[thatsbarry]

Hello

We bought our first snake three weeks ago and it is beautiful specimen and was born on the 9th of September 2006, so only only 4 or 5 months old.

The problem is that it has not eaten anything since we brought it home, in fact we have not even seen it. We were given the soil type substrate for the tank and it immediately disappeared underneath and has hid ever since. I cant tell if it comes out at night. It is definitely alive as I have dug around for it a couple of times to check.

We have presented 3 pinkies now in the last couple of weeks and they remain untouched. I take them away a day later. The tank has good heat via a pad and bulb, I turn the bulb off at night. It is a proper reptile tank.

There is a water dish with fresh water each day.

I am a bit concerned that is not eating - would it ever come to the point that it just starved to death due to something wrong with surroundings that it does not like?

Thanks for any advice.

 

[serpentkid100]

whats its substrate?? i would say it might have too much to play with...or its enclosure might be too big, as some snake don like em at some ages...i would say put it in a seperate box for feeding in a nice dark warm place like the aring cupboard an put her back when she is eaten...obviously not leaving her her for too long...an make sure she has some water as well...

hope that helps

 

[thatsbarry]

The substrate is the stuff you get dry that you soak in a bucket to expand it. So in the tank, its a about 2 inches depth. Is this too much? The tank is 18 inches by 18 inches by 24 inches high. It does seem big I suppose but I was advised that it may even be too small in a year's time.

 

[serpentkid100]

i would say yer it is, it sounds like u have got vermickulite...umm...i would say scrap it...an use an old newspaper for a sub as its easy to clean and its cheap...i would say get a smaller viv for now, or you can jus fill what you have with loads of things for the snake to play with, like hides and branches...if u get em from a woods, try to bake it in an oven if possible otherwise u mite get mites hope this helps, i will be on later but not rfor a whiale as at college need anythin else jus pm me if u need to

 

[thatsbarry]

Hi thanks for your help. Will try some newspaper and get more things to play with.

Its definitely not vermiculite (thats the white stuff right?), its definitely soil type stuff.

Anyway thanks again.

 

[Snow_Man_UK]

Lots of great information here:
Sand Boa WWW Resources
Did you get a feeding record when you bought the snake and has it been feeding ok?
First thing I would check is your temperatures. Have you got a stat?

 

[bloodxonxyourxhands]

i would say yer it is, it sounds like u have got vermickulite...umm...i would say scrap it...an use an old newspaper for a sub as its easy to clean and its cheap...i would say get a smaller viv for now, or you can jus fill what you have with loads of things for the snake to play with, like hides and branches...if u get em from a woods, try to bake it in an oven if possible otherwise u mite get mites hope this helps, i will be on later but not rfor a whiale as at college need anythin else jus pm me if u need to

the substrate they are on about is the forest bedding stuff, not vermiculite.
and its a sand boa. newspaper is no good. sand boas burrow. and hides and branches would be a bit pointless too. sand boas burrow in the sand and dont do much else.

 

[skimpy]

try scrunching up newspaper and placing in the viv. Forum members have suggested in the past that this sometimes makes a young 'un feel more secure in a larger viv. Plenty of peace as well. Dont be poking at her all the time! I was guilty of that with mine, then wondered why i was having problems

 

[Atvar]

the first thing is sand boas need a dry environment, this is needed when trying to get them feeding, the water bowl needs to be small and at the cool end of the viv, i personally use reptile sand for my sand boas, i have one not feeding and once i raised the temp to the late 80s i had no more problems.

 

[thatsbarry]

Thanks to all who offered some tips - a couple of conflicting points of view but I think I know what to do. I will attempt to keep the temperature high and also leave him alone.

With respect to an eating record, yes I do have that, and it shows it refused its last four mice. My assumption was that if the pet shop was quite open about this it would not be an issue.

Secondly, I wonder how you keep the temperature so high but still have things dark at night? There is a heat pad but it doesnt seem to heat above 72 or thereabouts at night time. I was advised that if the heat pad was bigger or stronger it may crack the glass.

Apart from the water dish the tank is otherwise bare.

Thanks for all for your continued advice.

 

[kingkongtom1]

sand boa

Hi i would try keeping him in a hatchling tub with sand (SAND BOA) like above very dry with tiny water bowl ive never seen anyone i know use anything but sand,

 

[cody]

sure he'll be fine, just raise the temp so it becomes dry and arid, get his metabalism going a bit more, then he'll eat

 

[Snow_Man_UK]

Secondly, I wonder how you keep the temperature so high but still have things dark at night? There is a heat pad but it doesnt seem to heat above 72 or thereabouts at night time. I was advised that if the heat pad was bigger or stronger it may crack the glass.

Your heat pad should cover about 1/4 of the base only to give a good temperature gradient and choice for your little one.

IMHO I would replace the bulb you have with a ceramic (non light emitting) for continuous use, regulated by a thermostat (a must) - the best would be a day/night pulse proportional since these snakes appreciate a night time temperature drop. However unlikely it is that your snake will get to the ceramic I would still use a guard.

These snakes do not like to much light and it will not miss the bulb.

This will sort the temps which will hopefully resolve the feeding issues.

 

[Robbie]

The block of sub you have might be cocoa bedding? You soak that and it expands.
The people I know who have sand boas use shredded newspaper (dried offcourse, can get some problems with ink). Are you offering the correct size mice? Pinkies/fuzzies etc.
Sand Boas can be quite picky, I'm aware. Still I would love a pair!

 

[Cara]

try braining the pinkie (stabbing it in the head) and offering to him (try get it so his flicking tongue touches the brains), the extra smell usually get them going, I have a little CRB that was a problem feeder still I started braining the pinks, now she can't get its down quick enough!!

 

[Lostcorn]

Hi

have had Kenyans for a couple of years now.
They can be fussy feeders at the best of times particularly males.
We had two males and one in particular refused to feed for weeks at a time but to be honest it does not seem to have affected their health.
The snake will feed when it is ready.
You could try holding the mouse using feeding tongs right in front of its head , get ready for the strike

John