Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i have been trying to get my male blood to eat. since i have had him(8 days or so)his eyes have been clouded. but some of my snakes eat when there in shed so i have been trying,,,,but i just want to get a meal in him because he is skinny,, he is about as big around as my thumb.. i tried a live mouse twice,, and i tried to tease feed a frozen thawed very small rat and no response.is this normal thickness for his size? he is 1.5 feet or less? am i worried about nothing or what? please let me know

I'd just wait until he sheds. Bloods can be pretty nervous eaters. I think I let mine sit for 14 days before I even tried to feed him. When he does shed, I've found that heating the f/t mice slightly produces a good feeding response.
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Eryx - All the fun of a boa in a convient pocket size!

Yea wait until atleast a few days until after he sheds. Sometimes mine wont eat up to a week before he goes into blue, but if not in shed he'll down anything. All your doing right now is stressing the snake, you should also wait awhile to feed when bringing them into a new enviornment. Right now I would be more worried about stressing the snake than getting him to eat right away.

-jordan
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"It's my snake, I trained it, so I'm going to eat it!" - Mad Max, The Road Warrior

My blood just went through his first shed with me this past week. It didn't take too long (about a week), and though he wouldn't take the mouse while in shed (I figured he wouldn't), he did take one the day after shedding. I didn't know you were supposed to wait; he seemed really hungry!

Jordan is definitely right about one thing, though: if you just got him, he needs awhile to settle in. My little guy wouldn't eat at all for a few weeks after I got him, because I kept changing things in his enclosure (from the 20 gal. to the little rubbermaid), trying to feed him, etc.. Then I gave him about a week and a half all alone and the next time I showed him a mouse, he snapped it right up.

Anyway, I type too much . . . Good luck with your baby; just don't mess with it for awhile, and it should settle in nicely!
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A. Fox

Fox, under normal conditions you shouldn't have to wait too long. If they seem to get very stressed while shedding its not a bad idea to wait a few days. There skin is apparently alot more sensitive right after shed as well. I usually wait a few days but it's not imperative, just helps stress them less.

-jordan
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"It's my snake, I trained it, so I'm going to eat it!" - Mad Max, The Road Warrior