Santa Isabel Ground Boa Baby - New Owner, Questions, Discussion, Pictures

[vkahri]

I do breed hognose and mountain kings, ....

I wanted a hognose to begin with but ended up with a bullsnake (who is an incredibly voracious feeder, all the time) and later this baby Isabele Ground Boa (who hasn't eaten for me yet).

(actually, I personally wouldn't feed WC live at all for fear of transmission of known or unknown pathogens, and even scenting with a CB animal is borderline IMO).

I concur, I have no intention of trying to feed anything wild caught. Besides, its winter here, there are green anoles in my area but they are not going to be around till warm weather returns.

For the species I breed, there is a range of tricks, all of which I've tried:

live pinks
washing pinks
boiling pinks
braining pinks
scenting any of the above with canned tuna juice or KFC grease
scenting any of the above with lizard (anole, MG, house gecko, sceloporus), either live, frozen or pureed
feeding live of any of those lizards
....

Was wanting to try a live pink next but again, hard to acquire.
Washing pinks? Washing in what?
KFC grease??? Like from your bucket of chicken????
Scented with ...pureed lizard? ...lol I don't have a blender but... I imagine you put them into a blender?

I no longer feed live lizards, nor force feed or tube feed. The former is too risky, and the latter two not productive...

yeah, a live lizard, especially if not very small, I could see that being dangerous for my boa as tiny as he is. Which is why I've procrastinated trying to get one, how could I find one small enough?...
I really don't want to do any kind of force feeding if I can avoid it. I would go to the vet first and if they wanted to administer something I'd let them do it.

MGs might be a worthy food source, but the upkeep of a colony big enough to feed even one neonate snake would considerable. I've not bred anoles, but it is the same situation (compounded by the fact that anoles are much more equipment intensive and much more expensive to produce than MGs).

I do know they have a preference for anoles as babies, as their diet in the wild is generally geared towards lizards.
....
It may be worth looking into mourning geckos or anoles as a source to hopefully potentially tempt this little guy into eating.

I'm thinking of trying to acquire a small enough anole, or tree frog if I can't get a pinky to work, or some sort of small fish. A single MG usually runs around $30. No idea what an anole or tree frog would cost. If I can get him to eat a flavored pinky or small fish first, I'd like to try those before making a riskier purchase. I actually have 3 MG's as pets so it's hard to imagine buying one as a feeder, but I would if I had to. My three haven't really begun to lay eggs though they are mature. The largest has laid 3 but they all failed, one because it got knocked and messed up the position of the air sack inside, the other two got eaten before I could remove them.

I would really like to try a small type of feeding fish but I am leary of accidentally getting something that could be harmful, if eaten. Does anyone have any info or advice? Here is a quote from this site that I've been referencing:
"Earthworms, minnows, feeder guppies and tiny goldfish were all accepted as first meals by neonate Candoia." (from: http://www.kingsnake.com/candoia/book.html)
...Actually I'd love to try an earthworm too! No problem if that's not eaten. I just find it hard to believe my boa would go for that. And I'd have to get it from a bait shop, which is doable. But again, me with all the questions.... Do farm raised earthworms get fed anything that could be toxic to my boa? I mean do they put any supplements in the soil to make them grow bigger or have a certain appeal to fish, that is not natural?

I've never purchased fish to use as feeders. Has anyone experience with this? I can search online and see these examples being used for garter snakes: salmon, tilapia, trout, guppies.....If you feed salmon or tilapia, how do you do that? specifically, in what form of fish meat do you use? uncooked? canned? I mean you can not be specific enough for me here. Leave no room for doubt. Or if I get guppies or goldfish... Like a plain feeder goldfish or guppy you might offer to a Red Ear Slider (turtle)???