Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My nature center has taken in a wc male 5-footer. he is extremely skittish (understandably) and has already bitten my friend. Right now I have him in a nice rubbermaid setup. I am concerned with acclimating him. Any suggestions on getting him to eat? he just ignores or quickly slithers from the f/t rats i have offered so far. Should I try gerbils? He seems more concerned with self preservation than eating right now; any motion in his enclosure brings a defensive posture and MAD hissing.
God, I hate humans for importing these adults and selling them to unwitting people who are idiots for buying them. I wish I could just send him back to Africa.

I have had him for a little over 6 weeks now.

I know its not the ideal thing to do, but have you tried putting a live rat in there (under close supervision of course)to see if he has a feeding response?
-----
Sal
Geckos "R" Us

www.geckosrus.com

Yeah, Don't think offering a live rat is a good idea. My experience has been if a snake is naturally very timid and scared, they'll be terrified of a live rat (making them shut down even more). I actually had a similar experience with a WC female a couple of years back. She finally ate a Fresh Killed gerbil left in the cage over night, and soon after began to feed on FK then FT rats. She now eats great, only going off feed during the winter cooling period. One other note. If the snake in question is a recent WC, he may very well still be in his breeding/non feeding mode. Unless hes super skinny, I'd keep the temps up to mid summer conditions for a few more weeks, then try again with fresh killed mice/rats/gerbiles...whatever will work. God Luck!
Joe Pociask Pythons

If it is a fresh import you'll need to treat for internal parasites as well. In the Wild they are no big deal, but can quickly comprimise a snake in a cage.

I've had some success with live rat pups (crawlers, just after the eyes open, but before they actually move to solid food) left in the enclosure over night. Understand it could take MONTHS. If he is expeireincing an inbalance of internal parasites he may never feed.
-----
Cheryl Marchek
AKA JM
Check out my website at:
The Red Dragons Den

I have three wild caughts that I'm keeping now. You need to get them to a vet asap! Check for external parasites (mites/ticks) and treat them. I use provent-a-mite and reptile relief in tandem. The vet prescribed panacur and treated them with some other drugs as well. I have to take them back on Wednesday for another dose of panacur.

I offered live gerbils to them and one of the three ate. In fact, she ate all three gerbils since the other two did not feed. She ate two in one day and the last gerbil the next day. I've got her soaking now (have to take her out shortly)

Good luck!

We got a WC adult male last year and kept him in a container, quarantined for 4 weeks before trying to feed him a live rat (supervised). No go.

Then placed a hide box in the container (side entrance) and he used it 3 weeks. Tried another live rat. No go.

Tried a FK rat. No go.

Tried a FK rat kept for about 30 minutes in gerbil bedding. No go

Tried replacing his hide with a plastic domeshaped flower planter (Home Depot $1.99) with apropriately sized hole cut out of bottom (which became the top). Kept him there for 2 weeks and tried a live rat for 30 minutes (peeking in every 10 minutes). That did the trick!!!

I think he felt secure in the top access as the rat could not easily enter and he was in "control".

He has eaten every time (4 and counting)we have offered since.

Ben