feeding and...

[lubi]

i have a couple of questions... my snake, a rtb, has a tendency to not want to eat over the winter. the house is kept at a warm temp... is this normal. also he is getting big. i am about to possibly get a 5 foot snake ( mine is around 3 1/2) and i need a bigger cage. i will probably build one. i need a design for a cage and want to know if i need to keep the snakes seperate. any ideas about my snakes eating habits would be great, i have yet to find a vet that knows any more than i do about snakes... plus i really can't afford to much anyway so help from people who do not charge would be nice.
i read somewhere that to much handling could cause snakes to be picky eaters. he is getting big and i am not so comfortable dangling mice or rats in his face to make him eat. lately he will not eat rats unless i can get him to eat a mouse first. any suggestions would greatly be appreciated.
thx
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[jpaulson]

Is your snake captive born, or wild caught? Many times, wild caught species will go off feed in the winter, as if they are hibernating (brumating). What are the cage conditions like? What are your temps? There could be a chance he has an infection or something similar.

Ah-ha! I just re-read your post, and see that he is not wanting to switch to rats. That may be your problem. Some just don't want to switch! what size prey are you offering? You may want to try a small rat, and see if he will eat that. If not, you say he is big, so I would not worry about it too much. He will eat when he is hungry, assuming there are no medical issues at hand. BTW, you need to find an exotics vet near you. He may not need a trip this time, but someday he might...it's nice to have someone "just in case".

As far as the housing issue, you need to keep them quarantined for at least 30 days. If one is sick, or carries mites, etc., then he could pass that to the other one. Aside from that, many people swear up and down to keep them housed seperately, usually because it is easier to keep up with thier habits and bowel movements. I personally have always kept mine housed together, and have yet to have any problems. I seem to think they actually enjoy it!! Your boas are close enough in size that you would not have to worry about one of them squashing the other.

[addsig]

	Mites Mites, close relatives of fleas and ticks

[JonnyB]

Cage building go to


http://www.arbreptiles.com

This site has step by step really cool site
jonny
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[Constrictor_BO]

Some snakes will go off feed in the winter. I have one that I never know when she will eat and when she wont in the winter. the others will eat anything you put in front of them no matter when. I also have one that wont eat when I'm anywhere near the room. I have to put the rat in the tote with him and leave him to eat when he want. Usually I check on him in about half an hour and the rat is gone. As far as not feeling comfortable dangling the rat/ mouse in front of him... You dont have to dangle it for them to eat. I only dangle the rats in front of one of my snakes, thats only because he dont give me time to drop it in.

When you get the other snake in, quarentine it like JP said. Ecept I always hear quarentine for 60 days. The quarentine will save you a lot of headache if it has any problems such as disease or mites.



<TABLE BORDER=0 ALIGN=CENTER WIDTH=85%><TR><TD><font class="pn-sub">Quote:</font><HR></TD></TR><TR><TD><FONT class="pn-sub"><BLOCKQUOTE>i read somewhere that to much handling could cause snakes to be picky eaters.</BLOCKQUOTE></FONT></TD></TR><TR><TD><HR></TD></TR></TABLE>

Thats nonsense. The amount you hold your snake wont have any affect on it's eating haits. The more you handle your snake will only make it feel more comfortable with you and others when around people.


[addsig]

	Mites Mites, close relatives of fleas and ticks

[pjmartin]

<TABLE BORDER=0 ALIGN=CENTER WIDTH=85%><TR><TD><font class="pn-sub">Quote:</font><HR></TD></TR><TR><TD><FONT class="pn-sub"><BLOCKQUOTE> Some snakes will go off feed in the winter. </BLOCKQUOTE></FONT></TD></TR><TR><TD><HR></TD></TR></TABLE>

Yeah, any BP owner will attest to this statement...
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[Ed_r]

<TABLE BORDER=0 ALIGN=CENTER WIDTH=85%><TR><TD><font class="pn-sub">Quote:</font><HR></TD></TR><TR><TD><FONT class="pn-sub"><BLOCKQUOTE> the house is kept at a warm temp... </BLOCKQUOTE></FONT></TD></TR><TR><TD><HR></TD></TR></TABLE>
Could you tell us what a &quot;warm temp&quot; is? Warm to you or warm to the snake? If the temps are too cool boas will tend to be picky eaters, and go off feed.
Mine in the winter slow down to once every 3-4 weeks.
Housing them together isn't all bad. As Jp stated the worst part is keeping up with the urates and bowel movenments. You'll never be sure who did it. Mine love to live together, they all cuddle up in one big Boa ball. This is of course ONLY if they are of the EXACT same species.
Once they are quarentined of course. Ideally they SHOULD be housed seperately.
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