Advice needed on potential RTB

[Xeikeness]

So, I'm thinking about getting an RTB a friend of mine is giving away. She's six feet long, and pretty hefty. About 15-20 pounds. She should be able to eat small rabbits, or gigantic rats. Possibly newborn piglets.

But, she's having some problems eating. She doesn't regurge, but she doesn't seem able to take down larger items. When offered a rat only marginally smaller than she should be able to eat effortlessly, she started eating, it took her almost half an hour to get it halfway down, another half an hour to get it's last toes past her lips, then pushed it back out and wouldn't touch it.

That same night, she was offered a very small adolescent rat, and she ate three of them with no problems at all. No regurging, nothing. But she just seems incapable of accepting larger prey.

Her scales are a wee bit on the dingy side, too... but I could care less about looks(I'm a big fan of personality).

Any suggestions on her eating habits? I don't mind feeding more frequently, or large meals of smaller prey, but... could this be a sign of something I don't want to get into?

	regurgitate Throw up. Reptiles will regurge when they feel they are in danger or if they have some sort of health issue. If your reptile has regurgitated his/her food please seek help!

[Slithers]

boa constrictor constrictor are known to regurge oversized prey items. perhaps this snake has a regurge syndrome.

feed it the slightly undersized prey items.

good luck

	regurgitate Throw up. Reptiles will regurge when they feel they are in danger or if they have some sort of health issue. If your reptile has regurgitated his/her food please seek help!

[Xeikeness]

will it be possible to work her up to larger prey? She's never regurged, it's just like larger prey gets to a certain spot in her throat and can't pass, so she spits it out.

[trendkill]

I've known snakes to take a long time swallowing, but spitting it back out is kind of strange. Are the larger prey items wider in girth than the boa is? Where is the owner getting the prey from? I've heard plenty of times of bad rats being spit out or regurgitated, and I've also heard that poor prey items can cause color change/dullness. And are they frozen? Perhaps they aren't thawed properly (being large and all) and the snake realizes this and spits it out? I don't know what to tell you. If she's otherwise healthy, the rats are good, and is able to eat smaller meals, maybe she's just picky or lazy.

[Ranger]

Originally Posted by Xeikeness

will it be possible to work her up to larger prey? She's never regurged, it's just like larger prey gets to a certain spot in her throat and can't pass, so she spits it out.

Why are you interested in larger prey? Is this a spectator sport or something? : )

Feed her what she's comfortable with and don't worry about how big a meal you think she should be able to fit in her mouth. She knows what she can handle better than you do.

[Bangswitch]

Originally Posted by Ranger

Why are you interested in larger prey? Is this a spectator sport or something? : )
Feed her what she's comfortable with and don't worry about how big a meal you think she should be able to fit in her mouth. She knows what she can handle better than you do.

I was thinking the same thing. I would be happy that its eating.

[Jem_Scout]

You said what I was gonna say Ranger!