Reptile & Amphibian Forums

When I first got him in September, he would eat 4 or 5 pinkies a week. Now he'll only take 1 or 2... The temperature is 86° at the hot end (Kane mat) and about 76° at the other, in a 32" X 24"X16" wood terrarium. The inside walls are entirely lined with a Rock Wall, so it is well insulated.

I'd like my Nelsoni to eat more. He won't take larger pinkies; I tried this to no avail...

Thanks for the help!

Dan

4-5 a week? That seems very high to me. The size of prey is supposed to increase with the snake's growth, with still one prey item every 7-10 days... He's probably stuffed! lol

Walt

Thanks, Walt; I'll try to increase the pinkie size every week, and just offer one...

Dan

I've found nelsoni to be pickier eaters in general compared to other popular milksnakes (ie. hondurans, black milks, etc). Some things to try are:
-scent the pink with lizard
-create a simple humid hide box using a gladware container with a hole cut in the side. Put in some moistened moss. Put the pink in the container.
-lastly, try offering a live pink along with the f/t. I don't usually do this unless I'm desperate as I don't want the snake to revert back to live meals, but in some cases this is better than no meal at all.

good luck!
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Paul Weaver
Carolina Herps

One of my friends has an albino Nelsoni that would only eat 10-15 day old pinkies until it was almost 1 1/2 years old... He owns a reptile oriented petshop, so the pinkies were not a problem. The snake now eats thawed mice, but it took a while.

Thanks for the tips, Paul!

Dan,

Paul had some good suggestions. One trick that I use very frequently that never seems to fail (knock on wood) is to put the snake in a deli cup over night with the f/t pink. For some reason, being in a container with no way to avoid the pink seems to get them to eat.

When I'm desperate, I poke a hole in the pinky head and the smell of this seems to attract the snakes to eat as well.

Good luck.

Dave

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Dave Niles
DNS Reptiles
Charlotte, NC

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