Questions from a RTB newbie

[starmom]

What an awesome fella!!!
Congrats on your new adventure... Boas are really great snakes to keep
Have you named him yet??

[NinaCaliente]

What an awesome fella!!!
Congrats on your new adventure... Boas are really great snakes to keep
Have you named him yet??

No he doesn't have a name yet. Still working on that! So far he seems like a very sweet boy. It is very hard to resist the urge to handle him - we're trying to leave him be until he's eaten for us. Thanks for your reply!

[starmom]

Oh my gosh- I have never known a boa not to eat!!!!
Mine nearly jump out of their cages to get to the prey! L-o-n-g strike range and great feeding responses. I'm sure you'll have no problems with your fella!!

[bigballs]

Okay, we decided to go for it! Here he is:

looks great!

i'd take that plunge!

[NinaCaliente]

Thanks! His new name is "Henry" - kind of a long story!

[frankykeno]

Oh he's gorgeous! So spill - what's the story behind the name LOL.

[starmom]

Thanks! His new name is "Henry" - kind of a long story!

I LOVE that name!!!! It was in the running for one of my kids-- but I was out-voted (darn!!) And the story....???

[crusher]

just give him time alone with the rodent. mine didnt want to eat at first either... i was freakin out over it.

but over time ive learned that for some reason my bci actually "plays" with it for a while... she will strike then just chill and look around for like 10 mins then eat.

[NinaCaliente]

The VERY abbreviated version of the name story is that he is our eighth snake, so he is "Henry the Eighth".

We tried to feed him last night, but he did not eat. I think maybe we were too aggressive with the mouse, as he struck at it and hissed. Maybe he was scared of it? After that we left him alone with the mouse for a few hours, but he didn't eat it. How do you typically offer food to your baby boas? He was eating live mouse hoppers before; we offered him F/T. How long would you wait before offering again?

We haven't handled him at all for the week we've had him, with one exception - I accidently dumped his water dish in the cage several days ago and had to empty the whole thing out to change out the wet substrate. We've also had some trouble keeping temps stable in this particular cage, so maybe that's a factor as well. I think we've got it stabilized now. Warm side is 88-90, cool side is about 79-80. Does that sound correct? I've been a bit confuzzled about what his temps should be. It seems like every boa care sheet I read has slightly different numbers on temps. Humidity is staying round around 50%.

He'd also had a bit of aspen stuck in his mouth - you could see just a tiny bit of it poking out between his lips sometimes. We brushed it out last night after we gave up on him eating, but I wonder if that might've been causing some sort of discomfort that made him not want to eat.

His refusal to eat is making me nervous!! I've had adult snakes skip a meal here and there, but I have never had to deal with a baby who completely refused before. Makes me want to rush him straight to the vet in a panic, but I know I need to just calm down and keep trying before I freak out too much.

[mainbutter]

talk about a gorgeous boa