Pacific Boa Constrictor Snakes (Candoia bibroni bibroni)

This baby Fiji boa is trying to starve himself to death, and I am trying to not let him do it. We are engaged in a battle of wills right now. I DO NOT RECOMMEND DOING THIS EXCEPT AS A LAST RESORT - this is not for stubborn feeders, this is for snakes who are almost on the point of death and there is nothing left to try. This baby had lost more than 10% of birth weight, regurgitated assist fed solid food, and was severely dehydrated and lethargic. I tried assist feeding with prey animals and let him refuse food for almost 2 months before I tried this. A day after I fed him like this he was lively and active again. I am now doing this every 2 or 3 days, and hope to eventually get him back onto solid food.  It is also not exactly how the manufacturers intend this to be used - they recommend feeding the thick paste, but this snake regurgitates anything solid, so a dilute suspension is being used here until I can get him back onto solids. If trying this, it is important to...

This stunning girl was just collected by a friend of mine. Shes an adult Fiji Boa from the main island of Viti Levu, and has a really mellow temperament. Most Fiji Boas have some form of mottled or zigzag pattern on their back, and many from Vitti Levi have a black stripe or check on their bellies, but this girl is virtually patternless, and as you can see, a stunning dark orange with a creamy yellow belly. Just shows some of the variety in their natural genepool!

In the past, we have had some tragedies with new born Fiji boas. with this little survivor we are trying a new strategy - most of them seem to be born in May or June, a rainy time of year in Fiji. In case the problem we have had in the past has been dehydration, we are spraying this little guy with fresh water every morning. He seems to like it, rubbing his face along the side of the tank and drinking from the droplets. There are dangers with this - if mold grows it could cause fungal infections, so we change the paper and clean his tank daily, and if he lies in too wet conditions too often he could get something called blister disease, but he has a dry bamboo climbing frame to keep him of the ground, and he seems to like it, so we are hopeful that this might be the right approach.

This boy is a survivor! Unfortunately we lost all of the rest of the litter - we think they may have been born a little prematurely - 16 of 21 were dead when we found them, and another 4 died in the first few days. Many never made it out of their birth sacs, and others still had their placenta attached. BUT the good news is that the mother is fine, and this boy (see spurs for definite sexing) is hanging on and has had four meals of geckos so far. We're cheering for him!

Who says these snakes aren't gregarious?

Samael... likes to sleep in the bath!

5 day old chicks, minimum size nowadays Enough for only a couple of feedings  nowadays .