Southwestern Center for Herpetological Research
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Have you seen one of these before ?

Have you seen one of these before ?

by indigo1
Jan 11, 2004 12:55 PM · 2998 views · 168.0 k · 962 x 594

Keywords: Epicrates Gracillis

This is a picture of my little but fully grown Haitian Rainbow Boa a few days after she came to me. she is now a year older and only a centimetre or two longer. She will not feed on her own and still needs to be force-fed. I start off by putting the fat end of a mouse tail in her mouth, then when she starts to swallow I introduce a pinkie or two. I have tried scenting them with "T.Rex Lizard Maker" without success and will continue to force-feed as long as neccessary. Any ideas for getting her to feed by herself anyone ?
Report Photo « Gentino Sun-Glow 1 »

Comments (22)

Tikka2506
Feb 18, 2004 4:38 PM
Try getting some kind of natural live food and leave it in there overnight. Maybe she would like to hunt for her food. If she goes and hides she will eventually come out when you are not in there and hopefully feel comfortable and eat.
sunspark
Feb 19, 2004 8:56 PM
Rating: 5/5
Looks kind of like a Dog-Toothed Cat Snake. Pretty cool looking, whatever she is!
LordThanatos
Jul 8, 2004 6:09 AM
Rating: 5/5
I agree with Tikka2506...

I got my Dumerils boa to eat again after 6 months(!!) of hungerstrike by adapting my cage a little to be more realistic to the natural surroundings they would be used to in the wild... And most importantly: I left pinkies and fuzzies in the cage overnight! About 2 months ago I was delighted to see that one morning the pinky I left overnight was gone! It now feeds on pinkies and fuzzies of rats, mice and hamsters...

So, leave the snake alone for about 2 or 3 days, then leave about 3 LIVE pinky mice in the cage overnight and leave the snake alone again for a while. In that way, the snake has minimal stress and it can decide for himself to come out whenever he likes...

The pinkies will live for about 2 to 3 days... Worth a try, ik worked for me!

And about the nervous behavior, just handle the snake a lot, but I guess I don't need to tell you =D My Dumerils boa also was afraid and was in panic when I slided open my cage... Handling him often just helped...
riiotgrrl
Jul 8, 2004 9:46 AM
I am really surprised that no one has mentioned this yet, but have you had her vet checked at all? She my have parasites....ESPECIALLY if she is WC. That could be a good reason why she is not eating. I also agree with feeding tree frogs btw.
BadBoid
Jul 8, 2004 10:14 AM
...that is definitley an epicrates, and probably a gracilis to boot. I have two haitian epicrates (E. striatus striatus) and they are usually fedby leaving a dead mouse at the entrance to their hide box overnight.
I'm not sure what E. gracilis eat, but the species account references two sources for husbandry information. If you can find them, they would probably be pretty helpful.

one is: Tolson, P.J. 1994. The reproductive managelment of the insular species of Epicrates in captivity (p. 353-357) in J.B. Murphy, K. Adler and J.T. Collins (eds.), Captive Management and Conservation of Amphibians and Reptiles. SSAR Contrib. Herpetol. 11, Ithica, New York

the other source is: Walls, J.G. 1998. The Living Boas: A Complete Guide to the Boas of the World. T.F.H. Publ., Inc., Neptune City, New Jersey.

Hopefully you will find some of this helpful.
prprjp
Jan 4, 2008 8:33 PM
Rating: 5/5
Typical food for gracilis are anolis lizards.
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