RTB NOt eating

[IllusionalTA]

My 1yr old RTB hasn't been eating nor has he shown any interest in anything.. My Argentine is ferocious and don't waste no time.. its been a month since he has eaten.. Is the frequent?? He comes out frequently and lays in the water and burrow's too but thats always been what he does.. ANy ideas?
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[JonnyB]

sounds like getting ready to shed. Are his eyes cloudy? What are your temps at? It may be to hot for him. now are you saying that your RTB burrows? I'm a little lost in that. What kinda subtrate are you using? let us know a little more info [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_confused.gif[/img]
JONNYB
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[IllusionalTA]

Temps are 86 Deg. w/ 50% humidity normally around 66% ish or so.. He burrows under the wood chips that i have set up.. My argentine is never burrows.. Yea he covers himself up in the substrate for longs lenghts.. there is water under that that help keeps the humidity up.. think it could be too hot?? my argentine eats w/ no problems.. Thanks again... Btw he just shed a week ago.. So did she.. they are on the same schedule now.. it appears...
STeve

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Steve
New Baby Boa [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]

[LdyDrgn]

Yes, Jonny, many boas love to burrow.

Illusional, what types of prey have you tried (rat, mouse, etc..) and do you feed live, fresh-killed or frozen-thawed?
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[Stormyva]

Steve, welcome to RTB/RH!
It's great to see anouther Va Beach'er here!!!

First off you refer to the two snakes almost as a pair, are they hosued together?
is it possible that your RTB may have mites or something like that?
Are you feeding live or F/T?
How and where in the cage are you measuring your temps?
(By how I mean digital or analog therm)
Sorry for all the questions... just trying to get some background.


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	Mites Mites, close relatives of fleas and ticks

[Blackwidow_woman]

[img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_cool.gif[/img] Welcome to RTB!! and umm im wondering about something here,, you say water under the wood chips??? [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_confused.gif[/img] What kind of wood chips are we talking about??? Just asking thats all.. [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_cool.gif[/img]
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[IllusionalTA]

Thanks for all the replies.. appreciate the info.. Yes Dharma and greg are housed together.. HAve been for 7 months now and seem very happy.. oNe won't go in w/o the other.. its almost cute.. anywya.. The wood chip substrate is that reptile crap they sell in pet stores.. I have spoken w/ the guy there which is a known source for snake info and he said that its good stuff to use.. As far as temps i'm using a analog thermo and a thermo tape also.. No fancy stuff and its close to the floor of the tank so i'm not measuring under the light.. As far as mites.. I dont' believe he does.. but i can't honestly tell you for sure.. I do frequently look them both over and take care of any unshedded skin and just to see how they are acting.. As far as feeding.. I'm using med. rat's and they are live but very carefullly watched. I never leave them alone.. I have heard of the frozen rats but i'm unsure how my boa's would take to that.. worth a shot i guess though.. I can usually tell when both are ready to eat when they are out and about more and more frequently throughout the day more so than they usually like the night or when they "think" its night anyway.. Well again tahnks for the help.. Looking forward to more replies.. [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]


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	Mites Mites, close relatives of fleas and ticks

[IllusionalTA]

>> [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_cool.gif[/img] Welcome to RTB!! and umm im wondering about something here,, you say water under the wood chips??? [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_confused.gif[/img] What kind of wood chips are we talking about??? Just asking thats all.. [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_cool.gif[/img]
I built a lil' pond/lake that greg likes to lay in sometimes. apparantly the weight of him and probably when i cleaned it last week broke a seal and now it leaks.. So.. gotta fix that crap too [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]
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[Sunn]

Steve,

Hi and welcome to the forum.....

Sounds like you have something happening.

First off I would separate the snakes. I know you view them as inseparable but its really better for them. Someone will be along to explain the whys and wherefors of that especially when they are not even the same species. Have you had them checked for parasites since purchase?

Next I would use paper towels so that if you do have a mite problem beginning you will see if faster and know once you have treated how its going. Paper towels or newspaper is really inexpensive and great as a substrate. Not the prettiest but won't cause problems to worry with if kept picked up and replenished. Housekeeping for snakes is really important because of bacterias and such. They have nowhere to go to get away from such problems.. even water spills so it's real important to take care of problems right away.

The next thing is the live rats thing. Medium rats are far too large and dangerous to the snakes even if you ARE watching. We can't watch quick enough to keep them from being injured anyway. I prekill my rats and also gas em and freeze them. Most of my snakes switched from prekilled to f/t easily. The boas really just really need to be hungry. We are generally the problem since we put them on schedules and expect things to go just so unless they are shedding or sick. There's tips on getting them to switch so think about it. At the very least prekill the rats. The advantage of frozen thawed I like the most is parasites found in rats are transmitted by ingestion into your snake.....once frozen those same parasites have died and won't harm the snake!

I'm sure some folks will be along to help you out. This is just where I would start. They can give you advise on pretreating aspen for mites before going into cages and what to use on the cage regardless of substrate and what can be safely used on your animal. There is a lot to learn and go thru......the links about feeding and mites are sure to come. If you go to the different forums you will already find them posted for others that had problems similar too.

Good luck and keep us posted.

Sandy




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	Mites Mites, close relatives of fleas and ticks

[LdyDrgn]

OK Illusional. First off you need to get those snakes in seperate enclosures. They have slightly different care requirements. The bci (boa constrictor imperator {RTB}) needs to be at 88-90 degrees warm side, 78-80 degrees cool side. The bco (boa constrictor occidentalis {argentine}) needs slightly cooler temps. Humidity for both should be about 60%. Plus if one defecates, you won't know which one it belongs to and if one should get an infection of some sort, it will be passed to the other snake. Second, you need to switch to frozen-thawed for safety and health reasons. I have never heard of a boa refusing food jsut because it was f/t. It may take time and patience, but they can be switched over. If you get a long pair of hemostats, you can make the rat "dance" to make the boa think it is alive. Not only will f/t prevent your snake from getting bitten/killed, it will also prevent any internal parasites they can get from the rats. Freezing kills all the parasites. [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]

Keep us updated.
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	Boa Constrictor Imperator Boa Constrictor (Boa constrictor imperator). Most common is the Colombian Boa.

[Stormyva]

Illusional, as they all said separate and swtich to F/T food.
You must have gone to Pet Paradise.... the guy you refer to is good, but he also runs a business and is in it to make money so he may not always give you the most accurate information. The repti-bark that he sold you is fine, but has been known to carry mites so double check your snakes. It may not hurt you to go ahead and treat with Sawyers Tick Spray or Proventa-a-mite just to be safe. Switching to f/t should be no problem at all for your snakes..... my approx 3 year old 6.5' BIC who had eaten live her entire life until I got her took a f/t item on the first attempt and has not refused a meal since. As LdyDrgn said... thaw it out, warm it up, then wiggle it around wih some tongs or a hemostat and you snake should eat with no problems. You may also want to switch to a digitla thremometer they are a LOT more accurate and are only around 10-12.00 at Walmart.

On a non-related note... we are trying to get a bunch of people together to head up to the Richmond Herp Show on May10th..... drop me a PM or email if you want to go.
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	Mites Mites, close relatives of fleas and ticks