Reptile & Amphibian Forums

4-5 weeks ago, my husband and I caught a Great Basin Gopher Snake in Northern Nevada and brought it home. This is the second Great Basin that we have done this with.

We left the snake alone until last weekend, when we attempted to feed it. For the snake's comfort, we put the mouse into the tank (eventually, the snake will go in a seperate container for feeding, but this needs to be as stress-free as possible). The snake vibrated its tail, struck and hissed at the mouse... chased it out of his hide and basically was on the defense with it and never attempted to eat. So, we waited a couple of days and offered a f/t mouse with no success. Then waited a few more days and tried a live rat of the same size, thinking that maybe a rat would smell better to this snake. This time, the snake was calm about it and never hissed, but just hung out with the rat. It would be sitting right next to it and didn't try to eat, didn't really do anything. The rat wasn't very active either.

This is a really nice snake that I want to keep, but it needs to eat. I know that they eat a variety of different things in the wild (note: I am not feeding this snake a lizard!).

Any suggestions??

Have you left them overnight? I see a lot of gophers out after dark, so maybe he just wants to feed in the dark. Wait another week for him to adjust, and try again.

Also, be sure the prey isn't too big. Since you had one before, I assume you are giving the right size. I offer my gopher smaller prey items than my other snakes, so I thought I'd throw that in there.
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"I'll be back at 6 if not 7. 8 the very latest but definatly no later than 9...ish...Moscow time."

Yes, they have been left in overnight. We try to put them in around 7 pm, which is when this snake seems to always become active (that's also the time of day he was out when we caught him/her). The size should be just right. The first attempt was a mouse, the second was a rat of the same size.

My only guess is that the snake is still stressed. Could the temps be too warm? I keep my gopher without extra heat at 80F and he does well. Could just be a lack of feed response due to the warm weather of mid summer.
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"I'll be back at 6 if not 7. 8 the very latest but definatly no later than 9...ish...Moscow time."

Certainly isn't too warm in there. Doesn't seem to be stressed other than not eating either.

How big is the snake again? Yours is a strange situation because, for the most part, Gophers have got great feeding responses. Maybe go w/ a live hopper or fuzzy sized prey item.

reako45

This snake just shed not too long ago and we measured that at just over 3.5 feet. The store didn't have any live hoppers available at the time, but that was what we wanted for the second attempt. Hopefully, they will have them this time!!

The other gopher that we caught took to feeding in captivity right away!

Here is a pic of the snake in question.

Image

If it's stressed, I'd offer a hopper to a snake that size as a first meal. Metalpest's advice is right on w/ the smaller food items.

reako45

Put a hopper in there last night when he was out and about. He ignored it for a little while, hissed and vibrated the tail, then went and hid for a while... came back out and seemed to show a little interest. We left the snake alone and left the hopper in overnight, but no luck yet.
Will keep trying.