Not sure if I'm in the right spot; Kenyan will not eat?

oliviasarus · 05-29-12, 06:33 AM

Hey guys. This probably isn't in the right area but I'm kind of at my wits end.
Just registered because every other forum I've been on is useless.

Anyways. I have a baby Kenyan Sand Boa...not sure of the age but he is definitely a baby. All his temps are spot on, but he WILL NOT EAT. No parasites or anything like that, and of course the breeder told me he was a "great eater". Uh yeah ok. I'm very leery of feeding him live because I don't want him to get spoiled as I feed my BP f/t and am a firm believer that live makes them more prone to being aggressive. Please, any tips would be greatly appreciated. I've browsed the forums here and nothing really has helped as far as getting my poor mittens to get down on a mouse. I've had to assist my ball a few times, but I'm afraid my KSB is far too small to open up his mouth and i'm very VERY scared of getting him force fed, as it hasn't been long enough to resort to a force feeding. Maybe I'm an over-protective herp mom?

Anyways, any kind of tip would be great. Many thanks!!

Gungirl · 05-29-12, 07:17 AM

Before anyone can really offer you advice we will need some information. What type of enclosure is he in and how is it set up? What are the temps and humidity? How often are you offering food and how are you doing so? How was the breeder feeding him and pre heating the prey? Are you doing it the same way as the breeder was? All of this information and details will help us help you. Also force feeding should always be a very last resort....

oliviasarus · 05-29-12, 07:38 AM

10 gal. Hot side usually hovers around 93 degrees F, cool side is around 75 or so. He's on coconut bedding, and the breeder said that he was given f/t with all the others from his clutch with no problem what so ever. I've put him in a paper bag and made sure it's nice and warm and compressed (not smooshed) for him, put him in a different enclosure so he could "attack" the pink, done the zombie dance, brained it, but nothing. He is still shedding and very active, but is on a hunger strike apparently. I'm kind of worried seeing as it's been a good 3 weeks since his last meal, but he looks healthy doesn't seem thin.

Tekpc007 · 05-29-12, 07:42 AM

you could try a live but freshed killed , always works for me when a FT won't.

oliviasarus · 05-29-12, 07:48 AM

What would be the best way to, uh, off the pink? Or would the place I buy a live pink from be able to do it?
Gosh, I thought baby balls were a pain to feed!

infernalis · 05-29-12, 07:50 AM

Pinkies cannot fight back, just feed it to the snake.

without a "gas chamber" killing a pinkie is messy at best.

I just give the pinkies to my snakes.

Tekpc007 · 05-29-12, 07:50 AM

just a swift knock on the head with a end of a spoon or or a small cut behind the head can kick in the scent/feeding reaction. Not for the squimish i guess.

infernalis · 05-29-12, 07:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tekpc007

Not for the squimish i guess.

squeamish people keep carnivorous ambush predators as pets?

oliviasarus · 05-29-12, 07:54 AM

Well, I guess I'll head out to get one when they open up then! Hopefully he finds it a bit tastier than a f/t.
Thanks again for the input. I'm starting to get a bit worried, and no one around me has even heard of a Kenyan.
Fingers crossed!

buffcoat · 05-29-12, 08:00 AM

My girlfriends brother has a kenyan that refused to eat. It also is a baby. I told him to feed a live pinky to it. She gobbled it up. It seems after they get their first "taste" its easy to switch them to f/t. You might need to poke its head til clear fluid comes out on your first f/t attempt but its not to bad. Like someone said previous pinkies can't fight back so there us no chance of yer lil baby getting hurt.

infernalis · 05-29-12, 08:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by oliviasarus

no one around me has even heard of a Kenyan.
Fingers crossed!

Don't feel bad, a lot of the people around me have never heard of half the animals we keep.

StudentoReptile · 05-29-12, 08:19 AM

I'm with Infernalis. Pinkies (and small fuzzies as well) cannot fight back and present no danger to your snake. Just toss it to

Quote:

Originally Posted by oliviasarus

and of course the breeder told me he was a "great eater". Uh yeah ok. I'm very leery of feeding him live

Quote:

the breeder said that he was given f/t with all the others from his clutch with no problem what so ever.

Find out EXACTLY how the breeder was feeding him before you got the snake. Was he taking the snake out and putting it in a paper bag? Or was he feeding it inside its cage? I'd determine whatever the breeder was doing to successfully get it to eat f/t and replicate it to a T.

Quote:

I've put him in a paper bag and made sure it's nice and warm and compressed (not smooshed) for him, put him in a different enclosure so he could "attack" the pink, done the zombie dance, brained it, but nothing.

In my personal experience (especially with ball pythons and KSBs), this stresses them out even more. Taking the snake out, moving it into another container that smells different than their normal habitat is stressful. My advice to to stick to feeding it inside its enclosure.

There is the misconception that feeding a snake outside of its cage will make it less aggressive and curb any "food aggression." Based on my own experience and talking with several other keepers, I have observed no evidence that this practice makes a difference in their temperament. Aggressive snakes remain aggressive no matter where they are fed, and docile snakes remain docile even when fed in their cage. In the end, I determined it was a lot of extra time to take each snake out and feed it in its own separate container and feeding responses for finicky eaters improved when I left them in their cage anyway.

Quote:

I've had to assist my ball a few times, but I'm afraid my KSB is far too small to open up his mouth and i'm very VERY scared of getting him force fed, as it hasn't been long enough to resort to a force feeding.

This should only be a next-to-last resort. Remember that a healthy snake can go weeks, even a few months without eating. Don't wig out. I had a male KSB that went 4-5 months once without eating, and didn't lose any weight. Assist-feeding and force-feeding are also very stressful endeavors, for both the keeper and the snakes. I would only do it if like, 3 months had passed and a significant amount of weight had been lost.

Quote:

because I don't want him to get spoiled as I feed my BP f/t and am a firm believer that live makes them more prone to being aggressive.

At the risk of instigating a debate, what makes you believe such a thing?

I'll hold my tongue for now, and simply ask you this: what is more important: having a nice snake that hardly ever eats at all, or a mostly-nice snake that only eats live and might occasionally nip at you?

Remember that KSBs hunt by lying under the ground and waiting for movement directly above them before suddenly striking out of the substrate at their prey. That's what they evolved to do. Of course, we could get into a long, discussion of what is "natural" and what is not, but still, getting a snake that is instinctually geared to hunt/eat lizards by scent and movement to eat frozen/thawed white mice is not always an easy task. Its not impossible, but just be prepared to go through steps B, C and D instead of automatically hopping from A to E, you know what I mean?

oliviasarus · 05-29-12, 08:54 AM

Studentoreptile, thanks for the in depth reply :]

They said they took them out into a small container with a frozen pink, and let him be for 24 hrs and they were fine. Hasn't worked for me, I've tried to do what they've done many many times so I'm going for live pinks in about 2 hours when the place opens up.

My ball was actually more of a rescue, he was very ill and I got him back up to speed with 1 or 2 assists and some help with eye caps, many vet visits, bla bla bla. He's happy as a clam now and healthy, thank god.

As far as feeding live being associated with aggression, I guess it's just all the snakes I've been around that have been fed frozen seem to be on the more "docile" side, although I do realize it's totally up to the snakes temperament, handling, and so on. And I'm a worry wart--I don't want a feeder to nip at my snakes...I've heard enough horror stories. (In retrospect, I guess this comes from all of my previous snakes being on larger prey like rats, where as my Kenyan is my first "small" snake. Old habits die hard, I suppose.)

As long as my Kenyan eats and stays healthy, I'm really not too hung up on getting him live food. He's a booger anyways; I'm fairly confident a live pink won't turn him into the next serpentine overlord.

mykee · 05-29-12, 09:09 AM

I own 30 or so KSB and half of them refuse to eat f/t. Feed them what they'll eat or they'll die. Simple.

Kettennatter · 05-29-12, 09:24 AM

My KSB will attack an f/t, no matter what condition, constrict, then drop it as soon it realizes it is not alive. However, it feeds regularly and easily on live pinkies. It's a 5 min affair. I agree with the rest of the posters in this thread.