals who sell snakes in such conditions (speaking of the snake infested with parasites). at this point I must say that I have been farely fortunate with all of the snakes that I have purchased. However that is only due to the fact that I am willing to pay allot more money to deal with a big name breeder. In regards to the seller who took the boa back no questions asked, you should write a testimonial for him. I know very few breeders who will do that especially once you have had the snakes for more than a couple of days, especially in europe. you should consider yourself lucky, and ( based on my experience) consider that gentleman for future purchases. Any man who stands behind his product like that has my blessing.

and fairy frog mother, dead on with the Temps, I learned that the hard way with my first Boa, because most of the "care sheets" that you read say 90 degree temps, Mine are set to 82-85 in the warm side and all of my animals are healthy and happy.
08/31/09  08:11am

 #2065813


Fairy Frog Mother
View Profile



   Message To: Scimma   In reference to Message Id: 2065752


 She’s not eating

Thanks!

Good luck with the rest of your snakes! I absolutely adore mine.



08/31/09  11:37am

 #2066391


Britt_any02
View Profile



   Message To: Fairy Frog Mother   In reference to Message Id: 2065813


 She’s not eating

My temps avg about 82 on the warm side, but is that warm enough when they are pregnant?
09/01/09  05:25pm


Back to Boa Constrictors Forum   Forums   Home   Members Area