Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have spent about 3 months reading these posts, and as many articles as possilbe about GTP. I bought a baby 8 days ago from a breader, I have my temp at 87-80 and the humidity at 65. But this guy wont eat Ive tired 2 times. Ive read your posts and tips and thought it wouldnt be a problem with my own, but I am wrong! Whats the deal? I am thinking I should take him back to the breader and get a baby panther from him instead. I dont want to lose a great deal of money on an amimal that will die before my eyes. I heard all the tips but just wanted to vent, do you think I should trade him in? Ive had great sucess with Panthers I rather take a little loss in money then have this little guy die on me. What do you think?

Did you get the feed records w/your baby? It has had at least 10 meals already before you got it? The good news is that buying a cbb established baby from a breeder means that you should be able to get it eating once again as soon as it feels comfortable in it's new home. You've got a few weeks at least before you need to start worrying.

The most usual problem I've seen for established babies going off feed in their new homes is a change in housing where they become very shy. Your baby was probably raised in a shoebox sized plastic tub and if you have changed it to a larger enclosure or one that is see through on multiple sides it may be "spooked".

What size and type of enclosure are you using?

Also, what kind of heating are you using???

I have heard of a few babies not liking lights as heat because of the extra bright light... If you are using light as the primary source of heat you might try using a colored bulb...

Good luck..
Cathy probably hit the nail on the head with the enclosure question...
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Shiloh Hawkesworth
kansas
(Midwest Serpents)

My first thoughts are get the humidity up too. 65% is too low. Babies should be kept at around 80% Could your baby be nearing shed time? If you have feed and shed records, see if it usually goes off food before.
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I acquired a CBB from an excellent breeder recently that didn't eat for 5 weeks after I got him. I think that the problem was a combination of:
- normal acclimation to a new environment
- new larger, brighter vivarium instead of darker, smaller tub (exactly what jungledancer and Shiloh said)
- new owner (me) who obsessed about it eating and probably pestered it too much. By being impatient and scaring a not-hungry snake, I basically trained it to avoid food.

Eight days isn't enough time lapse to worry yet, assuming it was healthy and had fed regularly before you bought it. Maybe leave it alone for a week, wait until it's lights out and you see the "s" loop signaling feeding mood (especially if it has been wandering the cage). Then go for it carefully.