6 weeks of baby tic....no appetite...no handling?

[ReticMan123]

Ok so it is now been about 6 weeks since I got my baby purple retic. He has ate a total of 2 mice since I got him....always refuses food. always strikes and gets very defensive of it....I tried offering tonight...havent tried to handle him in a week. IN the smallest tank i could put him in...10 gallon....80-85 ambient with a 90-100 uth but never hot to the touch always warm...he never evens moves!!!! always in his little igloo hide oin the cooler side....once or twice he was in his warm igloo....but i just enevr see him dpo anything..very healthy looking...very active when he is taken out and held now that he has calmed down a bit...but nowe I just fear he will become aggresive because i am taking the advice of not handling him until he eats at least 3 x for me....its killing me! Is that really the best idea not to handle him until he eats? He has shed once...I think hes do fro another within a week or 2 I am going to wait until then to offer food again and just not handle him at all.....I dont know what could be the problem...I enver had a retic or any snake for that matter not eat for me....now I can see how stressful it can be....Does this mean he will always be a problem eater??? any adive or ideas greatly appreiciated! thanks guys
MIke

[Lankyrob]

Personally i would ditch the mice and get him onto rats strraightaway, he will take rats upto 2-3times his girth with no issue.

And yes it is best to not handle at all until he has eaten a few times for you. You have 20+ years to enjoy that side of it oncce he is eating :)

[marvelfreak]

I agree with Rob. from the size of him it you pictures i would start with small rats. It could just be your not giving him a big enough food item for him to make the effort to eat it. Also are you feeding live, frozen/thawed, or fresh killed?

[Squirtle]

My baby retic wouldn't eat for the first week when I brought him home.. but that's probably because he was only a week old when I got him. The week after that he started eating fine 2 mice a week, going to switch him to small rats in a few weeks or maybe even mediums. I suggest adding more hides or lowering the temperature just a bit.. To be honest all I did was give my retic a hide and kept his temperatures at low 90s for a week and he ate after that.

[ReticMan123]

I have tried rat pups before...he is only a few weeks old..maybe he looks bigger in the pic..hes 3' and 160 grams...hes not very big...but yes prob could take a weanling to small rat I dont want to stress him out. No its definately hes just very defensive...But in good news...He ate! it was in the middle of the night and I didnt see him but he did it.,..I didnt do anything different but I left the mouse in over night..and yes I do feed live. I misted the cage a bit before...I dont know if humidity has anything to do with it? But in the morning it was gone:)....so Im just hoping it keeps up...because hell randomly eat and then stop...So He shed exactly a month ago today so i think ones coming up soon...hard to tyell when albinos are in shed...then ill try again....I want to hold him so bad lol, is that definately a big no no right now?

thanks for evryones help

Mike

[MrBD1980]

Congrats on him eating!

Is there a typo or did you really leave a live mouse unsupervised over night with a snake who was unlikely to eat it? If so then it seems you were lucky not to be asking for advice on how to treat injuries and bites on your snake instead of "can I hold my tic!"

Brian

[Lankyrob]

DO NOT leave live prey with your snake EVER not even for a second, even with you there the chances of being able to intervene before injuries occur to your snakes are minimal, god knows how much damage a live prey could do to a snake overnight :no: :no: :no:

[DeesBalls]

NON hungry snake < mouse
hungry snake > mouse

should never leave live over night, or even unattended for a few minuets.

[dehlol]

Try rabbit pinks/pups. Might work better, I have great feeding responses on rabbits.

I wouldn't worry about the mouse doing anything to your retic either, most of my retics even when not hungry will kill the small animals just for getting too close rofl.

[moshirimon]

Have you tried putting him in a container or small tank and leaving him in there with the prekilled mouse for an hour or so?? I've found this to work with many problematic feeders.

[moshirimon]

Kind of a really simple solution lol, but it's worth a try

[Rogue628]

Congrats on finally getting him to eat. :)

I do have a couple of questions though....what was he eating before you got him? These guys are typically started off on rats. If so, attempting to get him to eat a mouse may be part of the problem. Also, if he was on rats before you got him, you may have issues getting him to switch. I had that problem with one of my burms. It took me months and plenty of patience to get her to finally switch back to rats (I could only find mice when I first got them, so I really had no choice at the time).

In any event, I'd switch him ASAP to rats. They're much better for them too.

Also, please do not leave live feeders unsupervised with your animals. I've had personal experience with some animals I rescued that were bitten by live food left unsupervised they did not want. It's not pleasant situation, nor a pretty sight.....nor is it something any owner cares to deal with.

Again, congrats on him eating. If you need any other help with him, please feel free to ask :)

[ReticMan123]

OK everyone... A little update...thanks for all the responses...first off I have had large snakes for years. I wouldnt say im a beginner allthough this is the first feeding issue I ever had:( anyway I would NEVER leave a rat with a snake for any period of time...but a small mouse to a retic is nothing! As dehol said. even a non hungry retic if it came down to it would dominate a mouse...which he has done..killed without eating. not too likely a mouse can hurt a reticulaterd python...rats are anotyher stroy...maybe even rabbits at time....Although i am one of the firm beleivewrs..in my case anyweay...I feed my snake live. He is my only pet I pout alot of tyime into my snakes. deticated time. And I always feed live...espesiallyt since I have no acess to frozen rabbits and a nunch of other reasons. But wnayway not here for the whole live vs frozen debate...( on a side note I do stun rats poretty much to death beforefeeding and if noeaten in a minyute remnove them..) sorry keybvoard is a little weird today.anyway its been a few more weeks...He has still not eaten again...he shed 2 days ago...I left him alone the whole time. Offered it last night and nothing....even put him in the dark with a p/k mouse I tried all the suggestions and nothing...I just dont understand I have had him for 2 months he should be feeding regurly now!!! A few wreeksa ago when he ate.. I misted the cage...took everything oput hof his 10 gallon tnak so it was justr hiom and the mouse...and he ater by morning...but i tried that again last night and nothing...I just dont know what the problem is....He is now in myt room on the top floor of my house...with me....Mainly his ambient temps are around 80 and the basking spot is always 90-95...one hide each side....water...everything is perfect...I will say that sometimes depending on weather here in philly now and air condition and things like that his temps sometimes drop as low as 75 or as high as high 80's on rare occasions until i notice it and fix it....I dont know if that could affect it any? I would think no becaus ein the wild they would be used to constant up and down temps. I just dont know....So I took the mouse out this morning...hes been left alone all day temps 80-95...water his hides are back..should I offer again tonight? also should i just drop the mouse in there or should i dangle it over his head? Ive been thninking that could stress him out...I got him from outback reptiles and theyt were actual;ly feeeding him mice before I got him thats why I stuck to them...should i gop get a weanling rat? I dont think it will make a difference but willing to try angything...thanks for all the advice...any more at this point would be great

MIke

[alessia55]

I would NEVER leave a rat with a snake for any period of time...but a small mouse to a retic is nothing! As dehol said. even a non hungry retic if it came down to it would dominate a mouse...which he has done..killed without eating. not too likely a mouse can hurt a reticulaterd python...rats are anotyher stroy...maybe even rabbits at time....Although i am one of the firm beleivewrs..in my case anyweay...I feed my snake live.
It is not the size of the prey that matters... it's the fact that it has teeth and nails and before you or the snake can react, could take out scales or an eye (scratch it, etc). There are enough examples of this happening to snakes that you really won't want it happening to your own.
He did not dominate the mouse... He killed it and was too stressed/not hungry enough/etc to eat it. It was not a "I'm going to kill this mouse because it could hurt me" sort of thing.

And I always feed live...espesiallyt since I have no acess to frozen rabbits and a nunch of other reasons.
Having a retic, you probably need to find rabbits... since rats will eventually be too small for him (retic friends, correct me if I'm wrong!)
should I offer again tonight? also should i just drop the mouse in there or should i dangle it over his head? Ive been thninking that could stress him out...
You're right. You should only offer food every 7-14 days. Feeding any more often could stress him out. Spreading it out like that is also more likely to get him hungry and have more time to settle down in the meantime.
Different snakes react to feeding practices differently. One of mine wants the rat left in there and left alone. The other one will strike if I dangle it around him or above his head. Find what works for yours.
I got him from outback reptiles and theyt were actual;ly feeeding him mice before I got him thats why I stuck to them...should i gop get a weanling rat? I dont think it will make a difference but willing to try angything...
No, stick to rats. He will eventually have to eat rats, and so you're better off getting him on rats asap, or deal with having to switch him from mice to rats later on (which for some snakes can be very tricky).

Good luck & keep us posted! :)

[ReticMan123]

thank you...and yes As I have in the past, I had a normal retic for 5 years...he always had a great feeding response. I do have acess to live rabbits.. Ok tomorrow I will go trade the mouse in for a weanling rat and try again....NOw about the cage location...I was thinking of moving him down to another room and althought its to hot in the summer I can set the air conditioner to an even like 78....then hell have constant temps and be left alone with no noise or tv or anything....Could that be why he is not feeding regularly?

[alessia55]

thank you...and yes As I have in the past, I had a normal retic for 5 years...he always had a great feeding response. I do have acess to live rabbits.. Ok tomorrow I will go trade the mouse in for a weanling rat and try again....NOw about the cage location...I was thinking of moving him down to another room and althought its to hot in the summer I can set the air conditioner to an even like 78....then hell have constant temps and be left alone with no noise or tv or anything....Could that be why he is not feeding regularly?

Do you have a thermostat on his heat source? It would help maintain his temps where they need to be. Yes, if his husbandry is off, it might be why he's not eating.

[ReticMan123]

well i dont hae a thermostat...he has a uth for his basking site..which seems to remain around 90-95..so thats good...but throughought the day his ambient temps go as low as 75 and as high as high 80's depending on outside weather on the comfortability of the room temp. So im thinking of controlling the back room at a set temp and it is quieter down there and can be better maintained so i might try to move him down there and wait a week and see what happens?

[alessia55]

well i dont hae a thermostat...he has a uth for his basking site..which seems to remain around 90-95..so thats good...but throughought the day his ambient temps go as low as 75 and as high as high 80's depending on outside weather on the comfortability of the room temp. So im thinking of controlling the back room at a set temp and it is quieter down there and can be better maintained so i might try to move him down there and wait a week and see what happens?

You should really consider getting a thermostat to better regulate the temperatures in the enclosure. Without a thermostat (especially on a hot day), heat pads can get incredibly hot and cook your snake (and you might find your snake dead by the time you realize the temperatures are too high). It's a worthy investment for the health and safety of your snake.

[millertime89]

Great beginner t-stat here, my retics are on these with flexwatt heat tape underneath.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000NZZG3S/?tag=hyprod-20&hvadid=15475540419&hvpos=1o2&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=12786632401569641684&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&ref=asc_df_B000NZZG3S