Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hi everybody,

i got a question here, it isn't really bout rainbow boa's but seeing as this is the most active and simply the best part of the forum (ow yeah i'm a fan :d) i thought i'd ask it here.

we recently got some baby african housesnakes, all but 1 are now eating.

we tried almost everything to get it to start eating, but it really dosn't want to.

so uhm anybody got some ideas? also i heard about tease feeding, anyone care to explain this technique?

i also read that just feeding a tail or a pinky legg or something,might work. just how do u get it in the snake?

like i sead earlier tried most of the common stuff, from simply thawed to live, and everything in between somewhat.

sorry bout this not beeing about rainbows, to make it a bit relevant on topic... my dark rainbow guy shed, i got his shed cut open and counted the scales, tho app. i'm not that great of a counter, ... wil post a pic next week, cuz i get different results all the time .

anyways, thx for reading this already

grts
Salix
-----
arata akebono, shidare yanagi, seijin no mai!

Don't have any personal experience with African house snakes, but from what I've read they will eat a variety of prey items. Have you tried anything else but mice? Maybe a frog or lizard (or scenting the mouse with one of those) might do the trick.

Good luck, post some pics when you get a chance.

Thanks,
Ed

>>hi everybody,
>>
>>i got a question here, it isn't really bout rainbow boa's but seeing as this is the most active and simply the best part of the forum (ow yeah i'm a fan :d) i thought i'd ask it here.
>>
>>we recently got some baby african housesnakes, all but 1 are now eating.
>>
>>we tried almost everything to get it to start eating, but it really dosn't want to.
>>
>>so uhm anybody got some ideas? also i heard about tease feeding, anyone care to explain this technique?
>>
>>i also read that just feeding a tail or a pinky legg or something,might work. just how do u get it in the snake?
>>
>>like i sead earlier tried most of the common stuff, from simply thawed to live, and everything in between somewhat.
>>
>>sorry bout this not beeing about rainbows, to make it a bit relevant on topic... my dark rainbow guy shed, i got his shed cut open and counted the scales, tho app. i'm not that great of a counter, ... wil post a pic next week, cuz i get different results all the time .
>>
>>
>>anyways, thx for reading this already
>>
>>grts
>>Salix
>>-----
>>arata akebono, shidare yanagi, seijin no mai!

Most baby House Snakes will take live pinky mice for their first meals and then easily switch to frozen and thawed pinkies. In the wild lizards are probably the primary and possibly only food source for baby House Snakes. You could try lizard scenting a live pinky mouse. House Snakes are very active and seem to be sight feeders so try dangling a pinky mouse with long forceps in front of the snake. Even better if the snake is in a hiding location introduce the live pinky mouse into the hiding spot.

>>hi everybody,
>>
>>i got a question here, it isn't really bout rainbow boa's but seeing as this is the most active and simply the best part of the forum (ow yeah i'm a fan :d) i thought i'd ask it here.
>>
>>we recently got some baby african housesnakes, all but 1 are now eating.
>>
>>we tried almost everything to get it to start eating, but it really dosn't want to.
>>
>>so uhm anybody got some ideas? also i heard about tease feeding, anyone care to explain this technique?
>>
>>i also read that just feeding a tail or a pinky legg or something,might work. just how do u get it in the snake?
>>
>>like i sead earlier tried most of the common stuff, from simply thawed to live, and everything in between somewhat.
>>
>>sorry bout this not beeing about rainbows, to make it a bit relevant on topic... my dark rainbow guy shed, i got his shed cut open and counted the scales, tho app. i'm not that great of a counter, ... wil post a pic next week, cuz i get different results all the time .
>>
>>
>>anyways, thx for reading this already
>>
>>grts
>>Salix
>>-----
>>arata akebono, shidare yanagi, seijin no mai!

hi jeff,

how does the scenting work exactly? and could a bearded dragon be used for it? or does it have to be something small and more lizardlike. because i don't think I'll find a frog this time of year in the wild, to rub a pinky mice on. also don't want to poison the snake if it's a toad or something.

in total i have 3 males, my mom is keeping 3 females, ... my males are eating (live for now, just gave em dead, see how they do tommorow morning) and 2/3 females are eating (thawed, brained)

it's just the 1 female that still refuses.

so therefore could ya give me some info on some of the techniques to get em up and goeing.

- scenting (using life or dead pink's?)
- tease feeding
- force feeding (not with the pump but more like sticking a piece of tail in the mouth or such???)

thx already for the help,

ow ed, if u read this...pic's are on the way, made some today at my mom's place.

grts
Leeroy
-----
arata akebono, shidare yanagi, seijin no mai!

I am not sure if the scent of a pet bearded Dragon would work but if you have no other lizards available try rubbing a live pinky mouse on the BD. With tease feeding you put the food item in front of the snake, usually with forceps and move it away quickly so that the snake gets the impression that it has to pursue the prey. This works well with other snakes that are sight hunters. I would wait and not try force feeding. Stress may be the reason it is not eating and force feeding will just cause more stress. Keep trying leaving live pinky mice and scenting and dangling with forceps and teasing and perhaps something will work. A small percentage of some species never eat and do not make it. From what House Snake breeders have told me they are eating and growing machines and I have not been told about any problem feeders.

>>hi jeff,
>>
>>how does the scenting work exactly? and could a bearded dragon be used for it? or does it have to be something small and more lizardlike. because i don't think I'll find a frog this time of year in the wild, to rub a pinky mice on. also don't want to poison the snake if it's a toad or something.
>>
>>in total i have 3 males, my mom is keeping 3 females, ... my males are eating (live for now, just gave em dead, see how they do tommorow morning) and 2/3 females are eating (thawed, brained)
>>
>>it's just the 1 female that still refuses.
>>
>>so therefore could ya give me some info on some of the techniques to get em up and goeing.
>>
>>- scenting (using life or dead pink's?)
>>- tease feeding
>>- force feeding (not with the pump but more like sticking a piece of tail in the mouth or such???)
>>
>>thx already for the help,
>>
>>ow ed, if u read this...pic's are on the way, made some today at my mom's place.
>>
>>
>>grts
>>Leeroy
>>-----
>>arata akebono, shidare yanagi, seijin no mai!

Hey, its nice to see someone else on here with ABH snakes, I have two and they have both been more finicky eaters than I have ever had before. I had the same problem with my female and I was finally able to get her to eat by putting her in a box in a very quiet spot of the house with a heat pad underneath with the pinkie inside. It took her about half a day to finally eat the pinkie and she ended up eating it alive but since then I havent had to do that more than once or twice. Just make sure she stays warm and isnt disturbed.
Another thing I have found with my african brown house snakes is that they tend to have bad sheds a lot, I started giving them a moist hide box like my rainbows and they love it when shedding! The rest of the time they couldnt care less but it has helped a lot. I have included a pic of my adult male (of course its a few years old during a bad shed), hes going to be 11 next month!
Good luck!

-----
Jess
1.3 adult BRBs (Sango, Copper, Cherry, Dudette)
1.1 juvie BRBs born 6/18/06 my first litter(Zeek, Isis)
0.1 baby BRB born 5/12/08 at approx 6:10 am (Zella)
1.0 Blue Parrotlet (Willy)
1.1 african brown house snake (Nellie, Lacie)
0.2 awesome snake-friendly room mates