Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi. I posted about what...5 months ago? Anyhow, I have had my Green Anaconda for 9 months now. And in the 9 months I have had it, it never ate on its own. I would put in a live rat, and leave it there for about 3 days tehn take it out so it didnt starve to death. Then a few days later I would do it again. My snake had no interest in it. If anything she would move to the other side of the enclosure far away from teh rat till I removed it. After a month of giving her a chance to eat on her own I would kill the rat and place it in her tank over night. She still wouldnt eat it. So I would force feed her the next day. I know bad bad bad. But I was more worried about her starving to death tahn the stress it put on her. I did this up until a week ago. well, 2 weks ago I remodled her enclosure completely. And she LOVES it. Then I did the same thing with putting the live rat in. And she moved into her water as far from land as possible as always. But a week ago when I killed the rat, I placed it by her pools edge, and showed her the dead rat. She is very docile. So she doesnt try to bite or anything. I can move her around with ease. I just lifted her head from the corner she had it in and set it by the rat. She immediatly started tasting it with her toung. Then she went back to the corner. I came back in 3 hours later....and found it was gone! And she had a fat lump in her belly! She finally ate! I am thinking it is due to the modifications I made on her environment. I want to keep trying this method of giving her a freshly killed rat by the water. As this obviously worked well. But since this IS her first eating on her own. I am not sure how long I should wait to try feeding her again? Also, this last few months. I gave her 2 months this time without force feeding her. I wanted desperatly for her to eat on her own so I waited 2 months this time. Before she finally ate on her own. So knowing this is her first rat (and a rather small one at that) in two months time. And the first shes eaten on her own in the nine months Ive had her.. anyone have any suggestions on when I should feed her again?
Sorry this is so long. Just wanted to give you all the info to help you better understand what is going on before asking for advice!
Thanks.
Sarah

Sarah,
I remember your post from a few months back. Glad to hear that the green finally ate on it's own. Sounds like the changes you made helped the situation. Now that it has fed voluntarily, don't make any changes in the setup or procedures you are following. As you have found out, wild caught greens are easily stressed and can take months to recover. Now that it has eaten fresh killed, I would never offer it live again. Some young greens can be highly stressed by a live mammal in the enclosure with them, and can also be injured by them. I would offer food once every two weeks until it starts feeding regularly and shows a weight gain. If it refuses a meal, wait the two weeks before offering again. Once it starts feeding consistently, provided the environment is correct, you should never have problems with feeding again. Thanks and keep us posted.

Kelly

Thanks Kelly.
I will try feeding it a fresh killed rat again next Sunday (not this coming one, but the next)and I'll let you know if she continues eating. I dont plan to change her encloser now that she obviously is alot happier with it. temps were probably off before I added all this new stuff to her encloser. But they are under control now. Not sure how to add a pic.
Not worried about parasites. I have treated her and her tank for them already. And she is not at all underwieght.
Thanks for your help. I'll keep you posted on her progress.
Sarah

If you think that this anaconda is overly lethargic, you might want to collect a fecal sample and have a vet run a check on it to rule out any parasite concerns. Also, what are your substrate and water temperatures, as these could be higher or lower than your ambient readings. You probably have these under control but it doesn't hurt to ask. Thanks,

Kelly

So many of feeding problems are from basic caging set-ups (heat, water,humidity,or hide areas). its good to hear that your baby is eating on its own, shows your on the right track. I have several snakes and a couple of water monitors, I attemt to feed mine by placing frozen rats near there cages. I use black lights in the room so i can see them at night when they are most active. if the snake is hungry you will know it by the way he/she is acting to the smell of a thawing rodent. if they are not hungy, which almost never happens the rodents go to the monitors(eating machines). I would give your snake a good two weeks before you try to give her another rat or 2-3 days after she craps.

Ok, I have a question,,,not regarding the anaconda. I have 6 snakes and 3 lizards amongst teh other critters in my home. All of which are exotics. I recently aquired (the weekend before last) a 22 inch. long Nile monitor from the local pet store. They had just got it in. I have a good set up. Good heat temps. But not sure why he wont eat. He is very aggressive. bites and whips at me, and the food. But I first tried feeding him goldfish in his pool. And he didnt touch them. So I got a pair of pliers and dangled a pinkie rat in and he lunged at it, grabbed it and gulped it down. he ate two of theese. Then spit out the third one. I then tried two days later to feed him again. He grabbed and ate one. But refused to eat any more. It has been 4 days since he's eaten. I try every day this same method and he just doenst want to eat now. Ive tried leaving them inside the cage with him, along with crickets. And he doesnt touch any of them. He seems very active. But I dont know if I should try a different method of feeding him? All my other lizards and snakes are good eaters. (-anaconda) My dragon is a pig. My basilisk will eat right out of my hand. My groundsnake, rattlesnake,whipsnake,red racer, and kingsnake all eat once a week..well my groundsnake eats whenever he wants. sometimes every day. since he only eats small crickets! But the Anaconda has been a hassle up until recently, nad now this Nile is giving me a new challenge. I was told they were aggressive eaters and I wouldnt have a problem with him eating. BUT I AM!! So if you have any info or ideas on how I should fed this guy it would help alot. I dont know anyone else with monitors to ask. Thanks again.
Sarah

Dont ever try to give any reptile gold fish, they are so bad for them. Nile monitors are nasty monitors, usualy never calming down. i will give you a link to get your monitor on the right track with feeding. monitors are monitors as far as care. go to the water monitor care sheet. another place is the monitor forum.

PRO EXOTICS.COM

zoolady,
i am not an expert but i have had a 2 or 3 niles in my care for a period of time & i honestly haven't had too hard a time calming them down. again I've only dealt with a small number of nile monitors but they have eventually calmed down for me. I don't have the space for them so I no longer have any but i figured i would share what worked for me incase you are having trouble calming it. as far as food first off mr. anaconda gave you a site that should have all the info you need. you can try cooked chicken & a bunch of other stuff . if all else fails my niles always went for a live mouse. my nile was unusually friendly but the one i bought for my friend was a "terror" by his words & yes when i got it back it would hiss, run, whip, etc. I would put on a glove & instead of grabbing him or holding his head & all that. all I did was follow him around the aquarium and instead of trying to grab him I just kept trying to place my hand under the lower half of his belly & base of the tail where it meets the legs. this may sound dumb but while doing so I would speak in a very calm tone to him tryin to assure him i'm not there to hurt it. he would run & wind up in a corner & i just very gently keep doing this over & over again. after about 15 to 20 minutes he would stop hissing & freaking out. almost like he thought "what am i freaking out for?" and he would start to walk at normal pace while i held the back half of him slighty elevated of the ground. after a minute or two i would be able to pick him up without a problem. but only pick him up off the cage a few inches this way he still feels semi secure & not like he's being shot high into the air & if he gets scared when he jumps he wont hurt himself & you can start the process again without the chance of him runnin across the house. it seemed to be a "neither one of us is going anywhere so let's work this out" situation. and after awhile he would agree. personally my first nile was amazing i would leave him in the bathtub while i was at school & he would just swim all day without making a break for it. If he was in the tank when i got home he would run up & scratch the glass as if saying "take me out & play with me" & i would just let him down & he didn't break for the radiator or behind the bed he would just be very active but playful.. the pet store that sold it to me the guy there had an adult one that was his puppy & his 60 year old mother would play with it. this thing was so passive, also Damian of D&M Breeders has an adult ornate that was just as nice. my friend's that i started taming down was gorgeous. had i had the space I would have kept it but instead i gave it to N.E.R.D. because i saw they were starting a project & i knew he would get a nice life. once i have the space & no longer rent I will def grab another nile. so although they can be quite a pain. I feel with enoguh dedication & love you can turn out with a decent nile. so i say kudos & best of luck with your new pet.
hope i was able to help

Thanks to both of you.

I dont know what was going on with the Nile., Maybe just stress of changing its home. New habitat or whatever. I let it go for 3 days without disturbing it. I added Crickets into his home, and then didnt mess with him for 3 days. I dont know if he ate any of the crickets. But this morning he was looking pretty thin compared to how he was when I bought him. So I offered him a thawed pinky again. Just as I had before. At first he shyed away like he had been doing, and looked like her was going to whip me with his tail. But I just brought the pinky closer to his face (with pliers) and he grabbed it up. then he just sat there with it in his mouth for about 5 minutes. I thought he was just going to spit it out as he had also done before. But after 5 minutes he set it down and grabbed it by its head and gulped it down...then slitherd off to his hidey log. So now all my reps are eating again. Everyone is doing good. Thank God. Stubborn critters!
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