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Rescued my boa recently he was in horrible conditions..cage to small, living in filth..sick with RI and sinus problems..no heat or any airflow at all..got him home changed cage immediately now with heat humidity and water. let him sit for a few days took him to vet, was treated with xrays antibiotics and anti inflammatory meds..worked he's much better now.just had a shed few days ago with no problems..so he's the most docile snake ever, he was not held or touched for over 6 months so he's loving our home, we handle our snakes all the time, so he just wants to hang out. Problem is he will not eat..tried to feed him again for the 5th time with no luck. They said they fed him the day I picked him up, they lied. Xray showed empty stomach, I've had him over 2 months and I don't know how long it's been since he's eaten. We tried frozen/thawed and he seems interested then nothing..tried to leave it for him in cage maybe he's shy, still nothing..doing everything right but just won't eat..he's lost some weight and is down about 10 pounds, I was thinking trying a medium rat live tomorrow, any advice would be much appreciated..he's about 7 feet and down to 9 pounds. Need him getting weight back on asap. Thanks
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Re: Rescued boa, was sick...geting better but still wont eat. Help please!
Poor snake has been thru a lot! And the LAST thing he needs right now is a rat-bite! Try offering him a live fuzzy (w/ EYES CLOSED ONLY) either rat or mouse, as an appetizer. Most snakes will go on to take pre-killed
(either fresh or frozen-thawed) after they make even a minor "kill & munch" IF they are healthy. PLEASE don't shove a live rat in with a snake that doesn't want to eat...it won't end well for the snake. And it may
be that to save money, they fed him mice, which smell considerably different from rats, so I'd try a f/t mouse too. You mentioned having tried 5 times to offer him food...if you do this 'too often' it stresses a snake
that's reluctant to feed into refusing...so I would not offer food any more than once a week, or better yet, wait to offer every 2 weeks. Remember he still isn't feeling great.
If for some reason he still doesn't eat, a tube-feed might bump up his energy enough to help his appetite...will advise later if necessary, but try to get him to take a live appetizer first? And keep in mind that if you
do tube-feed him, don't over-do the amount...it won't be the amount of food that you'd "like to see him eat" normally, only the amount that he can handle without making things worse, just a little "pick-me-up".
And don't obsess about getting weight back on him too fast...snakes recover slowly, medications stress their body, & the last thing he needs now is a big meal. Think about how YOU feel after you've been ill and not
eating normal food for even a week...most of us don't run right out for a fancy dinner, we start off slow...so be patient. He was treated concurrently with several medications, if I follow your post correctly, and that
is very hard on a snake's body; your vet meant well, but many snakes have trouble after such multiple treatments. BE SURE TO KEEP HIM HYDRATED...encourage him to drink water to help flush out the meds.
You mentioned that he is "the most docile snake ever"...& while that seems like a good thing for a pet, it isn't always a good sign. It may mean he isn't feeling well, for any number of reasons. Hopefully, it's just low
energy from all he's been thru. In the meantime, I'd refrain from handling him any more than is absolutely necessary...for some snakes, it interferes with their feeding instincts; since he was not properly taken care of,
it may be that he never was handled very much. You might ask the vet if the anti-inflammatory meds you mentioned might have affected him this way...were they oral or injected? Also, since he was given antibiotics,
you should be adding* some reptile pro-biotics to his food to help his digestion get back on track, *either by putting a little powder into the dead prey's mouth, or by mixing into a tube-fed meal if it comes to that. -
Re: Rescued boa, was sick...geting better but still wont eat. Help please!
How is he doing now? I agree with everything Noelle said. If you can get some just-born (pinkies) or fuzzies (five day old) mice or rats, live, that will be what he would probably start off with more than anything else.Comment
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Re: Rescued boa, was sick...geting better but still wont eat. Help please!
Is it just me? Threads like this, asking for & needing immediate help, really frustrate me when the poster never returns after the original post.Comment
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Re: Rescued boa, was sick...geting better but still wont eat. Help please!
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That is because some of us, like yourself, get emotionally invested in trying to help people. When they dont return it feels kinda empty and you never know if you were able to help. Kinda sucks. I had typed up a small paragraph until I looked up as saw your post.Comment
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Re: Rescued boa, was sick...geting better but still wont eat. Help please!
Mugglemama, where are you???Comment
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Re: Rescued boa, was sick...geting better but still wont eat. Help please!
Tammy, unfortunately, it sometimes happens that the animal dies, and the owner/caregiver who asked for help just cannot bear to come back and say so.
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