Reptile & Amphibian Forums

After 3 months he has yet to feed of his own accord. I assist him every 3-4 days with a couple of mouse thighs. He takes them fairly readily once I get them started but at times even getting them started is problematic.

It's been suggested I place him in a paper bag overnight with live pinkies. There is no local place that sells live pinkies and I just found out today my local pet shop doesn't even carry male mice so "raising" up my own pinkies is not an option. Hopefully this week I'll get the time to check some other pet shops somewhat near to where I work.

Not sure what his problem is... he's alert and active when I take him out... since getting him in November he shed on December 12th, again on January 11th and then again on February 3rd... odd things are despite taking him out on a regular basis I never notice him "in blue", just a shed skin one day and I've yet to find any waste/fecal matter in his bedding. No signs of his having regurged anything from previous feedings either.

Still he's a handsome boy and I'm a long way on giving up on him.

His growth rate is not phenomenal as you can see... the first picture was taken today and the second is when I first got him.

Gerry, have you done the tearing the head/face open good on a F/T pink and smearing the material all around the entire head and leaving it in a tiny deli cup in a secluded dark cabinet for a few hours? Night time is best too, as that is when they would naturally be more prone to come out of hiding and feed.

I would not mess with it and hold it either and just let it hide in a very small cage with tight hides (like a plastic instant coffee lid with a notch cut out).

Also, if you CAREFULLY and SLOWLY open the enclosure without knocking it around without the snake knowing you are doing it and place one of the forementioned mutilated pinks right at the notch opening of the little hide with a pair of long tongs with maybe just its head put inside the notch hole, that often works good too because you don't have to disturb them to put them into something else with the pinkie.

~Doug
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

serpentinespecialties.webs.com

Yes I've tried it before Doug but haven't for a month or so. Since I thawed a pinkie for the new abnorma this morning I thawed out a second for Samson... it's very well "brained" and in a small container along with Samson... perhaps when I get home the pinkie will be gone.

Gerry

Gerry,
Everything Doug said works great at lot of times. That’s what most of us do first.

This is what I do next for stubborn feeders:
Tricks I use and I’m sure a lot of other people on this forum use are: raw egg yolk, tuna fish, cat food, lizard poop, lizards scenting, ect. I just slop a little on the head of the pinky and about 50% to 60% of the time it works great. I’ve had some snakes come flying out of the container and land of the floor because they were that interested. Some of these guys may take a year till they switch over to unscented. I just keep whatever that snake likes in a small Ziploc bag in the freezer and cut off a small piece each time I feed. Here is a pic of one of my favorite holdbacks from 2011. He just started about 3 weeks ago eating unscented fuzzes. The only thing that worked for him was Albacore tuna. I froze 3 teaspoons about 2 years ago. It was totally freezer burned but still worked well enough.

Also make sure your temp and lighting is adequate. I hope everything works out well for your snake.

Yep...agree with everyone here.

Just keep in mind, what ever scenting medium you use...be prepared to use that scent for a WHILE!

In other words...don't use a lizard unless you have easy access to them or you could be in another difficult situation.

I would personally try a live pink, 99% of the time that works after fail attempts at braining.

Also, Doug covered this well but it's very important so I will reiterate...

You must behave like a Ninja when preparing the snake to eat. If you place the snake in another container and it's all pissed off it won't eat...do whatever you can to minimize the stress on the snake BEFORE attempting to feed it.

Good luck!

Have always resulted in Samson coiling up in as small ball as possible as far from the brained mouse as he could get... today was different... the mouse is no where to be found. I suspect the large conspicuous bulge in his stomach may offer a clue to it's whereabouts!

Glad Doug's reply prompted me to give the brained mouse another go before I went out and found a pet shop that sold male mice.

I appreciate all the advice offered up but I do disagree with one thing that was said... I'll bring that up in a separate post to get other people takes/opinions on it.

Thanks again for the comments and advice.

Gerry

Ahh!,....glad he found it irresistable this time around.

Nothing better than seeing a belly bulge in a snake that has not willingly fed!........awesome!

~Doug
-----
"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

serpentinespecialties.webs.com

.
-----
"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

serpentinespecialties.webs.com

I've been breeding Hondurans for over 20 years and never had one not eat and never scented food items. For me, babies that would not eat F/T would gladly take live. Unfortunately the local pet store (was in business for 47 years) that supplied me with live food when needed recently shut down.

Split-heads are the second best option. This snake only ate live last year, but I cooled it for the winter and it started eating splitheads after I brought it up from cooling. It recently started eating "intact heads." Hondurans love to eat and once yours gets going, it won't take long to switch it to conventional, unaltered frozen/thawed food.

I have three adult males that only eat live food. This is kind of a drag (and even more so since the local pet store closed), but I have found that this year (after being brought up from cooling) they've had no objection to accepting hairless frozen/thawed mice.

I wish you luck with your snake!

Tim

Third Eye Herp

That thing is sick!