My First Boa

[richardhind1972]

I would wait a week for her to digest it properly before feeding again,boas have a slower metabolism than pythons


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[Tpot]

I would wait a week for her to digest it properly before feeding again,boas have a slower metabolism than pythons


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Yup, Sundays will be feeding days. I've been keeping a close eye on her since she ate at this time yesterday. She is finally starting to uncurl and seems to be relatively comfortable.

In 24-48 hours I will give her a handling and see how shes doing! I have to say, we've had a lot of pets, but this one is definitely MY baby.

[Tpot]

Some snakes have had bad experiences with live food and maybe that's why she was hesitant to take the prey- "too much motion". Snakes have personal preferences.

Whatever you do, don't try to rush putting weight on her. Feeding too much or too soon will overwhelm her digestion & she might hurl it, which would make things
worse as you'd have to wait longer until her digestive enzymes get replaced (otherwise she'd hurl the next meal too, if fed too soon). Most snakes act like they want
more after eating...just learn to ignore that pathetic look. I'd feed her about once a week for now & one item per meal, as long as she is digesting well etc.
(and pinks are the wrong food for her anyway, fuzzies are what's best att)

BTW, the substrate you're using looks great but it's better to use white paper towels at first with new snakes, while you make sure they don't have mites. Do watch for
that (tiny specks moving, on snake or often in water bowl)...especially since she's already skinny, a mite population explosion could kill her. (seriously)

But with your "TLC" she'll hopefully thrive... We look forward to seeing that almost as much as you do.

Thanks for the inspiring words! I inspected her extremely close when I got her, and she came from a Petco as a lone-snake as well. I've been keeping a seriously close eye on her since she came home two days ago will also be sending her first stool sample into a vet to get it checked out.

She was refusing the frozen pinkies at Petco, so we're doing fuzzies, and she seems to be doing really well with it. She's finally showing more movement and comfort after eating ~24 hours ago.

The plan is one fuzzy a week on Sundays, until she grows a bit and is ready for hoppers (i think?).

[Bogertophis]

...I inspected her extremely close when I got her, and she came from a Petco as a lone-snake as well. I've been keeping a seriously close eye on her since she came home two days ago will also be sending her first stool sample into a vet to get it checked out....

Just remember that she wasn't always a "lone snake", even if she was while temporarily living @ Petco, and I commend you for planning to have her stool checked.

As far as her refusing pinkies while there, she was probably more stressed then...and they may have been handling her beforehand too. Even well-meaning people
don't always think about how shy snakes are (ie. how instinctively threatening it is for a snake to be handled) & that alone can make them refuse to eat. But snakes
do learn they are safe with us, & there's no rush...eating & settling in is "job #1" for a snake. Stress affects all creatures negatively, & you want her immune system
working optimally, so honestly it's best not to handle any new snake until they've fed 2 or 3 times easily for you (& this one isn't starting off in the best condition).
But give her time, and she will be.

[Tpot]

Just remember that she wasn't always a "lone snake", even if she was while temporarily living @ Petco, and I commend you for planning to have her stool checked.

As far as her refusing pinkies while there, she was probably more stressed then...and they may have been handling her beforehand too. Even well-meaning people
don't always think about how shy snakes are (ie. how instinctively threatening it is for a snake to be handled) & that alone can make them refuse to eat. But snakes
do learn they are safe with us, & there's no rush...eating & settling in is "job #1" for a snake. Stress affects all creatures negatively, & you want her immune system
working optimally, so honestly it's best not to handle any new snake until they've fed 2 or 3 times easily for you (& this one isn't starting off in the best condition).
But give her time, and she will be.

Okay sounds good! I called my local exotic animal hospital, I’ll drop off the first stool sample and we plan on doing an overall exam in a few weeks. That might as well be the first time I handle her then.


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[Bogertophis]

Believe me, I KNOW it's torture to not cuddle a new snake...

[Tpot]

Believe me, I KNOW it's torture to not cuddle a new snake...

Oh I definitely want to hang out with her, but I prefer whats best for her. If that means leaving her be, I'm cool with that.

[Tpot]

If anyone cares to give me some insight here (I've got a infrared thermometer incoming too), I was curious about how big of temp swings were okay in the night time hours.

Daytime hours tend to be 89-91F on the "warm side" and 80-83 on the "cool side".

Nighttime hours drop to 84-86 on the "warm side" and 78-80 on the "cool side".

These temperatures are measured about 5 inches off the substrate, and an inch from the glass.