Kenyan Sand Boas Feeding Problem

[shapeshifter]

Hi Everybody!

First of all. A big thanks to all the forum members out there who are always willing to help others!

I do apologize if this is in the wrong section or if it has been discussed before.

I have a bit of a problem. I bought 2 baby Kenyan Sand Boas from reputable breeders at the SOS reptile expo in May this year. But I am having a major hard time getting them to feed. So bad I am considering selling/giving them away. I have 3 corn snakes and they have also stopped eating from time to time but never this bad. So put on you reading glasses because here is the full story:

According to the the breeders I bought a Snow Male and Normal Female. Bought them home to their already set up enclosure as I had been planning over 6 months on getting Kenyan Sand boas. I did a lot of research on them. The female was smaller than the male but they had no problems and I put them together in the same enclosure. They get along very well and aren't bothered with each other. The enclosure has a ceramic heater in it high enough so they cant reach it. With a night glow lamp to maintain the temps at night along with a temperature controller. The Warm side is usually between 30-33 degrees and the cooler side about 26-28 degrees. I have sand inside but it is a mixture of coarse and medium grain. Not the fine one that makes a lot of dust. Now since I have had them the male has shed once and eaten once. The female has shed once but hardly eaten. In the beginning I gave them live new born pinks to eat. I know you must not feed them on the sand, so I removed them the first few times from the enclosure. But no luck. They would not eat. I got desperate after that and started putting the pinks in the enclosure. Still no luck. They both are interested in the food. But if the pinks moves a bit too much they are not interested. If it does not move at all they are also not interested. I have frozen pinks I keep for my Baby Corn (also bought from the expo) and one night while feeding my corn I had an extra pink left over. Put it in the enclosure, wiggled it around and WHAM the male catches it and eats it. No problem. There after, not again (not live or dead). The female is another story. It is as if she cant smell the food. Live or dead. I wiggle it, warm them up, puncture the head and even cut the stomach open for the smell. (My baby corn loves that so I figured it could work for the boas as well.). Nothing. I just don't get that same reaction you get from other snakes. She was starting to get skinny from not eating so I cut a pink into 4 pieces and force fed her the 1/4 of the pink. I really don't know what to do anymore. Am I missing something?

[F1refly]

Do you have any idea how old they are? I really would love to get Sand Boas. It's possible that they are hatchlings that haven't eaten yet. If possible can you post some pictures of your setup and the snakes? Remember it is winter as well so they might not eat as much as they normally would.

[Fooble]

Personally would lower the temps 32-28 is rather warm.

I would also remove the snake place a live pink and a thawed pink in a small tub and leave it in a dark place over night.
usually you will find both pinks being eaten.

[ColinWa]

My girlfriend has the exact same problem with her small male kenyan, he only ate after 3 weeks of not eating after getting the pair, the female is eating fine though, quite odd .. hope you come right!

[Bushviper]

You have only had the snakes for 5 weeks. It is not uncommon for them to go off food this time of the year.

I would put them each in their own cages just to start with.

Instead of putting them in a tub with the mice try putting them into a heavy cloth bag and place a few live pinkies in the bag. That way they have to burrow to move around in the bag and then finding pinkies will seem more "natural".

[demigod06]

I have 2 baby kenyan sand boas, they are rather picky eaters..

the female eats fine in a seperate feeding container, the male is very fussy.. all my snakes and reptiles eat live mice and rats, supervised.

The male only eats with a little substrate in the feeding container, he wants to feel safe and it is natural for them to feed with substrate, it is a hazard but i obviousley sit and watch so that no indigestion of substrate happens. I put a 1cm layer of fine repti sand in the feeding container, after i put him in the container i leave him there for a few minutes to settle... then i put the live pinky in and close the lid. It is in the dark on the heating pad.

He ate fine, just buy realy small pinkys..

Ofcourse all snakes differ and not every snake is picky, so i hope it helped

Good luck
Bernice

[demigod06]

this is the famale eating...

[Blet]

Last year my male went off food for 5mths without a gram lost! Seems his girlfriend attracted way more attention! Same thing this year and for the past 8-10w neither has eaten. Both are healthy adults and early signs of courting is, once again, in the air. These guys are very efficient and I wouldn't stress too much at this stage.

[shapeshifter]

Here are some pics I took with my cell. Excuse the silver tape on the outside. I just makes it easier to see at a distance if the glass is closed.

@Bushviper- I read that somewhere on the internet. I tried it but nothing happened. The next morning those pinks were all smelly. But I suppose I could try again.

@Blet. My corns usually do that before mating season. But what bothers me is the female is starting to lose weight. Fast.

[demigod06]

dude your cage is waaay too big..

They have too much space, even if they are living together. Thei wont feel secure in so much space..

[F1refly]

Finally some answers. I agree that the cage is way too big. Why not get them some Bigish addis tubs and kepp them in there until theyre a bit bigger. The cage size is probably why theyre not eating.

[shapeshifter]

Can't believe I missed that. Thanks so much! I will buy a tub today and move them. Will update their progress as we go.

Thanks again!

[Miguel]

I also had the same problem with my baby male kenyan sand boa, he just died 3 day ago, I was heart broken

[Dyllan123]

I house my KSBs in 11lt and 26lt Addis tubs. Works really well for me. I keep the babys in 2lt tubs up to about 6 months of age,that seems to get them feeding better than keeping them in a larger container.

The male in the picture posted is indeed not a snow but an anery morph.

[demigod06]

Both my babies ate again this week, fed the female the same way.. tried to feed the male without sand, but he is a picky one..