Why does my Red Tail Boa not wrap around her frozen food?

Question

My Red Tail Boa is almost a year old. I adopted her about two months ago and she never seemed to have a problem eating. Recently I've noticed she has less interest in wrapping around and suffocating her frozen prey. I always warm the food for 10-15 minutes in warm to hot water. She always has a good appetite every 4-5 days but when she attacks the food she only bites the head of the mouse. I have come to think that she caught onto the fact that it is already dead.

The past 2 times I have fed her, I would poke a needle into the neck and back of the mouse to stimulate the scent a bit more. She began to wrap around once but never to a point where Im convinced the mouse would have died if it were alive. I am wondering if I should take a chance and feed a live mice and she what her reaction would be. This could also be a problem if my snake is too lazy and believes she doesnt need to wrap around to kill.

Someone pleaseeee help!

Answer 1

ok snakes wrap around the food to kill it, when they feel that the food has no pulse they unwrap and find the head. your snake has come to learn that each time you give it food, it already has no pulse. so it knows there is no purpose to strangle it when the food is already dead. dont worry about it, you have a very smart snake. dont try and make her do it. what she is doing is fine. just dont feed her live all of a sudden.

Answer 2

it's not something to worry about. The fact that you're boa eats is the only important thing. Whether it wraps or doesn't wrap has no importance and only would if you fed it live. As you feed it frozen, there is no need for it to wrap so don't worry.

Answer 3

Yep.  Sam is right.  I find this most often in Ball Pythons.  After a few feeds, they realize the prey you offer is dead (and can't injure them), and they don't waste valuable calories on constricting.

My Dumerils boa takes the nose of his large rat or small rabbit from the reptile tongs (he's a very gentle eater at over 5 ft.), lined up to swallow, and immedicately pulls it across his back, where he pushes it into a coil, and starts swallowing.  Sometimes, he will start swallowing the rat as I hold the tail in the tongs.

A snake constricts its prey not for exercise, but for suffocation of the prey as quickly as possible, before the prey can injure it.  They try to grab the live prey animal near the head, so its mouth can't get a chance to bite, before it dies.  They only release the pressure, when there is no breathing and heartbeat.  The pressure is tremendous, and often breaks bones, as well, making swallowing easier for the snake.

She's smart, for a snake.  What's she's doing is perfectly fine, wise, and reducing work for her.

Don't "blood" the kill.  You're only subjecting her habitat to more bacterial contamination.

My only concern here is reading that you heat her prey animal.  She is NOT warm blooded, and you should not be feeding her "hot" food.  You can injure her.

I defrost all my frozen prey animals at room temperature (organs thaw the slowest, so always hold your thumb to the stomach of the prey animal and feel for cool spots.  There should be none.  Be sure it is thoroughly thawed).  Your snake should take the room temperature prey without hesitation.

I hope this has been helpful.

Answer 4

I'm guessing the snake caught on the hint and isn't re-killing its meal. It senses that its food isn't alive and has caught on that your giving it dead meals. It's ok because if their food is alive and roams in it's cage when it's not hungry, it thinks that a rat or a mouse is its own kind and not food. stick with dead food. It's still eating so it's fine. You don't need to heat or blood the prey because that could just harm your snake. Feeding isn't that complicated.

You can't feed it live because there is a possibility it may die.

http://redtailboa.net/forums/feeding/155...

if u don't believe me look at this^

Answer 5

It's already dead; she doesn't need to re-kill it.

Answer 6

The mouse is dead. She don't need to kill it again. As long as she is eating everything is fine.