ETB advice

[Shad0w]

Greetings all,

Got a 1.1 adult pair of ETB's two weeks ago.

The first night I had them they both ate small rats.

Since then they have not been interested in food.
Is this typical?

Ive tried both live / freshly killed and FT mice and rats...

I know most of you feed them on a two week sched so I thought I would ask the question...

Temps: 80 during the day, mid to high 70's during the eve, misting twice a day...

Light / dark hours: 12/12

[Shad0w]

BTW, they are housed seperately in Vision arboreal cages.

[Kimo]

Some adults will go longer than 2 weeks, i have a stubborn male who only eats once every 3 and a half weeks. Feed them once, if they dont take it that time, wait another 2 weeks before offering again, other than that, your temps sound good...you just might have picky feeders, and word to the wise...only feed live as a last resort, the slender body structure of these boas, rat teeth, or mice teeth, can cause some serious damage while they are being constricted, Also these snakes can go for a very long time without food, so dont get to concerned right away, give them time to aclimate to their new homes (atleast 2 weeks) possibly more, and enjoy the snakes!

someone else can prolly give you more help, but in the mean time check out corallus.com its a fountain of knowledge on emeralds

Cheers

Josh

**Edit** Forgot to mention that these snakes also have a slower metabolism than other species...so it takes them a while to digest there food, and also keep handeling down to a minimum for the first month. thats it! **Edit**

[augerdvm]

i agree with Kimo. dont rush em.

[Shad0w]

How do you guys feed emmy's when offering FT?

If the snake does not take it out of your hands / forceps, do you guys leave the rat/mouse in a branch?

[Kimo]

thats exactly what i do, however since ETBs are nocturnal, the mouse will lose its heat generally before the snake even is intrested, so what i might suggest is change the hours of your 12/12 so that lights go off at 7 or 8, this way u can heat up a mouse, or rat and pop it in there before you go to bed, generally mine get put in the cage by around 11, so they got 3 hours of nights out, most of the time, they take it within seconds, orthers i just leave it on the branch beside them, and go to bed, and it's gone in the morning... best of luck!

Josh

[bistrobob85]

I would also suggest you get an Hygrometer, just to know precicely what humitidy you have in your emeralds' cages... I suppose your misting twice a day should be enough, but it's always safer when you have the right %... An ETB kept too dry won't eat ( it will probably get stressed and refuse to eat if the housbandry isn't perfect ). Kimo is right about the fact of feeding dead is better... I wouldn't personnally risk my snakes' health in a single meal... Good luck!

phil.

[Kimo]

also you might want to try unthawing on a counter, as opposed to water, as this can wash away alot of the scent. after you have unthawed it by air, put its head up to a light for a few minutes to get it nice and warm, then toss it in! hopefully with the extra scent, and the warmth, it will take a strike at it before u can even put it in the cage

Josh

[BoidKeeper]

I don't feed for three weeks after arival. Then i only feed every 3 to 4 weeks after that.
Cheers,
Trevor