Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey there everyone. Ive had this brazilian for about a month, and since the first time ive tried to get him to eat, he wont strike at the food. i always have to end up assisting him, usually he takes it and swallows but sometimes he wont eat. im tired of forcing it and i know he hates it too. ive been fiddling with my cage set up and ive got it with a 82 hot and a high 70's cool, and i constantly mist, and keep a lil tub with moss in it so incase he needs more humidity. this guy absolutely hates his heating pad, he will never stay on it for more than a minute, so its mainly a overhead cermic element, im afraid that hes too cold. ne one got suggestions?

igywigie,
....Your snake is telling you what the problem is. You have the cage too hot. Little BRBs do fine with temperature from very low 70s in the cool end to high 70s in the warm end. The temperature you are measuring may be off the floor and the snake may be experiencing temperatures much higher down on the floor near the heating pad. Snakes often will not eat because of stress and asisst feeding is very stressful. I have had nearly a thousand baby Rainbow Boas and I have never had to assist feed a Brazilian Rainbow Boa. Get them set up right and they will all eat. If you get the temperature right you will not evaporate so much water out of the cage and you will not need to constantly mist the cage. If the cage is a tank with a screen top you can also cover 95 to 99 percent of the screen with something soid and this will keep the humidity in the cage rather than letting it escape. Be careful because covering the top to hold the humidity in will also hold the heat in and may raise the temperature. Unless the cage is very large one small controlled under tank heater under one end of the cage will be more than enough to maintain the temperature.
Jeff

>>Hey there everyone. Ive had this brazilian for about a month, and since the first time ive tried to get him to eat, he wont strike at the food. i always have to end up assisting him, usually he takes it and swallows but sometimes he wont eat. im tired of forcing it and i know he hates it too. ive been fiddling with my cage set up and ive got it with a 82 hot and a high 70's cool, and i constantly mist, and keep a lil tub with moss in it so incase he needs more humidity. this guy absolutely hates his heating pad, he will never stay on it for more than a minute, so its mainly a overhead cermic element, im afraid that hes too cold. ne one got suggestions?

ok take the temp down, but how to? when i first got him i only had under tank element, and he wouldnt go on it, low 70's and i he wouldnt eat so i figured he was cold, so i got the overhead ceramic bulb, now i can keep the tank 80's ambient, hot as 85 on the hot side. to me it seems obvious that i should just unplug the element, seeing as he wont use it either way. should i do that or jus turn off the bulb hoping that the element he wont use will do the trick?

Your BRB is not too cool. It's looking for cooler temps. The cool spot should be around 70, ambient temps mid 70's and I think your hot spot is ok but it has to be able to access temps in the low to mid 70's.
Your BRB is probably a bit stressed right now. Lower the temps, give it a week to acclimate and calm down, then offer a small meal and it should eat without problem.
Good luck,
Paul

Hello,
First, stop the force feeding. Second, get the enclosure adjusted. Something is very wrong with the environment assuming the snake is in fairly good health.

From the way you descibed your cage, I think there are some easy things you can do. I wouldn't be worried about him being too cold, I think he's too hot. Your low temp is the highest I would go. I think you need to drop both ends 4 to 6 degrees. Misting as frequently as you are shouldn't be needed. Lowering the temps will help, and using a moisture holding substrate will improve that aspect a bunch. If you are already using something like repti-back, mulch, or the coconut stuff pouring water on it or soaking it a bit in water will help. Just don't make it so wet there is any standing water on the bottom. If your BRB is never staying on top of the heat pad it, it's too hot! Most of the brands of heat pads get very hot and need to have a rheostat or thermostat to keep them in a proper range. The heat emitter dries the cage pretty quickly and should also be connected to one of the aforementioned controllers. If you are using a glass tank, almost all the screen top will need to be covered with something to prevent the humidity escaping. Remember, the smaller the cage the harder it will be to have even a small temp gradient and the less forgiving they are for errors. Give him a hide on both sides with a bowl of water large enough for him to soak in.

Don't even try to feed him again until the environment is adjusted and stable for a week. I wouldn't even touch him for a week. Make sure he is in a quiet location. He is very stressed at this point and needs to acclimate to his new changes.

I believe he will eat when he is acclimated to the changes. I am sorry if this sounded rude, it was not meant to be. There are alot of good folks on this forum, and we can help you get your little guy going in the right direction. Take a look at Jeff's care sheet (click sonsor link jcsnakes) above.

When your enclosure is adjusted we can work on feeding.

Linda
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"There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance- that principle is contempt prior to investigation." Herbert Spencer

>>Hello,
>>First, stop the force feeding. Second, get the enclosure adjusted. Something is very wrong with the environment assuming the snake is in fairly good health.
>>
>>From the way you descibed your cage, I think there are some easy things you can do. I wouldn't be worried about him being too cold, I think he's too hot. Your low temp is the highest I would go. I think you need to drop both ends 4 to 6 degrees. Misting as frequently as you are shouldn't be needed. Lowering the temps will help, and using a moisture holding substrate will improve that aspect a bunch. If you are already using something like repti-back, mulch, or the coconut stuff pouring water on it or soaking it a bit in water will help. Just don't make it so wet there is any standing water on the bottom. If your BRB is never staying on top of the heat pad it, it's too hot! Most of the brands of heat pads get very hot and need to have a rheostat or thermostat to keep them in a proper range. The heat emitter dries the cage pretty quickly and should also be connected to one of the aforementioned controllers. If you are using a glass tank, almost all the screen top will need to be covered with something to prevent the humidity escaping. Remember, the smaller the cage the harder it will be to have even a small temp gradient and the less forgiving they are for errors. Give him a hide on both sides with a bowl of water large enough for him to soak in.
>>
>>Don't even try to feed him again until the environment is adjusted and stable for a week. I wouldn't even touch him for a week. Make sure he is in a quiet location. He is very stressed at this point and needs to acclimate to his new changes.
>>
>>I believe he will eat when he is acclimated to the changes. I am sorry if this sounded rude, it was not meant to be. There are alot of good folks on this forum, and we can help you get your little guy going in the right direction. Take a look at Jeff's care sheet (click sonsor link jcsnakes) above.
>>
>>When your enclosure is adjusted we can work on feeding.
>>
>>Linda
>>-----
>>"There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance- that principle is contempt prior to investigation." Herbert Spencer
-----
"There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance- that principle is contempt prior to investigation." Herbert Spencer

wow thanks everyone so much, and i did not take any offense at all from your post, it was very helpfull. i am having trouble deciding what to do, one person says the undertanks element is good. however the snake hates it either way. both the element and the bulb are too hot aparently, so i have to switch off one, which should it be?

good luck

Igywigie,
...I did not read in any post that the undertank element is good. If you are talking about my post you missed the important word "controlled". The problem is that your cage does not have the temperature controlled. Many heating devices are too hot for many reptiles. They have to be controlled with either a thermostat or a rheostat/dimmer.
Jeff

>>wow thanks everyone so much, and i did not take any offense at all from your post, it was very helpfull. i am having trouble deciding what to do, one person says the undertanks element is good. however the snake hates it either way. both the element and the bulb are too hot aparently, so i have to switch off one, which should it be?

hey jeff, the rheostats at the pet store are kind of pricey, do u think its a good or bad idea to go to the Home Depot and get one there? i am pretty good with electrical and should be able to install one inline on the UTH. good bad idea?

>>hey jeff, the rheostats at the pet store are kind of pricey, do u think its a good or bad idea to go to the Home Depot and get one there? i am pretty good with electrical and should be able to install one inline on the UTH. good bad idea?

Just pick up one of the inline ones,, they're ready to go and are pretty cheap

>>>>hey jeff, the rheostats at the pet store are kind of pricey, do u think its a good or bad idea to go to the Home Depot and get one there? i am pretty good with electrical and should be able to install one inline on the UTH. good bad idea?
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