baby ETB adaptation questions

[bistrobob85]

I just baught myself a baby ETB three weeks ago and im still waiting for him to take himself his first meal. I assist-fed him last friday just to make sure he ate and it wasnt bullshit the salesman told me when i baught him three weeks ago... Still, he had a shed and didnt throw back or anything when i fed him... I guess ill have to wait for a while now but im not sure hez ready for feeding yet... He doesnt really go into hunting position at all... He doesnt go hanging down by its tail at night, he stays in a ball or he roams around his little cage ( i put him in a small 10inches by 8 by 18inches high plastic cage full of artifical plants ). Im sure the light, humidity and temperature are good, but his behavior gets me pretty nervous. Ill only feel better when he'll start eating by himself. Until i fed him myself a fuzzy mouse, i tried to feed him a live hopper mouse and i tried twice a pinky rat... Do you guys have tips for the best adaptation of a supposed CB ETB?

Any help will be very appreciated

Phil.

[BoidKeeper]

Leave him alone.
He's an ETB, not a corn. These snakes need long acclimation periods. Everything with snakes happens very slowly and with an Emerald it's even slower. You should never have force fed him, you set him back by a few weeks at best.
My advice to you, make sure you husbandry is correct and don't touch him or bother him at all for one month. Then offer him what ever it was he was eating before you bought him.
While your letting him acclimate find a copy of Stan Chiras's article on ETB husbandry and read it again and again.
Cheers,
Trevor
ETB Husbandry (http://www.**************/emeralds/)

[bistrobob85]

Thanks for the advice, Trevor! I know about ETBs being having long acclimation periods, but it was a little skinny and i really wanted to be sure he ate at least once before i started the long wait before he ate. Now that he ate once, im ready to count a good month before i show him some food again. I've already read Stan Chiras's article many times, but i only wanted to have advice in a more interacting way... By the way, what do you think about handling a baby ETB??? Do you think it would bother him if i took it out once every two or three weeks, even before he had his first meal by himself? Im very interested to have as many opinions as i can find... Thanks again, Trevor :)!

Phil.

[Jeff_Favelle]

Do you think it would bother him if i took it out once every two or three weeks, even before he had his first meal by himself

I would think that the smartest thing you could do would be to wait until the snake is established before messing around and stressing it out. Don't you?

[bistrobob85]

Im trying to evaluate how much it would stress it out... thats why i ask, its my first ETB and i dont want him to suffer from my inexperience.

[BoidKeeper]

I wouldn't touch it until it is established. For me that mean 4 and 1. Four meals back to back and one dump. So for an ETB your looking at a long wait if you want to play it safe.
Cheers,
Trevor

[CraigC]

We keep our neos at a constant 80F day and night, with temps during the day rising and falling as the room temp changes, but never below 80F. Thier enclosures are small "shoebox" plastics with vent holes in the lid for good air circulation. They will stay in this size until almost a year old. Water is used as a substrate and changed every 2 days or more often as needed. We feed every 10 days for up to 3 meals without a bowel movement. The water is removed and the container dried with all heat sources shut off. A live hopper is placed in the enclosure right around dusk or shortly there after and left until we go to bed, usually about 3-4 hours. We never leave over night as hoppers are very active, which seems to be the main attractor to the snake, and they could possibly hurt the neo if not eaten. We check on them from time to time during the feeding period. Yes some are slow starters and the reality is that they may need assist feeding. I know someone that has a pair of basins that they had since about 6 months of age and had to assist feed till the animals were well over a year old. I personally would not sell an animal that required assist feeding but thats just me. Now I'm talking about CBB babies which are not loaded with parasites as is possible with babies born of a fresh import.

Handling, but not for your entertainment, is a necessity with babies as they must be inspected at close hand for potential problems, but we keep it to a minimum and since the perch is removable, stress is very minimal. Let me put it this way, it never effects thier eating.

There are other things that can help get them started, but without knowing the environmental conditions, I'll leave it at what I've written.
CraigC