Reptile & Amphibian Forums

As some may recall, I bought two (2) youngsters a few days back. Changed the water again today, and the bedding. Had thick cotton gloves and a long sleeve jacket (armor) on while picking them up. The 5' female nipped at my gloved hand 2 or 3 times, but seemed to settle down a short time later. Handled her about 30 minutes today. I reached in to pick her up once or twice more and she did not bite. Then it was the smaller male's turn. I picked him up and to my knowledge he didn't bite me. He seemed to be okay after about 30 minutes of handling. Never tried to bite even after picking him up once or twice more. I wasn't confident enough to take my gloves off, but I did handle them without my long-sleeve jacket.

I removed the smaller male, then placed a F/T mouse in the enclosure with the larger female. She mouthed it twice and I thought she was going to eat it, but didn't. The male wasn't interested either. I will separate them and give a live mouse next time.

A quick note on another new arrival. I have a medium-sized White Throat Monitor living with me. How I got the monitor is another story, but I hope it to be permanent. S/he seems to be affectionate and enjoys scritches. Ate a hard boiled egg today.

Scott

Are you housing them together? Also, As far as feeding them, you should probably not be handling them until they eat for you. They are most likely very stressed out from being moved, and handling them for 30 minutes a day will probably put on some more.

Deffidently don't switch them to live after one try with F/t! Especially after one showed a lot of interest! What I would do is seperate them, forever. Stop handling until you get them to eat. Try leaving them alone with the f/t rat for awhile. Most condas tend to be shy eaters. If they are soaking, dangle the rat 1/2 over the water bowl, leave for a few hours or overnight, and see if it's gone in the morning. That is how I got my baby Anery anaconda to eat, hasn't refused a meal since. Live should always be a last resort. Also, I noticed you said mouse, there is no mouse big enough for a 5' Anaconda, so she should deffidently be on rats. They both should actually, rat pups are the size of an Adult mouse and has a lot more nutrients, it's just better for the snake.

Good luck though, I would also love to see some pics of the condas!
~Ben

thats a decent sized monitor Scott. I had a much smaller baby savanah back in the day, boy are they neat. One thing though, don't feed it live prey (mice) like I did.....nerve wrecking to watch and sometimes messy. Instead try either live pinkies or F/T prey if he takes it. Boiled eggs and cooked chicken is also acceptable. He looks very docile and active, good choice there. As far as the anacondas go........I can't wait for you to post up a pic of those two on here somewhere.