Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I got my wlp a week ago and tried to get him to eat a rat fuzzy but he wouldnt. My temps are 75-90 ,I mist him about 3 or 4 times a day and he has 2 hides. Any tips on what the problem is?
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Zac

i think you jus need give it some time to acclimate, try feedin him again inna week
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.......A man does what he wants, a boy does what he can.......

Probably need a little more info to help you out. How large is he, what was he eating for the person you bought him from, cage size etc. WLPs as babies can be very shy. The typical "slap feeding" technique just won't work with some individuals. For my exceptionally timid babies, I ended up just leaving a thawed, warm, smallish size mouse in the enclosure where I knew he could find it, and left him alone. Also, my wlp's almost never eat when in shed. These can be very sensitive snakes, your temps sound good but spraying the cage 3-4 times a day sounds like a lot to me. Remember, you want it to be humid, not wet. If you continue to have problems, posting a pic off the animal and it's enclosure might be helpful. Good luck,
-Rolf

He is about 3 1/2 ft long, his cage is 3ft tall x 20" wide X 1ft out, I was told he ate small adult mice. He seem a lil thin so I tried smaller items. I tried slap feeding but it was no use. I tooks some pics but I got a new CP and cant find the software to download the pics onto the CP.

He is strangly very tame a lil flighty though and he does that short lil his when you first get him out.
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Zac

....that im geting him ,soon, a 4ft tall x 30" x 30" cage.
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Zac

Let me start out with this, when i bought him i noticed the area of his body right at his poop hole and 3 or 4 inches up was fatter than the area above the fat area. I figured he had a big load on the way. He just went poop and the poop was the white calcium part and the rest was green sand is what it looked and felt like but not alot of it the rest his fat area was urine because the whole paper towel was soaked. Now his body looks how it should.

Im 90% certain it was sand but I dont no how it got green. Maybe he will feed in a week now. What do you guys think about this?
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Zac

if it still doesnt eat....is it WC, because i had one that was wild caught a while back that was 6ft and angrier then any emerald tree boa...i couldnt get it to eat for ever and then finally a buddy who also knows snakes decided to throw a little bird in and the snake grabbed it mid air...i eventually changed it over to rats but unfortunately had to get rid of it because i didnt have a big enough cage for a snake that was as nasty as it.
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0.0.1 Borneo Blood Python
0.0.1 IJ Carpet Python
0.0.1 Colombian Boa
0.0.1 Ball Python
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0.1.0 2 year old boxer

Personally i think your going too fast. Was the snake feeding before you bought it? According to your post you got the little guy 2 weeks ago, i would recommend housing him in a tub...not a 4' cage. white lips are very secretive and require alot of privacy..similar to a blood python. you maybe decreasing his chances to feed by putting him in a bigger cage, atleast for now. Put him in a tub with a hide, and water bowl and completely ingnore him for accouple days atleast except for water changes and cleaning. offer him a frozen thawed mouse, and make sure its really warm, if he doesnt take it leave it in there for accouple hours. If that doesnt work put small live mouse in the enclosure, this should work. you maybe have to offer him live 2-3 more times before he accept thawed or fresh killed. good luck
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1.1 suri redtails
2.1 chondros
1.1 womas
1.0 blood
1.0 albino blood

It's starting to sound like a pretty fresh import... The green sand sounds a lot like a heavy amount of bile salts, which are produced when metabolizing some drugs. This one may require some patience to get feeding regularly. My suggestions, start with your enclosure. In four foot tall cage, it's going to be difficult to keep the humidity and temp well balanced. Overhead heat will work well for a more arboreal animal, but wlp's (mine anyways) like to shelter on the ground underneath something and keeping the humidity up is going to mean having the ground more wet than it should be. I would simplify things by housing him temporarily in a flatter enclosure, like a plastic storage bin (rack type system), something like a twenty gallon long reptile aquarium, or a commercial type (Vision, etc) cage. If you go with an aquarium, I would recommend covering the screen top with plexiglass and maybe one or two sides with dark paper for added security. Goes without saying, but always have clean water available and I would limit handling as much as possible until you have a couple of meals in him.

The most important part of the process is going to be watching your animal, and I would not bother trying to feed him until it looks like he's comfortable in his surroundings. Confident wlp's shelter during most of the day, occasionally coming out to bask. They do the same thing during the evening, but also methodically cruise their cage or perch somewhere in I'm-ready-to-eat posture. Watch for them curling up in a corner during the day, not under a shelter or very rapid, frantic cruising of the cage or excessive nose rubbing on a vent or other cage surface. These things mean he's uncomfortable or nervous and something needs to be fixed or he needs a little more time to adjust. Good luck with him, in my experience, once these guys settle in, they are effortless feeders and fun animals to keep.

-Rolf

I was told he ate before. Ok I moved him into a 20 gal long. Im gonna try and feed him next week. Im good friends with the people that owns the pet store I bought him from and ill ask them to scent the mouse with one of their birds, hopfully that will work. Also, they bought him from LLL reptiles and I asked LLL if they were CB but he said they were WC. He is really onne of the coolest snakes I ever bought. Hes very tame as well only hissing some times. But im worried that im gonna have a hard time feeding him and stuff.
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Zac

you could try dipping the mouse in warm chicken broth..this has work on gtps for me before.
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1.1 suri redtails
2.1 chondros
1.1 womas
1.0 blood
1.0 albino blood

Hopefully they were honest with you about him eating, and they probably were. Although I’ve seen a lot of LLL animals at shows – I suppose this isn’t the place for this sort of discussion…

Anyways, wlp’s are awesome snakes, I absolutely love mine. Getting him to eat or recognize food won’t be the problem, these are not slow metabolism or more specialized feeders like gtps or balls that frequently fast as a matter of course. These are hungry, active animals that will most likely eat very consistently for you – once they feel secure and their environment is appropriate. That’s the real job here, and I honestly feel that this is why they’re considered more of an “advanced” snake. The hardest part about keeping one, like most other “difficult” snakes, is getting it adapted to captivity, and adjusting your care to it. Again, good luck and let us know how it goes.

-Rolf

hello it could very well be that he/she is just not settled in yet some snakes take longer than others iv had encounters with snakes that diddent eat for 2 months b4 they finaly decided it was time to eat.. so just keep working with it and try to make it comfortable.. if it would happen that u see it starting to get sick u can try to get it to eat defensivly whitch involves ticking the snake off and making them grab it,, but for the most part just be patient it will more than likely come around

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