Hello!
Out of six African House snakes that I purchased, three of them won't eat. I have 3 males and 3 females, all of which are full grown. My food is very small mice for the males, and a larger mice for the females. The males and one of the females is my concern, in that they appear totally freaked out and run away when I try to use tongs to feed them small mice. Even the big female shows relatively no interest (might flick tongue but thats it).
It has been 3 weeks since I purchased the animals. The one female that hasn't eaten is starting to lose weight, while the 2 males who have not eaten are at the same weight as when I purchased them.
Their substrate is reptile bark, they are in 15 gallon (males) and 20 gallon (females) tanks. The tanks are clear glass fishtanks. In the tanks is a water tub with a hole in the top. The males have a big waterbowl that is hollow underneath to be their "hiding place". The females have a large tupperwear that is totally light-proof, with vermiculite and sphagnum moss as their "hiding place". The tupperwear has a hole large enough for the female to enter and leave.
So far, the females all sit in their tupperwear (I am expecting eggs), and the males just curl up under the dark interior of the bottom of the water dish "hiding spot". I've tried to make a similar tupperwear for the males as the females have, but they just weren't dark enough, so I went back to using these water dishes with hollow undersides that go around in a circle, with 2 little entrance ports. Before I put the females in a light proof container, they would just curl up in the water and spend the whole day in there, same with the males. Thankfully that has stopped.
The temperature is 82 degrees F. Humidity is around 60%. Light cycle is 12:12.
I am worried for the animals health, and try to feed them once a day, but the same result ensues: males look at it and flick the tongue and then try to run when I move the mouse. The female just hides her head from it, or shows some interest but then gets scared.
The animals that eat, just come out and bite the food from the tongs. I am pretty sure that they were fed dead mice.
Right now I am leaving dead mice in the hollow water dish, hoping that the males will find interest overnight.
I've tried feeding them in the dark, using a red light, lifting up the hiding place, placing the animal in front of the hiding place's entrance. They simply show no lasting interest.
Any and all help is greatly appreciated. Thanks!
