Boa doesn't constrict?

[johnabrams82]

ok so i got a red tail boa as a rescue. I knew next to nothing baout the history of this snake. the first time i fed her she got a bad bite on the rat and didn't get a good coil around it. and it gave her a pretty good bite. so from then on it was pre killed. but the last two times i fed her she didn't bother to even try to coil . first time she pulled it under the water and tried to drown it I guess? and the second time she just grabbed it and held on for about 30 min and started eating after that.

I have read that IBD can cause them to not be able to constrict. im praying that not what this is.. she acts fine aside from not coiling to kill prey? any ideas. do red tails do this normally?

[ladywhipple02]

If the rat is prekilled, she's probably picking up on that. Some snakes just won't constrict prey that's already dead...

I have an adult female, Kinky, that was an adoption. She has spinal deformities... and never constrictors her rats. She gets right up next to them with her nose and then bites hard... and then starts to eat, lol.

I've also had a couple BPs as rescues (they are in new homes, now). They would not constrict f/t rats... but put a live one in there and they were all over it.

[SatanicIntention]

My boa doesn't constrict her f/t rabbits anymore either. Personally(and this is only MHO) I don't feel that's very healthy for her, so I try to get a live(it's only 5-6 weeks old for pete's sake) rabbit so she can get some exercise and mental stimulation. They know f/t is dead, so they know not to expend any energy on it.

[cassandra]

I usually feed PK or F/T to my burmese and boa via tongs and will usually pull gently on the tail once they've grabbed the prey and give it a tug - that usually gets a good squeeze going..."oh wait, this *ISN'T* dead yet!"

Are you doing the "zombie dance"?

[johnabrams82]

last thing I fed her was a guinea pig so i couldnt really tug it. but the next rat i give her i will tug. she took pre killed no problem so i was thinking she may have always been fed pre killed or f/t. either way thanks guys you have made me feel better.