HELP!! with my Red Tail Boa

[KatRice2421]

My Red Tail boa will not eat the pinkie mice. We have had red about one weeks and the store that we got red from said the last time red ate was about one weeks ago. So that makes it two weeks that red has not ate.
What can i do?

[ffollett]

First off pinkie mice are a little small for hatchling red tails.

Second make sure your husbandry is correct. Temps, humidity, etc. There are a lot of things that could be causing him not to eat. If your husbandry is correct then it is still probably just the stress from being in a new environment. Give him a little time to settle in and get comfortable with his new home without handling him. If it goes for more then another week or so then it will be time to worry. I would defiantly feed something larger then a pinkie mouse though.

[ToddBecker]

I agree with ffollett. I recently got 6 baby rtb and I started them out on rat pups. They had no problems with them whatsever. They are now about 3 months old and even though I hate switching back they are now eating mice. I could not find decent size hopper mice locally so the next logical step was back to mice. They are all eating fine and doing good. Good luck and be patient. Todd

[PDXErik]

And don't get too worried about it not eating, snake's motabalisms are so slow, they can go weeks, months without eating with no harmful effects. The thing you should be watching for is if the bulk next to the spine on their back, if that deminishes or goes away, if you can see ribs, if it is looking thin, then start to worry.

It could be, like ffollett said, your environment. It is likely that it is still getting used to where it is and may take a while to feel comfortable enough to eat. Eating is one of the times that a snake is most vulnerable to being caught and eaten in the wild.

[smith4031]

Hi guys, Kat just a thought, but have you given your little buddy time to adjust before feeding. young boas can shy from feeding from excess handling, movement around their enclosure, being moved etc. Try not to handle him for at least a day before feeding also try feeding him in the early evening when the sun is going down, by nature this is when your boa will be most active and is the perfect time to try offering a meal. I do agree with checking the environment but we all should be doing this DAILY!!! Our neonate sand boas eat fuzzies at 1-2 months old and our BCI's eat large fuzzies to weined mice when born. the trick is feeding an item that is as large or a bit smaller then the largest part of your snakes body, when he eats you should see a small bulge in him. Keep us posted, and when your boa starts feeding he will be an Animal @ dinner time...Adam