Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I recently aquired a Gaboon neo, and it has been acclimating for about 2 weeks. I'm still unable to get it to feed tho, recently I've tried leaving in a box in the enclosure with a live fuzzy, and various other picky feeder techniques with no success. Does anyone have any insight on this issue? How should I proceed from here to try and coax this baby to feed?
Any help would be extremely appreciated.

Joel

Just exercise a lot of patience; some of these youngsters just need time to acclimate; that could take a few days to a few months. Just make sure the snake has a large, shallow water bowl, mist frequently but making sure the bedding isn't wet or even damp, give it some areas to hide in and just leave it alone. Too much stimulation, even prey, can cause the snake to shut down completely. I would just leave it alone and not even attempt to offer food for a couple of weeks. I have never had a young gabby not take a frozen thawed hopper via long hemostats. Double check your temps and humidity levels....what are they? I like to provide a natural substrate of soil, a little sand, ESU jungle mix, and a layer of oak leaves; this may help your snake settle in more quickly. Just something to consider.

Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center

>>I recently aquired a Gaboon neo, and it has been acclimating for about 2 weeks. I'm still unable to get it to feed tho, recently I've tried leaving in a box in the enclosure with a live fuzzy, and various other picky feeder techniques with no success. Does anyone have any insight on this issue? How should I proceed from here to try and coax this baby to feed?
>>Any help would be extremely appreciated.
>>
>>Joel
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Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center at Elawa Farm
Lake Forest, IL

Thanks for the advice, Yea my temps are 80-88 cold to hot with a 12 hour light schedule and a constant 70% humidity, currently using cypress mulch as substrate. The enclosure is a bit big for the snake 4'X3', but currently I can't find a way around that problem. I don't have any smaller enclosures suitable for standalone hot keeping, and the 10 gallon I could keep inside of the larger enclosure just barely won't fit in.
I think the more then likely issue is attention, I think I'll just leave it alone for a week or so and try again then.
Thanks Again.

Joel Letcher

That's a big cage but as long as you offer multiple hide areas, or, a nice thick layer of leaves, he'll settle in. Also, I would also recommend a slightly cooler zone in your cage; I keep my gaboons at 72-75 deg F on the cool side to the low to mid 80's warm and a basking area that reaches 88-90 (ish). Night temps drop to the mid 70's. Just tweeking the temps a bit may be enough. Also, careful with the cypress; I'm not a big fan of this stuff but many use it. Good luck.

>>Thanks for the advice, Yea my temps are 80-88 cold to hot with a 12 hour light schedule and a constant 70% humidity, currently using cypress mulch as substrate. The enclosure is a bit big for the snake 4'X3', but currently I can't find a way around that problem. I don't have any smaller enclosures suitable for standalone hot keeping, and the 10 gallon I could keep inside of the larger enclosure just barely won't fit in.
>>I think the more then likely issue is attention, I think I'll just leave it alone for a week or so and try again then.
>>Thanks Again.
>>
>>
>>
>>Joel Letcher
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Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center at Elawa Farm
Lake Forest, IL

Hi Rob,

Long time lurker, first time poster, intrigued by your comments on cypress mulch. Is cypress too dusty? Too dirty? Too liable to be ingested? For years I had thought that sanitized cypress mulch was an almost ideal substrate.

Steve

Looks like you have everything covered. I agree with Rob, it just may need to get used to it's new environment.

Al
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Law of Logical Argument: Anything is possible if you don't know what you are talking about.