Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey Everyone,
I recently purchased a pair of albino hatchlings. The male started eating fine, but the female has not eaten yet. I purchased them about 3 weeks ago and she does not seem interested in food at all. They are in shoe boxes with the ambient temp in the mid 80s. Does anyone have any advice or tricks to share with me.

Rick,

This is a recurrent theme on the list and no one answer solves all of the problems, but here is a list of things that people say.

1. Hides - small and dark. Bloods love to be snug and secure.

2. Timing- try feeding at dusk, after dark or in the early morning.

3. Temp and humidity - Youngsters seem to do better with higher humidity. I also keep my little guys in a daytime temp gradient of 80 - 90 or so. They tend to stay right in the middle or move to the cool end, but they have the option to warm up if needed.

4. Try gerbils, rats, mice, alive, dead, f/t. I also use chicks occasionally. All of my snakes love them!

5. I have a young borneo that would only eat while in a deli cup. Eventually she would no longer fit and she started to feed in a shoebox if she had cover and hides. I used cypres mulch about 3" deep and gave her a hide. She liked to bury herself in the mulch and ambush f/t rat fuzzies. Now she will take your fingers off if you dont watch her.

6. Leave them alone for awhile and let them settle in. Bloods are actually shy and insecure and wont eat until they are comfortable.

7. Patience - I dont have a lot but my snakes have given me good reason to change my ways. Some go months without eating. These blacks I have went something like 4 months before they kicked in. I was worried sick but eventually almost all will kick in under the right conditions.

Hope I've helped even in the slightest. Post some pictures of your albinos. Us poor folks cant even pay the fee to get into the shows to see them, let alone own them. I will volunteer to be their foster parents. They can come visit me for a couple of months each year. How about Jan-May? I know it is a big sacrifice on my part but its the least I can do.

Take care and good luck
Steve

Steve has great advice and I recommend following his feeding "recipe". The only addition I can add is do not tease feed or slap with the prey. That discourages them and causes them to be defensive which is a non-feeding response.

Also, when thawing frozen prey try soaking in very warm water and also allowing to air-thaw. I have some that love their food soaked and others that do not.

Don't try feeding more than every 3-5 days.
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