[Feeding-General] I fed my boa, but noticed one thing! Concerned!

[SerpentsEmbrace]

Hi guys, so today I fed my red tail, albeit a day late, the shop keeper at the Northern Exotics said that one day late isn't too bad and that he will be perfectly fine in the long run.

However, after feeding, which went very well until... I noticed behind him some urates and feces.. Now I'm concerned as what to do because he had urinated the other day, which I immediately changed his substrate. I have much left but now I need to clean, and he refuses to move. He swallowed his food item in almost the near same position as he is in now.. How? I don't know. But now I'm afraid of possible infection, I need to know what to do with a situation like this in case it happens again in the future. ALL HELP IS WELCOME AND APPRECIATED!


Atal'Hakker, all fattened up after feeding.
3 Months Old.

[Noelle7206]

Re: I fed my boa, but noticed one thing! Concerned!

First off, snakes do NOT need an exact schedule of meals. It's also better to underfeed somewhat than it is to overfeed. Feeding a "day late" is of zero concern.

I'm not completely sure I understand your second question: that his cage needs 'tidied up' and he isn't moving so you can do that? Tools like a snake-hook (to move him with a gentle slight lift & slide) and long grab tongs
(to pick up or at least put some substrate over the feces so he's not sitting in them) come in very handy for this purpose.

I hope I'm wrong but in that photo he looks a little too-well-fed to me. What size (rats or mice?) are you feeding him & how often?

[SerpentsEmbrace]

Re: I fed my boa, but noticed one thing! Concerned!

First off, snakes do NOT need an exact schedule of meals. It's also better to underfeed somewhat than it is to overfeed. Feeding a "day late" is of zero concern.

I'm not completely sure I understand your second question: that his cage needs 'tidied up' and he isn't moving so you can do that? Tools like a snake-hook (to move him with a gentle slight lift & slide) and long grab tongs
(to pick up or at least put some substrate over the feces so he's not sitting in them) come in very handy for this purpose.

I hope I'm wrong but in that photo he looks a little too-well-fed to me. What size (rats or mice?) are you feeding him & how often?

He had gotten it down no problem earlier today, also, that picture really doesn't do him justice, I'll try to get a new one!

Regarding the second question: Sorry my friend, slight typing error there. His enclosure must be cleaned and changed, because he is in fact right beside the stool. Which is dark in color and solid, which is a good thing if I remember correctly.

I do NOT have a hook yet as I have always handled by hand with his current size, I am planning on getting some for sure as I get paid this week and have no debt to pay out to.

That said, his current substrate is newspaper, could I possibly slide him onto another paper if I do it gently enough? Would that bug him too much?

I was worried about simply feeding him, fuzzies, but according to his age I can go up a size to weanling, so that is what I got today as he is 3 months now. It is a rat. Will this have an adverse affect on him? I am getting paid this week and have pre decided since that all my bills are paid that I am going to be doing a complete overhaul of his enclosure, buying a 2 month supply of food (Of the right size of course, which if you can advise me would be great on that) and now going to get a snake hook. I didn't want to until he was bigger, as I assumed it was okay that I didn't have them right away.

[Pandorasdad]

Re: I fed my boa, but noticed one thing! Concerned!

No worries on either account. A very minor amount of handling to spot clean is unlikely to be an issue.

[SerpentsEmbrace]

Re: I fed my boa, but noticed one thing! Concerned!

No worries on either account. A very minor amount of handling to spot clean is unlikely to be an issue.

Okay, thank you so much. What I am going to do to is slowly pull the newspaper over top another paper, and kind of pull the old switcheroo!

[Noelle7206]

Re: I fed my boa, but noticed one thing! Concerned!

Many snakes stay in "feed mode" (ie ready to bite you or anything for a while after they've eaten) so if that's the issue (trying to approach him & tidy his cage?), there's many ways around it. It won't hurt if you can slide
him onto other paper. You don't need an "official snake hook" either...so don't stress your budget for that...make your own! The way most boa keepers use these ("hook training" to prevent bites) you don't need the "hook"
part at ALL anyway. My favorite snake hooks (bought many years ago) were made from modified golf clubs...nice rubber grip, right length, very sturdy...but with the club end removed and a smooth rounded right angle 'hook'
added. You can often find old stray golf clubs cheaply in thrift stores, or use something similar to copy the idea. Again, you don't really want to lift your boa with a 'hook' (as some may do with other types of snakes). But the
'snake hook' itself is very handy for reaching into the cage & nudging your snake where you need him to be. (and yes, dark solid stool is healthy looking)

Food: we feed according to the size of the snake, not their age, as they don't all grow the same rate. You want to feed a rodent that is slightly smaller than his (unfilled) midsection at the widest part. Sellers don't all label
rodents of a given size exactly the same way either, so go by the size of your snake...you want the meal to leave only a slight bulge once he's eaten. And you want it completely digested before you feed again...remember
that the bigger the rodent, the longer it takes to digest, so you gradually lengthen the time between their meals. Your snake should probably be eating maybe every 10 days right now...& longer won't hurt anything. Snakes
grown slower are often healthier in the long run.

[SerpentsEmbrace]

Re: I fed my boa, but noticed one thing! Concerned!

Many snakes stay in "feed mode" (ie ready to bite you or anything for a while after they've eaten) so if that's the issue (trying to approach him & tidy his cage?), there's many ways around it. It won't hurt if you can slide
him onto other paper. You don't need an "official snake hook" either...so don't stress your budget for that...make your own! The way most boa keepers use these ("hook training" to prevent bites) you don't need the "hook"
part at ALL anyway. My favorite snake hooks (bought many years ago) were made from modified golf clubs...nice rubber grip, right length, very sturdy...but with the club end removed and a smooth rounded right angle 'hook'
added. You can often find old stray golf clubs cheaply in thrift stores, or use something similar to copy the idea. Again, you don't really want to lift your boa with a 'hook' (as we often do with other types of snakes). But the
'snake hook' itself is very handy for reaching into the cage & nudging your snake where you need him to be. (and yes, dark solid stool is healthy looking)

Food: we feed according to the size of the snake, not their age, as they don't all grow the same rate. You want to feed a rodent that is slightly smaller than his (unfilled) midsection at the widest part. Sellers don't all label
rodents of a given size exactly the same way either, so go by the size of your snake...you want the meal to leave only a slight bulge once he's eaten. And you want it completely digested before you feed again...remember
that the bigger the rodent, the longer it takes to digest, so you gradually lengthen the time between their meals. Your snake should probably be eating maybe every 10 days right now...& longer won't hurt anything. Snakes
grown slower are often healthier in the long run.

Okay no problem. I'll make note of feeding to size, I was more or less worried that if I waited until my day of pay (thursday) that it might have bee bad for him, but thank you for clearing that up!

I appreciate all your help.

All I did was slip another paper underneath the current one, and maneuvered him around the feces and urates and easily got him onto a new paper no problem at all! Not even a fuss out of him!

[bebowebb]

Re: I fed my boa, but noticed one thing! Concerned!

Sounds like you have received some sound advice.

Hope all went well with your moving and spot cleaning endeavor.

[SerpentsEmbrace]

Re: I fed my boa, but noticed one thing! Concerned!

Sounds like you have received some sound advice.

Hope all went well with your moving and spot cleaning endeavor.

Everything went well, I switched the paper out underneath the original one, I maneuvered him around the dirty spot on the paper and carefully, and very slowly, moved him onto the other paper without a single problem. He champed it out and behaved angelicly.

[weird_science04]

Re: I fed my boa, but noticed one thing! Concerned!

Also, if you use aspen, this won't be too much of a problem. Aspen will dry the urates up quickly and the next day, when the snake moves, you can just reach in and grab the soiled aspen without issues. I love aspen.

Star

[jOHNNY t]

Re: I fed my boa, but noticed one thing! Concerned!

I was worried about simply feeding him, fuzzies, but according to his age I can go up a size to weanling,

The only thing I would add is prey size is determined by the size of your boa. Prey should be around the size of the largest diameter of your boa's body, leaving a small lump after it gets it ingested. Hope this helps.