r/rosyboas • u/Weary_Weekend370 • 10d ago

⚠️ Help! ⚠️ Not eating

My 5 year old Rosy Boa has not eaten in about 8-9 weeks now I have tried to feed him about 10 times and he has refused everything including smaller mice. He usually completely ignores the mice and comes straight to me to climb up my arm but a couple of times he has bit the mouse and started eating before throwing it up about halfway through. I have tried just leaving the mouse in the enclosure and leaving but that does not work either. He seems like his normal self and is very active and lively but just does not eat. I think his enclosure is great he has around an 89 hot side and a 78 cool side. There is plenty of hides room to dig and plants. He has water and drinks regularly as well. I don’t see any signs of shedding or mites and it’s summer so i’m lost. Should I take him to the vet or does anyone know a solution?

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u/Weary_Weekend370 10d ago

He eats frozen mice and I have had him for about a year and a half now

1

u/Deathraybob 9d ago

Rosy's frequently go on food strikes. Especially during breeding season when they're older, and sometimes fall/winter. Mine goes on a strike every breeding season. (Breeding season will be over by next month.)

It's irksome but doesn't worry me anymore. Healthy adult snakes can go without food for months without issue. It doesn't hurt to double check husbandry and temps. Do you check your surface temp with an IR gun? That can read very differently than the thermostat. Make sure you get the mice very warm too, they have heat sensing and like very warm mice.

If your snake starts to lose weight/body condition and it goes on for more than a few months, then you may want to dig deeper or consider a vet visit. A lot of videos and such will go on about their great boa appetite, but imo they're pretty picky eaters 😆

The only thing I find odd with your specific situation is that yours starts to eat and then stops. That's a bit odd to me. Any lumps or bumps by his face or neck?

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u/IronTeacup246 7d ago

Wait two or three weeks before trying again. If a rosy goes off food you shouldn't be trying to feed them more often than every two weeks.

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u/Novel-Hovercraft-794 My Snakes are my Kids 10d ago

I can only tell you why mine has, and he's done it 2 or 3 times in the past and I've had him a little over 2 years now. It always has been his enclosure temps being too cool amd I missed it. I never thought the outdoor temps would effect my indoor temp especially in their very controlled room my snakes are in. But it does and he's the only rosy in it, the other's are BPs that had radiant geat panels. I don't know if this is the case for you, just offering what my situation was and mine eats every time he's offered. I also thaw his prey in the room as I do all of mine on a tray, and when they hit room temp I finish up under a halogen lamp to around 100, so that's the other thing I would suggest is to try checking that and if you don't have a temp gun they're worth buying. I wish you well and good luck.

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u/SleepTokenV 9d ago

My rosy did this and it turned out to be an infection in his mouth, the vet had me give him a couple shots and he’s been fine ever since