Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Sorry about all of the posts. Just looking for more advice. My BRB still will not eat. The breeder said she has only fed F/T and that she always fed him in a small shoebox size plastic box. She said he usually ate right away, but always within 15 minutes.

I went ahead and picked up a live pinky and a fuzzy last night and put him in a plastic sterelite with them both (within his tub) and left them alone in complete darkness over night. Still no interest.

Can anyone else suggest something else he may be interested in eating? Should I just leave him for a week without disturbing him and then try again? I don't want to wait to long, but on the other hand I don't want to keep stressing him out.

The funny thing is that people told me that Balls are picky eaters at first and the BRB would eat much easier. My Ball has always taken frozen food within seconds of my giving it to her. Oh well, just my luck.

Nick

How long has it been since the snake ate? How old is it?

For the record, my BrB's used to occasionally go through a picky stage- my male always ate pretty voraciously, but occasionally he would just ignore food.. My female is older than my male by about 8 or 9 months, at first she was even more picky- ignoring mice a touch more frequently than the male- like "occasionally plus a little bit" however she too now eats like a pig- sometimes younger Brb's do get a bit picky. Give me some more info...age, last feed etc. also, when the snake was eating, did it strike fast, or was it one of those "passive gulp" kind of feeding responses? I've notice mine have a much more active feeding response now.

Sorry, I didn't put all of that info in this message because I had posted below.

The snake was born in May of this year. I just got him on Friday 10/31. He was last fed on Tuesday 10/28. The breeder said that he always ate within 10-15 minutes. She was feeding him 2 hoppers and a fuzzy. He has only had frozen/thawed, but after him not eating F/T on two attempts, I decided to try the live - but no luck.

Nick

Nick,
. BRBs are easy to keep as long as you provide the right temperature and humidity and security. IMO they are almost as easy to keep as BPs and easier to get started eating than those few picky BPs. Most CB Balls eat readily and only a few are picky feeders. Some adult BPs and some adult BRBs go many months at times without feeding and this is normal. It is not normal for young of either of these species to not eat well. I have started many hundreds of baby BRBs and have never had to force feed one. Nearly all of them have eaten nearly every time food was offered. Most will even eat when opaque. If there is nothing wrong with your snake other than just not wanting to eat it will not starve until after the end of the year. Most baby BRBs can easily be switched to prekilled prey but will sometimes refuse prekilled and then readily take a live small adult mouse instead. I have also had them not take a pinky or fuzzy mouse and then grab a live small adult mouse aggressively. They seem to like mice that are live and hairy and running around better than anything else to eat. I have had a very very few baby BRBs that liked little fuzzy rats better than live small adult mice. BRBs eat best if they are not stressed too much either before or during feeding. They eat best at night. When little BRBs will not eat it is either because there is something wrong with the snake or there is something wrong with the way it is being housed or there is something wrong with what is being offered or there is something wrong with how the food is being offered. What is the temperarue and humidity in the cage right where the snake spends most of it's time? Is there anything going on around the snake's cage that may be stressing it?
Jeff

>>Sorry, I didn't put all of that info in this message because I had posted below.
>>
>>The snake was born in May of this year. I just got him on Friday 10/31. He was last fed on Tuesday 10/28. The breeder said that he always ate within 10-15 minutes. She was feeding him 2 hoppers and a fuzzy. He has only had frozen/thawed, but after him not eating F/T on two attempts, I decided to try the live - but no luck.
>>
>>Nick

Jeff,
I'm puzzled about him not eating - everything seems to be ok in his environment. I am using a 41qt sterelite container in a rack. I use 11" heat tape under the back 1/3 to heat it. The temp is controlled by a thermostat. When I used an IR heat gun to check the temps tonight it was 86.6 degrees 2 inches above the bottom on the warm side and 70 degrees on the cool side. The humidity starys around 90%. There is moisture on the sides of the tub. I have moss covering the bottom (which is damp), but the newspaper under the moss stays fairly dry. I also have a hide with moss in it on the warm side of the cage.

When I first got the snake he stayed in the hide on the warm side, but that may have been because he had cooled down while traveling. He now spends most of his time under the moss on the cool side.

So far I have tried to feed him the following:

F/T hopper mouse
F/T pinky rat
live fuzzy mice

I put one each of the F/T on two occassions - waiting a few days in between. I tried the live over night last night.

The breeder did say that he has never eaten live, only F/T, and that he always eats 2-3 mice within 15 minutes (usually 2 hoppers and maybe one fuzzy). She fed him in a small shoe box size container. I tried that last night with the live, but he just curled up in one corner and moved away when the mice came near him. It has been completely dark when I tried feeding him. When I tried the F/T mice I tried shaking them with a hemostat to see if it would spark his interest.

He is in my basement which is very quiet most of the time. My kids do go down there occasionally to play, but he is isolated from them other than some sound.

I'm wondering if I should just mist his cage, shut it and leave him alone for a full week and see if he will eat. Stress is the only thing I can see that would keep from eating. He appears to be healthy and I did see him drink water when I first put him in his tub.

Sorry for all of the posts. I just feel bad for the little guy and want to make sure he remains healthy.

Nick

Your cool side is cooler than I keep mine. I keep my cool side at 78-80 and the hot side 88-90. I have noticed that they only go to the heat when digesting for a few days after feeding. You may want to try bumping up your cool side to atleast 76.

I would then wait a week without messing with him and then try feeding him. If he does not take it I would place him in a small deli cup with the food item for 2-4 hours. Good luck.
-----
Jared Douglas

Nick,
. I bet you a beer that if you put a small live adult mouse in with the snake tomorrow evening and stand back he will grab it as soon as it gets within striking range.
Jeff

>>Jeff,
>>I'm puzzled about him not eating - everything seems to be ok in his environment. I am using a 41qt sterelite container in a rack. I use 11" heat tape under the back 1/3 to heat it. The temp is controlled by a thermostat. When I used an IR heat gun to check the temps tonight it was 86.6 degrees 2 inches above the bottom on the warm side and 70 degrees on the cool side. The humidity starys around 90%. There is moisture on the sides of the tub. I have moss covering the bottom (which is damp), but the newspaper under the moss stays fairly dry. I also have a hide with moss in it on the warm side of the cage.
>>
>>When I first got the snake he stayed in the hide on the warm side, but that may have been because he had cooled down while traveling. He now spends most of his time under the moss on the cool side.
>>
>>So far I have tried to feed him the following:
>>
>>F/T hopper mouse
>>F/T pinky rat
>>live fuzzy mice
>>
>>I put one each of the F/T on two occassions - waiting a few days in between. I tried the live over night last night.
>>
>>The breeder did say that he has never eaten live, only F/T, and that he always eats 2-3 mice within 15 minutes (usually 2 hoppers and maybe one fuzzy). She fed him in a small shoe box size container. I tried that last night with the live, but he just curled up in one corner and moved away when the mice came near him. It has been completely dark when I tried feeding him. When I tried the F/T mice I tried shaking them with a hemostat to see if it would spark his interest.
>>
>>He is in my basement which is very quiet most of the time. My kids do go down there occasionally to play, but he is isolated from them other than some sound.
>>
>>I'm wondering if I should just mist his cage, shut it and leave him alone for a full week and see if he will eat. Stress is the only thing I can see that would keep from eating. He appears to be healthy and I did see him drink water when I first put him in his tub.
>>
>>Sorry for all of the posts. I just feel bad for the little guy and want to make sure he remains healthy.
>>
>>Nick

Jeff,
It's worth a try and if it works I owe you a beer. (heck even if it doesn't work I'll buy you a beer for all of the usefull info you have posted on here)

Nick