Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i caught a large house gecko to feed my prasina and while i was handling it it detached its tail. i thought i'd throw it in for my c.ornata to eat while the tail was still wriggling. It stared at it but didn't eat it then. After about half an hour it started cruising around its bin and it came upon the geckos tail (now not moving anymore) and it gobbled it up!! funny..i thought it only attacks moving prey. Does this mean i can feed it dead stuff like dead lizards?

Flying snakes are easily spooked (as you probably know by now). It was likely that it was scared by your opening the cage and then later when it felt safer, it went back and located-by scent, the food. I don't recommend offering dead food to them. It's hard to tell when a lizard starts to go bad (unless you sniff it)and usually the movement of live prey is necessary to stimulate the feed response. This is especially important when it comes time to try it on fuzzys as it will strike before it realizes that the food is something new. Just did that trick on a Popes that had been hung up on lizards for over a year. The last two feeds have (finally) been fuzzies. Your snake was (I think) very hungry when it took dead food, so don't count on it being normal. Good luck.
Frank

how often do you feed your chrysopelea's? mines still pretty small and it ate quite a big gecko the last time so i figured it'll last about 5 days to a week. It was the fourth day after its last feeding when it took the dead tail. It doesn't really eat when u stare at it huh? so far i've only spotted it actually in the process of eating twice. How big a prey can it take down? were u successful in feeding it fuzzies?

Feeding preferance varies with the animal. Of the three species I have kept, only the barred (C. pelias) totaly refused mice. the typical example was my latest ornata. It's first meal was a fuzzy which it grabbed out of my hand (This was a 18" animal when I got it at Daytona). After that it went over a year before it would accept another, but ate lizards regularly during that time. I feed (one fuzzy or adult lizard) at two week intervals which makes for slower growing but a healthier animal (When I traded this snake to a friend he was remarking how fat it looked at a length of near 3'. I find that they do a pretty good job of telling you the size they want but aim for the smaller meal. Far more important...Keep up the (daily) misting. They truly are one of the best snakes to observe and do lose a lot of their shyness eventually.
Frank

2 week intervals?? by golly..i feed about once every 5 days. My prasina too...about once every 5 days or one week. I thought since it doesn't refuse the food it should be hungry. Once i fed my prasina 2 lizards within about 3 or 4 hours.Just wanted to see its food limit.Was very surprised when it took the second lizard in quite readily.Why do you say slower growth but more healthy? shouldn't it be the other way round? So on the average how often should i feed my snakes if i were to feed them adult house gecko's like this one

One big and controversial problem these days is that many keepers try to push their stock into adulthood as rapidly as possible...usually to speed up acheiving breeding size so there is a faster return on their investment. This is no more healthy for the snake than it is for people (for all the same reasons). Metabolisms vary in individuals...so feed accordingly. For example; Recently, I purchased a Thrasops jacksoni of about 4' in length. Trying to find it's limit, I fed it three hoppers and it still begged for more. I put in a fresh killed adult mouse and that went down as well...It still looked for more. I did not give it another and the next morning...it had upchucked the adult mouse. The point is...that often snakes will eat beyond healthy amounts. If your animal is showing good weight don't push it. You have not mentioned the size of your snake but an adult gecko like that is fine for anything from 18" to almost 3'. bi-weekly. just keep an eye on your snake and if he appears thinner then up the amount. I have found ornata to be one of those snakes that almost thrives on neglect...Very easy to keep.
Frank

umm..head to tail my ornata is about 18 inches. Still a baby i presume since i've read that they grow up to 4ft. Saw one about 3ft few days ago but din manage to catch it. It 'flew' up a tree full of big red ants so i wasn't to keen to go after it. So it'll do fine going like...2 3 weeks without food? Why is misting more important for ornata? i mist its bin about 2 or 3 times a day but i notice it drinks water out of the water bowl unlike my prasina that drinks from water droplets on the leaves after i mist. The ornata is doing okay now.It gobbled down an adult gecko yesterday and what a battle it was. For 10 minutes i sat rooted to my chair watching the drama. It took quite a few bites b4 it really got hold of the lizard. More worried about my prasina. Last week i sort of overfed it i think. Was giving him like an adult gecko every 2 or 3 days and he took it very readily but suddenly it ignores the food i give him. Its been a week already and still shows no interest. thank goodness it just sh!ted just now.Usually it sh!ts about 2 days after food but it has been a week since its last feeding and it just sh!ted just now. Was thinking it was constipated or somefing. Hope it eats in the next few days..will let you know

It's good that he is drinking out of his water bowl. A lot of them don't (bigest reason for misting). Once a day should be fine. The reason is that it also helps to hydrate the skin (Like a frog only not so exteme). Remember that in nature these and other vine types that live in the high canopies, depend on rain or dew for water as they rarely (if ever) get near standing water. Thus the skin is as important as a water absorbing organ as is the normal (drinking) process. It is possible for many species to actually become dehydrated even though they are drinking out of a bowl (Wagler's is a good example). Another reason is humidity. Here in S.Fla that is usually not an issue, but if you were keeping in an arid region or in an air-conditioned home the humidity can be too low.
Three weeks without food is on the long side. Keep in mind that in nature these are active snakes and confinement means that they do not burn off as many calories as they do in the wild so they don't need as much food to keep them fat and healthy. I would not worry about the Prasina. You have been over feeding it and these are a more inactive snake than the fliers. It has eaten plenty and will now just sit back and live off it's fat for awhile.
Frank

thanx for all the advice..btw whats your occupation? are u majoring in herpetology or somefing cause u seem to know an awful lot about snakes.. even snakes that are not native to your country. i'm just starting to keep snakes although i've been interested in them since like..forever but i haven't really had the opportunity to keep them till now. i'll try to feed my prasina in about a day or two since it already pooped just now. I usually take their pooping as a sign that they've fully digested their food and are ready for more...
whats snakes do u keep now? how many do you have? do u have pics of them and where you keep them?
would love to keep a wagler sometime. i think they are one of the most beautiful snakes ever! although i'm still a long way away from rearing venomous snakes. Will start wif harmless ones first...

Actually I am semi-retired, but am begining a new career as a Fiction writer. I have had many occupations from truckdriver to securityman, Lyrisist to poet, Carpenter,etc...I did a stint at Lion Country as reptile currator, spent several years working petshops (big cichlid fan)and am certified as a personal trainer. I have worked with and/or kept snakes for over thirty years. I practice what I preach about education...which is why I have always tried to maintain the best possible library. I love the research involved in doing identification work on new or unfamiliar species...I also Have done animal rescue...starting with birds as a child and later moving into reptile rescue as a private venture (not a business).
Frank