Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey all,

You'd think I'd be past this stuff at this point but I have a pair that have resisted all efforts and I am stumped. Nearly 4 months ago I bought a pair of freshly imported tan-headed blacks. When they came in they were already mating and stayed hooked up for a week. The female being fat but a bit small did not ovulate, which was no surpise. That gave me the green light to clean them up inside and out. They have been vet checked and are apparently in perfect health. The male has bred another female so his plumbing is working OK. I just cant get them to eat anything.

I have tried.

Live rats
Live rat pups
F/K rat pups and adults
Live Gerbils
F/K Gerbils
Live chicks
F/K Chicks
Frozen everything but pizza
Small/Big cages,
Night/day Feeding
All sorts of temps
Singing/dancing/teasing/baiting ... well maybe not singing

One of the down sides to these guys is that they are so docile I cant get them to strike at anything, ever. The girl gave me one little half hearted nudge one day when I was cleaning her cage but beyond that they dont even hiss. They seem bright and alert, are well hydrated, but are just totally non-aggressive. They are very much like captive balls in their demeanor. I generally discourge WC bloods but bought this pair to get another than came with them. Even the most stubborn wild caught will generally eat though some are sporadic. Tell me what I am missing. They arent in any immediate danger but I am starting to worry and I dont want to wait until they in dire strait to find a fix.

Steve

Steve,
sorry to hear that.You may have tried this already but,have you tried to heat em up.Pump up the ambient temps and humidity before you go to bed and then,leave the rat in there.Deep substrate with really tight hides? GOOD LUCK.Let me know when you do get em to eat.I'm also curiouse at what it takes.
Ash Lopez
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While my special case is a hatchling, it sure does seem to behave the same. In October of '03 I bought a CBB hatchling borneo short-tail. While I've never dealt with a non feeding blood, I've dealt with many other various stubborn snakes. I adjusted every husbandry variable and every prey item in every combination I could think of. That winter I started assist feeding him pinkies as he was slowly losing weight. The breeder said several others from that clutch died after a couple of months of not feeding. The snake has been to see the vet several times and is the picture of health.

I have tried everything on your list with the exclusion of a live chick (I'm trying that this weekend, although I have a feeling I'll just end up with a pet chicken!) I have even tried dead songbird nestlings and a dead baby opossum.

One thing that did seem to interest him was when I scented a rat pup with duck oil. It is taken from the glands of ducks and hunters use it to train retrieving dogs- you can buy it at hunting stores. It REALLY stinks. That got a tongue flick or two.

Good luck!
Lindsey

steve, if they are still actively in breeding mode that may be the main reason for not eating.

Didn't mention mice, did you try them? I take it that you do have the male and female apart from each other now? Have you tried placing a rat in their mouth a little and seeing if they take it then? Since they are so gentle it might be easy to assist feed them once and see if that jump starts them. Best of luck with all your animals... jody

Jody et al

They dont seem to be in breeding mode as I tried putting them together for a day or two and saw nothing. I have raised and lowered the temps. I currently have the female in really tight quarters and extra deep mulch. I have the male in a medium sized cage with hides and deep mulch just to see if one works beter than the other. I did forget to mention that I have tried mice both alive and dead. I have had ball pythons go on long hunger strikes and I do keep Gray-bands, whose babies are the worlds champion non-eaters. I can and will resort to assist feeding if it comes to that but I'll exhaust all resources before I do.

I think this is a very strong arguement against any wild caught snakes. The down side is while I have learned my lesson, the snakes are still in danger. I have to insure their survival at any and all costs. Thats just the way things work around here.

Here is my advice to newbies, and of course to myself. Do not buy WC caught snakes unless you have a really high tolerance for watching snakes expire (I do not) and in the interm have some parasite laden animals that can be overly aggresive. There are tons of good breeders on this list and elsewhere. Buy from them. Now Im off to clean cages.

Happy Snakin
Steve

Cool, sounds like you are on top of things as best anyone can.
I thought you had said they had not eaten in four months, but bloods can go a real long time without food and seem to do fine. Guess you keep trying and hope for the best. Had a few nuggets come out of their eggs today, they are looking pretty good so far Best of luck with your animals always... jody

Jody

I was trying to remember when I go those guys. I have it written down somewhere but seems like they came in the first of Feb, which would make it 3-1/2 months. I actually keep very good records, now if I could just find them under this pile on my desk.

Got hatchlings. How exciting! Hope they are looking good. How many eggs did you have?

Steve

If they were breeding, then they are still in breeding mode, even if they have stopped doing the motions. These animals are on a Biological clock that captivity doesn't understand. They will eat when thier "Season" is over. Just like the Females that won't eat after they lay a clutch that is taken and artificially incubated; But yet after that clutch hatches, they'll eat. That clock dictates what they do and when they do it. Give them time and forget about them not feeding. That is first and foremost when acclimating wild caught animals.