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

[Malum Argenteum]

Disclaimer: I've not kept this species.

I do breed hognose and mountain kings, both of which can be troublesome starters, though not to the extent of this species from what I've read. I would feed live WC lizards only as the last of last resorts (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). 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
force feeding rodent tails
force feeding pinks
tube feeding a mix of egg yolk, chicken baby food and a little reptile supplement

I no longer feed live lizards, nor force feed or tube feed. The former is too risky, and the latter two not productive, so I end up euthanizing a couple hatchlings here and there.

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).

Hopefully people who want to keep this species are willing to seek out true CB specimens and pay what they're worth, and hopefully advanced breeders start to step up and get breeding projects going with the species.