Feeding During Shed?

So my boa is started to shed, and its his first shed cause I just got him a few weeks ago, so I went ahead with the feeding schedule because my BP eats when she is shedding. My boa wouldnt take the rat, instead he just kept hitting it (not grabbing) and hissing. Are boas just picky about eating while shedding or should I be worried about something?!

Just depends. I had a Albino gal for years, and she NEVER missed a meal. Rain, shine, shed, she was always up to eat. So it just depends on the snake. I always offer anyways, because they can change their mind down the road.

With that said, if you are specifically thawing a rat for the one snake and they may refuse in shed, I would just wait till after the shed if there is no other snake to feed the rat to. (If that makes sense)

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Originally Posted by Royal Hijinx

Just depends. I had a Albino gal for years, and she NEVER missed a meal. Rain, shine, shed, she was always up to eat. So it just depends on the snake. I always offer anyways, because they can change their mind down the road.

With that said, if you are specifically thawing a rat for the one snake and they may refuse in shed, I would just wait till after the shed if there is no other snake to feed the rat to. (If that makes sense)

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should I offer again tomorrow or just wait till next feeding time? (a week)

My boas eat all the time. Nothing stops them. But, like Jinx said, if you know you are gonna waste a rat, might as well wait and save it. Since you have had a refusal, I would just wait until he sheds. :)

I offer food to my boas when they are in shed, 90% of them take food while they are in blue :snake:

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Originally Posted by DooLittle

My boas eat all the time. Nothing stops them. But, like Jinx said, if you know you are gonna waste a rat, might as well wait and save it. Since you have had a refusal, I would just wait until he sheds. :)

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I agree. Nothing will stop any of my critters either no matter how "in the blue" they are. I have had a couple miss the rat once or twice when they are heavily in shed though. The clouded eye caps can make it somewhat difficult for them to see and therefore they have more of a tendency to miss their strike.

If your boa was striking, missing, then hissing, I would guess that he was just frustrated that he was missing his mark and not actually refusing. But even so, it won't hurt him to wait until after he's shed to feed. :gj:

Mine has fed while blue with no second thoughts. I have heard mixed reactions from boa folk about feeding in shed. Some say no and some say go.

With boas, and the fact that most captive boas are overfed, a food break is just fine. Nothing bad will happen if it skips, and the hissing may be a sign it wants to be left alone. Shedding takes energy and so does digestion so if you do feed in shed, you may want to bump the temp up a bit as some bodily functions are occurring simultaneously.

I now use the shed process for a good "cleaning out" period. I let my fella shed, then wait a day and him dump all his waste and then the next day it's go time!

Don't be worried, and I'd just wait it out at this point.