Dumeril's feeding problems - round two

[Caitlin]

Recap: In fall of 2020 I posted here for advice about getting one of my young Dumeril's Boas to eat. At the time, I was successful but that victory has dissolved and now I have a situation I can't seem to correct.

I'll provide a lot of detail just to hopefully save some of you from offering advice I've already tried!

Gyre was born in August of 2020 and I have had him since he was seven weeks old. Before coming to me he was kept in a large rack in the same tub with his siblings and was eating a rat pinky every seven days. I initially kept him in a tub in order to replicate the environment he was used to. He started eating for me about eight weeks after I got him once I offered him a quail chick, and after that was tong feeding weekly on either rats or quail. Because his eating patterns never felt strongly established to me - sometimes I had to drop feed rather than tong feed him - I kept handling to an absolute minimum, and only handled him briefly when I did a complete substrate change about once a month.

In March 2021 I moved him into a 30x15x15 PVC enclosure with a basking shelf. The enclosure is heated with an RHP and is in a quiet room. Warm temps are 85F, with a gradient that drops to 75F. Humidity is about 50%, and he has a humidity hide that he uses regularly but not frequently. Substrate is coco husk with a deep layer of leaf litter.

He seemed to adjust nicely to this - he kept eating on the weekly schedule, and soon had a routine in the enclosure that left me thinking he was comfortable. He'd spend a few days buried under the leaf litter, a few days hanging out in or on top of one of his two cork rounds, and usually spent most or all of one to two days a week stretched out on the basking shelf.

In July 2021 he started refusing rodents, so I kept him on quail. He'd gotten big enough to be bumped up from day old quail chicks to week old quail chicks, so I offered him one in August 2021 which he eagerly took off the tongs. But somehow one of the wings spread out in a way that he couldn't swallow, so he spit it out and refused to try again. He refused every subsequent offer of week-old quail even after I removed the wings. He continued to refuse any rodents.

Ever since the wing incident in August 2021 the ONLY thing this snake will eat is day-old quail; he'll take 2-3 of these at a time. Obviously this isn't a good meal for a Boa that is almost two years old, so rather than stick with a normal feeding schedule for a two-year-old I have continued to feed him weekly. He's small - just under 30" long. He's maintained what appears to be good body condition. He has good sheds and normal bowel movements and urates, and normal pee for a Dum - Dums pee a LOT. But I am really worried about him, as day-old quail are not a sustainable diet.

* I feed him well after dark in a dim room and if he doesn't immediately take the food off tongs I leave it with him overnight. He always eats either off the tongs or after being drop fed.
* I warm the quail before offering and don't dance it around too much (Dumeril's are shy about that).
* In an effort to get more nutrients into him I have tried offering small mice or rat pups. He refuses these.
* I have warmed the rodents, I have tried thawing them in the same bag with quail, chopping up quail and smearing the rodents with quail goo; I have tried quail and chick scent from Reptilinks. None of this works - he will NOT take rodents so far. I have no idea why he started refusing them in the first place.
* He wants to eat. Lately he's even striking as soon as he sees the tongs. He is clearly interested in the week-old quail and will lift his head, tongue flick them, etc. but won't take them. If I offer a day old quail instead, he'll take that immediately.

I am losing my mind here. I always felt I had a bit of a talent for getting reluctant snakes to eat, but this guy has apparently decided he wants to prove me wrong. I'm just at a loss. He seems OK but he can't eat day old quail forever, and I really worry that he will end up malnourished or that he'll just waste away.

I'm going to try a live rodent feeder this week and will update with results, but would far prefer to feed F/T. I'd very much appreciate any suggestions here. My other Dumeril's will eat anything he can fit in his mouth.