Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i recently caught a retic at a paddy field. Its still a juvenile i think. I've had experience keeping rear fangs but this is my first boid so i'm still not that sure bout its care. I've read lots of articles bout its care and i've got all the heat and humidity right but its not eating. I left a hamster in its cage for a day but it didn't show any interest. (hamsters because they don't sell feeder mice where i live) Should i let it get used to its surroundings before feeding it? because i've had it for just less than a week. Or should i feed it at night? or is it because its jsut not hungry. It shows no agression at all..perfectly calm and lovable. Will it climb if i put a branch in there?
Heres a pic of it. Approx how old is it?

Reticulated pythons are unlike any snake i've kept. From Green tree pythons to ball pythons anything i've ever brough home has ate a meal that day. I couldn't get my retics to eat for a week. They truly need to settle in and feel safe. A hide box is almost a MUST! Don't look at the snake or even go near it. Place a towel or something over it's cage as the darker it is the less stress. Give the snake a week or two then try and feed. Once settled in and happy i don't know of any other snake that could rival the amount of food they will take down. Once settled in your new retic may become very aggressive inside it's cage. This is normal as they have a strong feeding response. I have 3 bali yellow head retics all are psycho inside their cage wanting to eat me! Once out you get totally different snake, I can hold them just like i can a ball python. Good luck with your new snake! LOL neighborhood should be happy in a yr or 2 they would have a nice big snake roaming around looking for kids?! lol
John

n/p

geez...i've been playing wif it everyday...he's so cute n lovable i can't help it!! totally zero agression shown. So i should isolate it for about a week to let it settle down first? It seems pretty settled though. It doesn't recoil when i approach or handle it. .. I have a hide made out of a cardboard box wif some substrate inside. It spends most of its day sleeping sometimes out in the open outside his hide but when he goes into his hide he hardly comes out except maybe at night.
Is it really important to keep it out of contact because i have him in my room as i have to check the temperature and humidity regularly.
let him hide in the box for a week?

Yep, no handling at all. Don't even look at him if you can do so. Give it time to settle in. Once it has ate once you can handle all you want. Once they start they just don't stop. So don't handle at all till it takes it's first meal,
John

I think you should release the snake back where you found it. Your offbalancing the ecosystem by removing this predatory animal from it.

A better, more nature friendly alternative would be to purchase a CBB animal from a breeder.

Best regards,
Michelle

where are you from chivas? i also have 2 WC retics but their temperament is not like your snake's. great looking retics btw.

i'm from malaysia.. u? must be from nearby too.
its been almost a week since i caught my snake but it still isn't eating. i've been handling it quite a lot the first few days because it was so non-agressive but now i'm gona leave it alone for about a week or two to see if it settles in. i tried feeding it again today. It striked out at the hamster when they were face to face but din manage to get hold of it...i think it was more for self defense because after that it totally ignored the hamster. i'm taking the hamster out.gona try again few days time.
what should i do? it stays in its hide day and night and doesn't come out. should i bring it out to bask in the sun for a while or something? cause it seems to be getting very little sunlight.

here is what you do. Don't touch, look at or even go NEAR the snake at all for 1 week. If the snake doesn't eat give it a second week. Just because it's not aggressive doesn't mean it's settled in. Your putting more stress on a snake that needs to settle in. It WILL NOT eat untill it feels safe and you holding it isn't going to make it feel that way. Just leave it alone. Try feeding it in 1 week then wait another if it doesn't take, not every few days!

ok thanks lots! i'll do just that. Await my good or bad news in a weeks time!
thanks y'all