Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello, I have a adult female of tropidolaemus wagleri 1 month ago. I have her in a 55 centimeters (height) x 30 ( width ) x 80 ( lenght) cage. The temperature is 28º and 85-90% of humidity. I am almost sure that she is captured. who sold me the animal, said that she ate mouses, but I often offer mouses and very small rats and she doesn´t eat. Have someone bred this animal? what can I do? must I offer her small birds or geckkos? Regards

Make sure you are misting or spraying a few times a week and are keeping it hydrated. Give it plenty of branches, if you haven't already, so it feels comfortable. If you haven't, I would treat it for parasites, just in case it is wild-caught and has something that may be making it sick. Try to make the snake strike by tapping it's tail or head, if it strikes it should hold on. And try feeding it at night. If all fails, try scenting a mouse with a lizard of some sort. If that doesn't work you may have to feed it lizards until it can be switched over.

When I tap it with a mouse, it often strikes, and when I spray it, it also strikes. I will put more branches and more plants in its cage. But the problem is that it hides in the midst of the plants and stays in the ground. I think it can be stressed. Anyway, I will follow your advices. Thanks for your response. Regards.

Did you mean stays on the ground? If so, it usually means there is an underlying problem. Wagler's, and other tree vipers, usually show signs of a healthy snake by roosting most of the time.

I have to second on the misting issue. They really need to be "drowned" by mist periodically.

Mine thrive in a 75-78F enviroment. Spagnum moss has allways worked best for me as I can keep it soaking wet...and there is something about it that retards body rot (less of an issue if the snake heads for ground cover).

Even so, I have some wags that have been problems to start and one who has never eaten a voluntary meal in its life. With a tiny netonate sometimes teasing isn't enough. That is something that you have to take in consideration because if you have to force feed it is a dangerous option.

Fortunately for me, my babies eventually all went to voluntary feeding this year.

Frank
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"The luxury of not getting involved departed with the last lifeboat Skipper..."

Hello, I often mist it everyday. Yesterday, I offered a small bird, and the viper striked twice, but didn´t bite the bird; later, the viper didn´t pay attention to the bird. I don´t know what can I do. I will hope and won´t annoy it for some time. Regards.

I have the same problem with my wc vipers...often staying on the ground and not eating voluntarily...what i do with my mangrove viper is i put a dead mouse inside and cover the enclosure....the next morn the mouse would be gone...
however..this didn't work with my hagens and wagler...they strike but don't hold on when i tease them with a mouse...
try assist feeding them...a bit dangerous..but better than force feeding...

A safe and easy way of assist feeding is to use two pieces of soft foam to trap the snake and leave it's head exposed. It's easy on the snake and safe for you.

Hi TJP...i was wondering on your soft foam technique...how excatly do you trap the snake and expose the head only..with forceps?
i always do it by pinning the nead...grabbing it by the neck and let it bite down on the mouse...rather dangerous for venomous snakes...would welcome safer techniques..thx

I should have mentioned it should only be used for smaller snakes, I wouldn't go much bigger than an adult temple. You would lay the snake on the foam, then blanket the snake with the other piece, exposing just the head, it is easier to show than to explain. It keeps your hands away from having to pin the snake
and keeps the snake from having a hold on it that it doesn't want. There are different ways of doing it, tubes work as well. When the snake head comes out of the other end of the tube, you would pin it with an edge of the foam, then work the snake out while laying the foam over the area of the snake that is being exposed. And like I said, it's for smaller snake, you WOULDN'T want to try it with something large and powerful.

Hello, I finally forced it to eat a rat pinky. I used a towell around the neck of the snake and then I seized it. It sheded two days ago, and now it always stays in the branches. I hope it eats alone the next occasion, because I can not force it to eat all the time. I think that the forced-feeding causes stress and is a extreme option. Regards.

If it shed 2 days ago that would explain why it wasn't eating

It is possible, but it has not eaten for a few months and I don´t think the cause is the shedding, but I don´t know. Regards.