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NEW GTP OWNER, HELP!!!!!

LCLKdesign Feb 21, 2010 02:32 AM

Hi, I recented got a yearling biak green tree and have since had her for a little over than a week. Her heat and humidity levels have been perfect and all around it has been a great expierence.

BUT!!!!

She will not take food, live and frozen.....The breeder I got her from says shes been eating live...but I don't know what to do, and its been 10 days since she's eaten.

Also she is developing what looks like dry spots on the tip of her nose which also concerns me. I'm going to take her to a herp vet in a couple days regardless but does anyone have any suggestions or tips??????!?!?!?!? Thank you sooooo much for any help you may be able to offer.

Replies (4)

Lichanura Feb 21, 2010 10:59 AM

Sounds to me like it is a little premature to worry about the eating. Give a little more time to adjust. Have you tried leaving a sizeable mouse alive in her cage at night? The movement of the mouse will sometimes stimulate them to eat.

The nose thing sounds to me like she is rubbing it against something. Trying to get out at night?

sdp4 Feb 26, 2010 08:58 AM

I agree on the nose rub. Was this a wild caught animal, farm raised animal? What kind of cage do you have the baby in? Stay away from glass set ups when they are babies, use a Rubbermaid type box to settle him/her down. I have been breeding CB GTPs for several years. PLease feel free to contact me with any questions powleyexoticreptiles@cox.net Scott

St0n3_C0ld Feb 22, 2010 12:56 PM

I had feeding problem with my GTP before but now i already overcome it..

It's really too soon to worry bout feeding since it's only been 10 days. My baby GTP didn't eat for 2 months when i got it, really stubborn one it was, but it is fine now so calm yourself down i'd say, i know it's hard to calm down when u know your pet doesn't feed for ya but u need it..

One thing come to mind is the enclosure, although u have humidity and temperature right, how big is it compared to the snake? Too big enclosure can be more stressful. Also, try putting the snake into an opaque enclosure so that the snake can feel more secure, worth a try..
How big is the diameter of the perch? Is it too big for the snakes?
About the dry spot on the nose, it can be a scar caused by rubbing, could u take the picture of it and post it here so that everyone can see? Just try to remove all sharp objects or surfaces from the enclosure..

Have u ever tried "Tease-feeding"? Basically just wiggling the prey item (live or frozen up to u) in front of the snake and see if the snake is interested (watch the body language, muscle tension, eyes and tongue movements)..
If the snake happens to go away from it, just keep wiggling the prey using long forceps. You can even tap the nose of the snake with the food and see if this can anger the snake and provoke it into striking. If it connects (which means it strikes and holds), you're lucky..but if it doesn't connect, don't worry, simply just re-take the food item again by forceps and do the same thing till it constricts the food..

What happen if u do all those "tease-feeding" and the snake just run away without striking? Well that situation happened to my baby gtp i mentioned above. Maybe u may get "too-tame" gtp who knows lol
Anyway just keep presenting the food in front of its head, tapping the nose like that with the food even if it keeps moving away. Frustrating i know, i felt it too but it needs to be done so patience is the key. My baby gtp is too good that it never strikes so far, never even strikes the food item too, kinda confusing me..
Record of me feeding it is two hours, pretty long time huh? It felt like feeding a stubborn kid who keeps running away and doesn't want to eat lol
Finally the baby just opened its mouth and grabbed the pinky while put coils around the pinky SLOWLY, no quick strikes or fast movements. The other time i found that this same baby just coiled around the pinky that i hold using forceps as if trying to hanging on a perch, again no strike..then slowly i released the pinky after the baby hold the pinky and surprisingly the snake's head started looking for the pinky's head, opened its mouth and swallowed the food..
Weird i think, what i know is the snake should strike or open the mouth and grab the food then almost at the same time put coils around the victim. But in this case, the baby put the coil first on the food without any intention to eat it and then open its mouth to begin swallowing..

Hope my experience can help u out, good luck ^^

GregStephens Mar 10, 2010 07:27 AM

I agree 100%!

Each animal is different and some can take a while to settle in.
You can try scenting the live and frozen prey with chick down.
That may help peak the animals interest.
-----
Greg Stephens
Arboreal Specialties
gstephens1@zoominternet.net

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