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i just acquired an eight month old tangerine honduran. i have had him for about a week (i know that's not long and he's still adjusting). i was told he was feeding on both frozen and live without any problem. i havn't handled him at all and after about four days i tried to lay a f/t pinky in his cage. he showed no interest so after about a half hour i took it out, oh but not before jingling it a little bit to entice him but freaked him out instead. three days later i tried to lay another one in there and he showed no interest again so i put him in a paper bag with it for a while but he didn't eat it. anyway, am i being way too impatient since he is still so new to me and relax? i've just always heard what great feeders they were so i got concerned. should i try live next time? should i wait longer than a few days like a week between feedings? or try a different way to offer. this is my first milksnake and first baby snake so i am uncertain. thanks ahead.
z

i would wait another week. don't feed him or even touch him. let him settle into his new enviroment. then i would try a fuzzie instead of a pinky.
i have a tangerine honduran also and he eats great. mine will be 2 years old in july.
couple of other thoughts could be....is he in the shedding faze? some snakes won't eat when they go 'blue'.
how are his temps in the cage? i have a UTH on mine but unpluged it recently. here in arizona its nice an warm now. we have a evap cooler cooling the house till it gets unbearably hot and humid then we turn on the a/c. our house temp was getting to 80-81 degrees. once i turned of his UTH he went to what used to be his warm side. to warm of temps will stress them out also so they won't eat. just my 2 cents worth...

is he could be at the age where he wants a mate. i don't know what age that is for milks but i have a male corn that is going on 5-6 weeks since he last ate. they can go awhile without eating and be ok.

>>is he could be at the age where he wants a mate. i don't know what age that is for milks but i have a male corn that is going on 5-6 weeks since he last ate. they can go awhile without eating and be ok.

I'm guessing here, but as it's titled ""baby honduran"" I would venture to say that it's a bit early for it to be looking for a mate.
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"Colubrid-aphilia", adj; An inordinate love of Colubrids.

yea well, it does say its 8 months old. besides i said it was just a thought....if you don't have your own opinion on the matter then don't post at all.

>>........if you don't have your own opinion on the matter then don't post at all.

I do, and I did.

At 8 months old I seriously doubt that the snake in question is on hunger strike pending finding a snake of the opposite sex to pro-create with. If it was 18 months I would consider it a possible maybe.

Just make sure to have your temps right (hot end and cool end), give it a place to hide in both the hot end and the cool end, and make sure it has fresh water available at all times. Perhaps it is pre-shed getting ready to go opaque (blue) and not in the mood to eat. More than likely is that it is just stressed out from the move and new surroundings. Give it another week before you get worried about it not eating, keep an eye on it for signs of an upcoming shed, and don't give up.

Sometimes it takes a live pink / fuzzie to "kick start" a stressed snake back into eating, just try and get it back on frozen thawed as soon as possible so that it does not become dependant on live food items. Give it a few days and then try a live mouse of the apropriate size (pinks or fuzzies) and see what happens.

Best of luck.

Best of luck,

Colubrid-aphilia.
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"Colubrid-aphilia", adj; An inordinate love of Colubrids.

I keep many hondurans (adults and babies I hatched)that are usually great f/t eaters right out of the egg, but I do have one Abberant Hypo that is only taking live pinkies. Live is fine until the mice can see and can harm your snake; leave the mouse in there for a long while (even f/t). Sometimes my hypo eats it two days later while its alive. For picky feeders, I used to leave my f/t in the cages until they are eaten, or it has been a full day. Try leaving the f/t in there for a while, and the pinkie until it dies (which before then it is almost always eaten)(or unless you have something else that would eat it live, why waste the mouse?) If you have a question or two about your snake in detail you can email me, I don't want to leave an essay post (bigteapot@optonline.net).
-Sean