Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi all, I am new to this forum and I was hoping I could get some help with my burm. She is only about 8 weeks old, but the first time she ate was last thursday. The problem is I had to force feed her... I know this is a very last resort, but I talked to a old teacher of mine that has been a snake owner for many years, and he said that I should probably do that. So I force fed her and got a fuzzy down. Yesterday she had a little bit of poop (?) in her cage and she seems to have digested it okay. Before this I had tried everything to get her to eat and she wouldnt. Could there be a serious problem with her? Should I try to feed her again within the week?

Thanks so much
-Bill

Did you try just placeing the snake in a small container with the prey item over night? some times they are just a little shy.
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19 years in the hobbie/business.
in my personal collection at present;
1:2 p.m.molurus
1:2 chondro python viridis
1:1 dasypeltis medici
had to cutt down as i've moved back in with parent's

Yeah I have tried that, although not for an entire night... A lot of people say that contrary to popular belief you should not feed your burm outside of its tank, I dont know if that is true or not... But either way I have tried it. I have also put the snake and they prey in a paper bag, in a box, and left the prey in its cage overnight. I am just worried that by force feeding her I stressed her out more than I helped her...

Hi bigbaldbill, welcome to the forum!

I wouldn't worry much about whether it stressed it or not. It probably stressd her a little but I'd rather have a stressed out live snake than a non-stressed dead one. Besides, its over & done with, you can't go back & change it. Best to focus now on getting it to eat on its own so you won't have to do it again.

Have you let the person/place you bought the snake from know that it wasn't eating? I would if you haven't already.

Check to make sure the cage temps are where they should be and humidity level, too. If the cage is in a high traffic area, move it to a more secluded place.

Is the snake active now?

How long have you had it?

Were you trying to get it to eat frozen/thawed prey or live?

I recommend going ahead & trying to feed it again now. I wouldn't give it anything that's larger in diameter than the snake's body, maybe even a little smaller, until you get it to eating good on its own. Live prey will usually work best for problem feeders.

Have a good one!
HH
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Due to political correctness run amuck,
this ol' hillbilly is now referred to as an:
Appalachian American

I agree with happyhillbilly. A young snake needs to eat a lot more often then an adult or even a younger snake that is already well established. where 8 weeks might not be that long for them , for a newly hatched snake that you really are unsure of when its last meal was I think you did the right thing. Only thing I might have done differently is I probably would have used a pinky rather then a fuzzy but that is just me. I also agree that difficult feeders will more likely feed when given live prey then fk/ft. However with a very young snake like yours I would not risk any chance of injury so I would definitly use a pinky. Does your snake have a hide within its cage. If so when place the pinky inside the hide and when the snake gets it scent and locates the pinky it will feel sescure within its hide and will usually be more apt to eat. If this doesn't work you can try it in a bag outside of the enclosure. I strongly encourage all large boid owners to feed within the cage but under your situation and with th e burm being so young I would say it is acceptable. just as soon as he starts eating on his own start feeding him in his cage again and start hook training him so he can differentiate feeding times with any other time. Hope eeverything goes well and keep us posted. Todd

Yeah, thanks a lot guys. I am going to try and leave a F/T pinky in there tonight and see what happens. Unfortunately I dont have access to a pet store who sells live fuzzies or pinkys.

Todd's right - pinky, all the way! n/p
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Due to political correctness run amuck,
this ol' hillbilly is now referred to as an:
Appalachian American