I'm worried...(Rosy Boa please help)

[Chiikaku]

My friend had to get rid of her Rosy Boa, so she gave him to me. She informed me that it had been 4 days since he last ate. Since then, it's been over 2 weeks.. I'm really worried about him. I prepared his mouse exactly how my friend did and he just won't eat it. He smells it and then turns the other cheek...

Can someone please help.. I don't want to lose him :no:

[stephanbakir]

Some snakes take time to get used to their new living situation, give him a another week or so and leave him alone, asides from changing the water.
After that, try again and if he doesn't take it simply place the mouse in a plate and leave it in his viv, and leave him alone with it overnight.

Check the temperature and humidity and compare them to what your friend was running with because snakes are really sensitive to changes.

Good luck!

[stephanbakir]

O yeah, and snakes can go literally months without food if they need to for whatever reason.

[Wolfus_305]

How old is he? How long have you had him? What is his set up like (temps, hides? etc)

[Chiikaku]

Thank you so much for the information! He's just so sweet and I love him to death.

He's not real big, so he can't be too old. I've only had him for about 3 weeks. I'm not sure of the dimensions of his tank, but It's rather large. There's three different lights: A black light(which has to stay on all the time) can anyone tell me why that is exactly?,
A florescent light and a heating lamp. There's also a heating pad under the left side of the tank.

[stephanbakir]

Snakes don't require a UV bulb. do you manage the temperatures yourself or do you use a thermostat?

[Jay]

Sounds like you took in a snake without doing much research at all. I cant give you any info ( I dont deal w/ Rosy Boa ) Hopefully someone on here can help you

[Chiikaku]

Yeah, I've never owned a snake until this one, but I have owned a reptile, before.
There's a thermostat in his tank. It usually stays at a steady 90 degrees.

[marvelfreak]

Do you have a water bowl in it's cage? If so how big and how long do you leave it in there? I ask because they don't do good with to much humidity. For Rosy of you live in a humid regions you want to put a very small bowl in once every 2 to 3 days for 12 to 24 hours then remove.

High humidity is associated with respiratory problems in captivity. In addition, humidity may a contributing factor in regurgitation syndrome.
Could you post pictures of your set up?

[Lankyrob]

Yeah, I've never owned a snake until this one, but I have owned a reptile, before.
There's a thermostat in his tank. It usually stays at a steady 90 degrees.
Do you mean thermostat or do you mean temperature gauge?

[Chiikaku]

He has a water bowl.
It's about big enough for him to coil into. It's not really deep at all. I'll post pictures of him and his tank today.

Yeah, my bad. It's a gauge instead of an actual thermostat. Something tells me those aren't very reliable, are they? :sorry:

[Lankyrob]

Not really, most reptile keepers will pick up a handheld infrared temp guage as you can use it in multiple vivs.

I wouldnt want any heating device near my animals that isnt controlled by a thermostat.

[marvelfreak]

He has a water bowl.
It's about big enough for him to coil into. It's not really deep at all. I'll post pictures of him and his tank today.

Yeah, my bad. It's a gauge instead of an actual thermostat. Something tells me those aren't very reliable, are they? :sorry:
You can get digital thermometer that also tell you the temp and humidity at Wal-mart starting at $8.00 on up.

[Chiikaku]

I was planning on getting a better thermostat

Only $8, huh? I thought it would've cost me more. Thanks for that tidbit.

I also wanted to know how often should you handle a snake?

[marvelfreak]

I was planning on getting a better thermostat

Only $8, huh? I thought it would've cost me more. Thanks for that tidbit.

I also wanted to know how often should you handle a snake?
What Rob talking about is a thermostat. They're use to control the temperature of say a heat pad or heat bulb.
Thermometer is for reading temperatures. I think you might have a thermostat confused with a thermometer.

As far as handling i would wait till you has eaten for you at least a couple times.

[stephanbakir]

Thermostats are absolutely a must

[Chiikaku]

Yeah, yeah you do have a point there. Thermometers and Thermostats... Psychological patterns blocked by low IQ of rednecks... :Wow:

Right now, all I have is a really terrible thermometer that seems somewhat overused and inaccurate and that heating lamp I mentioned earlier. For some reason he doesn't seem to like the heating lamp, though. He tends to avoid it when it's on. I must purchase one of these thermostats, soon. Would a hot rock be recommended instead of a heating pad?

Sorry for all the noobie questions...

[stephanbakir]

Hot rocks are bad for a ton of reasons, please stay away from them.
electrocution
severe burns
uncontrollable surface heat
etc etc etc

[Shmoges]

Can we see a pic of it?

[shaunyboy]

Snakes don't require a UV bulb. do you manage the temperatures yourself or do you use a thermostat?

some species need uvb to thrive in captivity i do not know if the snake in question is one of them as its only carpets i keep

i use uvb with my diamonds and i know a guy who keeps ornate flying snakes and uvb is a must if you want to keep them alive

i experimented with uvb with bredl pythons

1 pair had uvb in their viv's 1 pair had no uvb

i found the pair with uvb showed much better colour than the ones without uvb

so uvb does have some positive effects on snakes i've found

cheers shaun

[shaunyboy]

are you handling the snake ?

if so i would stop handling and leave the snake in peace and quiet only going near it to change its water every 5 to 7 days

give it 2 weeks like that then heat the prey item up and offer you could also try puncturing the prey items skull 3 or 4 times with the point of a pair of scissors until grey liquid comes out the puncture holes.give the head another quick heat and offer to the snake.

is the snake in the same tank your friend had it in ?

its just sometimes if a tanks too big for a snake it will feel insecure and stop eating

i would not worry too much about 2 weeks of not eating as i've had a carpet hatchling that did not eat until 10 months old with no ill effect (its never missed a meal since)

cheers shaun

[Chiikaku]

He's in the same tank my friend provided for him.
I don't think it's too big, but I'll need a second opinion when I post some pics of 'im(Currently unable to do that at this moment in time. Lost camera USB...:freakedout:)

I've only handled him once, really. My friend just plopped him right in my hands -_-;;


So, puncturing the food is recommended? I vill have to try that, for he is still refusing to eat... T.T