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I purchased a 30" inch male green bush rat snake from a recent reptile show about two weeks ago. The seller said it was obtained from Freight Freitas.

I have watched the snake drink water many times. It has, however, no desire to eat. I have tried live pinks, frozen thawed pinks, frozen thawed quail and frozen thawed chick legs. I have, unfortuantely, resided to assit force feed some thawed chick legs...(one or two at a time with feet cut off.) The snake held down a few, but now regurgitates food items within an hour of being fed.

Enclosure at this point is simple, but appropriate. Temperature is in the mid 70s. There is a dish that he can soak in, and paper towels for him to hide under. I have added a simple artificial vine with an artificial plant so he can feel more secure.

Not sure what else to do, the snake is drinking, and it is not aggressive. Do I play a the waiting game...hold off for one or two weeks to see if he comes around? Wait until after the next time he sheds. Any advice would be welcomed and appreciated.

Thanks,
Chris

>>I purchased a 30" inch male green bush rat snake from a recent reptile show about two weeks ago. The seller said it was obtained from Freight Freitas.
>>
>>I have watched the snake drink water many times. It has, however, no desire to eat. I have tried live pinks, frozen thawed pinks, frozen thawed quail and frozen thawed chick legs. I have, unfortuantely, resided to assit force feed some thawed chick legs...(one or two at a time with feet cut off.) The snake held down a few, but now regurgitates food items within an hour of being fed.
>>
>>Enclosure at this point is simple, but appropriate. Temperature is in the mid 70s. There is a dish that he can soak in, and paper towels for him to hide under. I have added a simple artificial vine with an artificial plant so he can feel more secure.
>>
>>Not sure what else to do, the snake is drinking, and it is not aggressive. Do I play a the waiting game...hold off for one or two weeks to see if he comes around? Wait until after the next time he sheds. Any advice would be welcomed and appreciated.
>>
>>Thanks,
>>Chris

Chris,

I'm no expert on rat snakes (I own boas and an indigo snake,) but imo, while your intentions are good, it sounds like you are way over-reacting and stressing out the snake. Two weeks is not a long time for a snake to go without eating, especially when it is moved to a new home. Force feeding is traumatic, and regurgitation will compound the problems. While it's impossible to say for sure if there is some other reason the snake is not eating, I would just leave the snake alone for at least a week. And if it's not in a quiet, low-traffic area, maybe put it in one. The snake needs to recover from the regurge(s), if nothing else. And the next meal you offer it should be on the small side.

Good luck,
Ed

Thanks. My gut tells me that I should not panic. I will hold off and trust that his natural feeding instincts bring him around to eating.

In the meantime, I will have a fecal done on him to verify there are no internal parasite issues.

Thanks again for the advice...

Chris

How do you have the snake set up?

They won't eat if they are too warm.

Leave it alone for a week as suggested, then try to feed a f/t pink mouse off tongs.

Even my oldest adult males only eat large pink mice and the smallest fuzzies, and mine almost all prefer to eat off tongs.

relax and let it settle in, there is no need to force feed him.

Thanks for the advice. He is in a quiet place in my garage where it is cool. I am going to leave him be for the next week or two and hopefully I will see a change.

Do these guys eat frogs in the wild? Maybe, when the time is right, I should offer him a frog-scented pinkie. Just a thought. Any feelings on this?

Chris

I personally would stick with rodents.

I don't know if they eat frogs in the wild, very little is known of their wild habits/diet.

they can't starve in a few weeks, I've had males that went off feed for 1-2 months, but usually that is later in the year.

just be patient with them, they aren't that difficult once settled in.

Thanks again for your help.

I guess I am usd to intense feeding response of indigos and cribos. I forgot that I had to be patient with them when they were young too!!

How many of these green bush rat snakes do you have? I don't seet them out there very often. Are they breeding? Have you produced any babies yet or this year?

Once again, thanks for your advice.

Chris

I currently only have 5 adults.
I did hatch one this year but it died shortly after hatching.

I've produced a few dozen over the last 10 years, not great, but not horrible either.
If I had hatched every egg that has been laid here, that number would be much much higher.

Give it a heat source and it will do much better. As with many asians, their is the misconception out there that they just need to be kept cool. They do need access to cool but do MUCH better when they have access to a warm spot. I keep mine between 73 and 75 degrees but they always have a warm area around 80 degrees. I would prefer to give them access to an even warmer area but I find it hard to keep one side down to 73-75 if the warm spot is too warm. All of mine spend a lot of time on the warm area and not just when digesting food.
I would also give them a humid hide if your going to keep them on paper towels. More than many other species, they need to feel secure in my experience to do well so I provide them with dark hides and deep substrate to burrow in.
I would make some changes in your setup, leave it totally alone for a couple weeks and then leave a large live fuzzy moust in over night.

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Randy Whittington

I just wanted to add that if you keep them on some kind of substrate that you can keep an area moist, you won't need a moist hide. That way they can move back and forth depending on how much moisture or humidity they want at the time. I prefer cypress mulch but I've seen others use a type of soil mix that would great too.
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Randy Whittington

Randy,

Thank you for your help. I am working on making some of those adjustments for him. I am going away on vacation for about five days and then I will try and feed him when I return. They really are beautiful snakes.

You look like you have had some success with them. Did you produce babies this year? If so, how many?

Thanks again for your help.

Chris

I had a couple small clutches this year which all hatched healthy. Both clutches fed on live pinky mice the first night offered. I've found them to be good feeders but most seem to want live prey.
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Randy Whittington