Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello all. I need some help. I have several beautiful mangroves that have all been eating very well, either chicks or rats, until the last 3 months. 1 female that had just laid 4 nice eggs all of a sudden stopeed eating anything. She is housed in a two tier cage with the male (her mate) above her. They stay humid via sphagnum mulch substrate and warm at around 84-86 degrees cooling to maybe 78 at night (we are coming up on winter cooling for the room). Each cage is 4' long 2' high and 1' wide. They are lighted using 60 watt BLACK lights and the room has a Southern facing window.

This female was one of the few that I have that would eat rat pups and now nothing. Any ideas? If so, please e-mail me at vferra7777@cs.com or call me at (804) 763-4443.

She is not looking unhealthy but she was doing so well that I am worried. Is this typical of post egg laying females? I am also or was also looking forward to another clutch of eggs. Any chance I may get those?
Pictures of her and her setup here!

I would go up a little higher on the warm end, maybe up to 90 degrees. If you don't notice much weight loss, don't worry about it much, atleast for a few more months.

If, however, there is no change in that time period, I would try feeding them large skinks. A friend of mine also fed his small birds.

I've personally never got my mangrove snakes to convert to rat pups or mice, and that most likely means that even though some in captivity eat them, they probably don't like them very well. Live skinks usually got mine to eat with no problem.

Good luck