Help with my sand boa? Gone off feed.

I have a female KSB that goes off feed for periods for no apparent reason, but lately she's gone on a 5 week food refusal.

She's still very active, has good muscle tone (for a KSB), and will strike her FT fuzzy mouse - and throw a coil around it - but then she loses interest and burrows back under her substrate.

She's about 12 inches long, in a 10 gallon aquarium, has overhead heat provided by a 200 watt red lamp. The surface temp on the hot spot of her substrate is about 95, but she's in about 2 inches of stubstrate and has plenty of room to thermoregulate.

I've offered her dry and warmed FT fuzzy mice on 12" hemostats every Sunday night for the past 5 weeks and it's the same story each time. She had eaten very well for nearly a year up to this point.

Any suggestions?

200 watts on a 10 gallon tank should be far higher than 95. Double check that.

Are you sure your snake is a female?

I also have a KSB and unfortunately she tends to go on long fasts at least once a year. The last one was for 4mths! When she comes out of it i feed her as much as possible whilst shes hungry. If all your temp etc is correct and shes been eating for a year,i`d think it was a fast. Just to be sure take her to a vet.

The fact that she takes it but doesn't eat it indicates that she might be stressed out. Try not to handle her until she starts eating again. Find a small paper bag, and put a pinky in it (you'd probably have the best luck with live, but if you are opposed, warmed f/t is fine). Stick her in the bag, then put it in her cage to keep her warm. Make sure the lid is on, just in case she gets out of the bag. Toss a dark colored blanket or towel over the cage and leave her overnight. This was the absolute only thing that worked to get my sand boa eating. (Mine's not a Kenyan, he's a rough scaled, also difficult feeders in many cases.)

Good luck!

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Originally Posted by wilomn

200 watts on a 10 gallon tank should be far higher than 95. Double check that.

Are you sure your snake is a female?

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A 150watt would far surpass the 95 degree range, you may want to consider getting a under tank heater and a thermostat sometime soon

Sand Boas have a strong tendency to go off feed for no reason, it is most likely normal for most individuals of this species, in the wild they also can fast for long periods...

As long as the snake does not lose significant wieght than you are probably fine, everything I have read about these sand boas says pretty much the same thing...

also make sure to provide a warmer end to the cage and a cooler end too. this way she/he can thermoregulate itself. that could be a reason why your snakes eating as well :gj: