fostering a non-eating baby sandboa

I did offer a cricket too.

I e-mailed the breeder of my personal sandboas, and he told me to force feed a rat tail. I am going to try that (my boas may have to eat manx rats for awhile ;) )

Why a rat-tail and not a pinky mouse?

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Originally Posted by Shelby

I did offer a cricket too.

I e-mailed the breeder of my personal sandboas, and he told me to force feed a rat tail. I am going to try that (my boas may have to eat manx rats for awhile ;) )

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LOL Manx rats! Wonder if your boas will catch on? ;)

Force feed a rat tail, interesting... why a rat tail?

I imagine a rat tail will be a lot easier (and cleaner) to slide down the poor boa's throat than a squishy pinky!

Jason Hess is the guy who told me this - he said the rat tails must have some major protein because he's seen drastic turnarounds when feeding rat tails.

Interesting.

Well good luck!

Keep us updated, April...I'm really hoping the little guy makes it.

Well, I force fed her a rat tail tonight. Boy, that was NOT as easy as I thought. I had to fashion my own specula to keep her mouth open while I eased the rat tail down. She wasn't having fun.

I got it most of the way down, then removed the specula and watched her. She first started to regurge it, so I restrained her again and gently pushed the rat tail further down, after which she swallowed it on her own.

Here's to hoping she keeps it down!