Red tail boa in shock? please help

[szilez]

I just recently got a Red tail boa from a friend. Im not sure if its a male or female, his/her name is ponches. Ponches is about 81/2 - 9 feet. Anyways, I picked him up about a week ago. The previous owner had a bunny that he was going to feed him, but he ended up sending it home with me. So for several days i kept on trying to feed him, but he wouldn't eat. I even tried to give him a warm water bath to raise his metabolism, but he still wont eat. The guy i got him from said he was very hungry and we both agreed he should of fed him before the move. Not only will he not eat, but now every time i take him out he hisses. Supposedly he supposed to be a very dosile snake and rarely hisses except for when hes taking a bath. I'm not sure how to get him to eat? and how to make him more comfortable? Is he still getting use to me? and thats why he hisses? can someone please help me out?

Josh-

P.S. I'm new to this board, so hello everyone.

[tatdaddy]

Re: Red tail boa in shock? please help

Welcom to the fourm. Now lets see ah yes,
You need to give your boa time to adjust to his new home.
You said that you have had him for about a week now. I would leave him alone for another week the only time I would mess with him is to change his water or to clean up his poooo.
After about another week he should have calmed down some.
Good luck.

[Fonzy]

Re: Red tail boa in shock? please help

Welcome to the club, mine is doing the exact same thing, only mine attempted to bite me a couple of times! I'm going to wait for 1 more week before attempting to feed him again. Also, check his cloaca (located near the bottom side of his tail), if there are to spurs that are pretty apparent, you probably have a male. If you still cannot tell, your best bet is to either take him to an experienced herp vet or to someone that breeds boids. Good luck, and let me know how it goes!

[XzyluM]

Re: Red tail boa in shock? please help

Spurs are not an very accurate way to determine the sex for a snake. Just thought I'll let you know that. I agree, you should give him another week to settle in. He could be stressed from the move and not willing to eat or be handled.

[Doug]

Re: Red tail boa in shock? please help

HI,
Is this your first boa or are you a reptile expert from previous boa's. Most boas will not feed unless they are in the normal temp range and have enough humidity.
Most of our homes are to cold and dry for boa's and many are being kept in cages that actually drying the air from having to much air flow from light's open che's and such above a wire cover.
lets hear about his cage, temps and humidty. What are you using for substrate.
     Dont want to miss any imortant detail's.
 ps has this boa been fed fresh killed when was his last stool checked for parasites, many captive boa's are fine for a couple years and then the parasite load just makes them become weak and stop feeding.  thats why many boa owners only feed fresh thawed rats. freezing kills all parasites and their ova.
  hope this helps.
 ps there's and awsome care sheet thats free on this forum that you can download for reference on your pc.
click on the shortcut below>>>>
[ftp]http://www.redtailboas.com/general_care/general_care.html[/ftp]
 Doug

[dblhet]

Re: Red tail boa in shock? please help

Josh,your snake is in shock,more than likley,because of you!
leave him alone with proper temps and water,he will be fine...i received a 9 foot plus female about a month ago and tried to feed her a rabbit twice..(a week apart!!) to no avail...let him be alone,big snakes don't always eat as aggresivley as small ones....she ate today,but i gave her a f/t jumbo instead of a rabbit.
good luck