Baby retic will not eat.

[Shadow1014]

I recently purchased a reticulated python. He is very young an the breeder I bought him off of I recently discovered is a very good talker. Not really something I was happy to hear. The breeder said he was eating, but I'm starting to doubt it. I hav tried many things that have been recommended. I didn't want to go live but I even tried that. I am planning an overnight soon to see if that works. I don't want to force feed. I have tried assisting but he so young I'm afraid to hurt him. Please if you have any methods, anything at all, please help!

[alessia55]

More info would be helpful :)
How old is the retic?
How long have you had him?
What setup do you have him in? (enclosure, temps, etc)
How often have you been offering food?

[Lankyrob]

We can help a lot more if you can provide details of all its enclosure, size,temps, humidity etc etc. How long have you had him, what size and type of food are you trying, how often are you trying etc etc

The more info we have to work with the better the advice will be :)

[Shadow1014]

I got him when he was 3 weeks old. He now is about 9 weeks old. I've have him for around 6 weeks. He's in an aquarium with fresh water everyday, heat lamp, a hide and good humidity. I have been offering food at least once a week. Never once has he been very interested.

[Wildside]

I got him when he was 3 weeks old. He now is about 9 weeks old. I've have him for around 6 weeks. He's in an aquarium with fresh water everyday, heat lamp, a hide and good humidity. I have been offering food at least once a week. Never once has he been very interested.

He probably does not have good humidity if you are using a heat lamp :(

[MoreliAddict]

It's best to offer food no more than once a week, offering food too frequently could stress your snake out. If a snake of mine is not eating, I offer food every other week.

Do you know what the breeder had him eating (mice or rats)? Were they live or frozen/thawed? Also, snakes need a hot end and a cool end. So, assuming that heat lamp is at one side of the tank, and not over the middle, what are the temperatures of the cool side, and hot side? Does he have a place to hide at each end? You say he has "good humidity". What is the humidity in there? How are you measuring it? Pictures of the enclosure and snake could still help.

[Shadow1014]

It's best to offer food no more than once a week, offering food too frequently could stress your snake out. If a snake of mine is not eating, I offer food every other week.

Do you know what the breeder had him eating (mice or rats)? Were they live or frozen/thawed? Also, snakes need a hot end and a cool end. So, assuming that heat lamp is at one side of the tank, and not over the middle, what are the temperatures of the cool side, and hot side? Does he have a place to hide at each end? You say he has "good humidity". What is the humidity in there? How are you measuring it? Pictures of the enclosure and snake could still help.



I have a certain day every week that i feed my other snakes. That is when I offer it to him. I know that snakes can go a long time without eating but I am very worried. The breeder claims he had him eating frozen hoppers. I have read other places that sometimes you need to go with live just to jumpstart the eating process. That didnt have any effect either. the cool side stays between 73-67. The warm side stays between 74-82. He very rarely goes the the warm side. He only has one hide and it is at the warm end. The humitity stays farely steady with a 55-60%. I have a theramometer that not only reads temp. but humidity as well.

[Shadow1014]

He probably does not have good humidity if you are using a heat lamp :(


what other than a heat lamp should I use?

[Lankyrob]

YOu need to bump your temps up on the hot side up to 88-90f, if it is too cold he wont eat as he needs the heat to digest. Also the humidity needs to be up nearer 75-80%.

All snakes also need a hide at BOTH ends of the viv so that they can hide and thermoregulate.

[Lankyrob]

what other than a heat lamp should I use?


heat lamps per se are not an issue, it does depend on the whole enclosure tho. I use ceramic heat lamps inside solid wooden vivariums and have no humidity issues. With an aquarium with a semi open top then the heat lamp WILL cause humdity to disappear.

[Wildside]

what other than a heat lamp should I use?

You can continue to use your lamp, you'll just need to find a way to bring up the humidity as LankyRob explained. I could be wrong but from your initial post I'm assuming the "Pet Shop" probably help you get set up and you're doing the glass cage with screentop thing, right?

[Shadow1014]

You can continue to use your lamp, you'll just need to find a way to bring up the humidity as LankyRob explained. I could be wrong but from your initial post I'm assuming the "Pet Shop" probably help you get set up and you're doing the glass cage with screentop thing, right?



Yes, i do have the screen top. I have a folded towel on one end (on top of the screen) and the heat lamp on the other side. Every so often during the day I spray room temp. water from a spray bottle. This seems to help with humidity along with the light.

[Lankyrob]

Unless you enclose the top completely i think it is unlikely you will get the humidity up to 80% consistently.

[Shadow1014]

Ok, so I'll make sure to bump up both heat and humidity. Ill get another hide too. Are there any methods on the actual feeding time?

ps. I just wanted to say thanks so much to everyone who has replied.

[Wildside]

Ok, so I'll make sure to bump up both heat and humidity. Ill get another hide too. Are there any methods on the actual feeding time?

ps. I just wanted to say thanks so much to everyone who has replied.

Retics are hungry critters. I think once you get the husbandry ironed out it won't be long before it starts eating. You can always make that second hide a humid hide ;)

[Lankyrob]

Make sure the skull of the rat is HOT and keep you hands clear ;)

[Shadow1014]

Retics are hungry critters. I think once you get the husbandry ironed out it won't be long before it starts eating. You can always make that second hide a humid hide ;)


Thats why I was so worried. He is a beautiful snake and money well spent. I just need him to eat.

[MoreliAddict]

When feeding f/t:

Serve the rat HOT and wet right out of really hot water. Not boiling or scorching, but really hot. And you know your snake just took some water in with his meal which is good. - That's just what works best for me.

Also, you should contact the breeder and find out if it was mouse hoppers or rat hoppers...

Lastly, some snakes take a while to get used to a new "home" before they're comfortable enough to eat. Try not to stress, he'll eat eventually.

[alessia55]

Also, refrain from handling him until he eats for you. Handling can be stressful.
In the meantime, work on the husbandry and setup, and offer food every ~10 days.

To entice him to eat, you might want to try doing the zombie rat dance:

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[Lankyrob]

With my retic when doing the zombie rat dance he is the only snake where i make sure the tongs are holding onto the snakes RIBS not nape, he hits so damn hard that he once snapped the neck of the rat and hit the tongs, with the tongs holding the ribs he can hit as hard as he likes :)

[Wildside]

When feeding f/t:

Serve the rat HOT and wet right out of really hot water. Not boiling or scorching, but really hot. And you know your snake just took some water in with his meal which is good. - That's just what works best for me.

Also, you should contact the breeder and find out if it was mouse hoppers or rat hoppers...

Lastly, some snakes take a while to get used to a new "home" before they're comfortable enough to eat. Try not to stress, he'll eat eventually.

Why hot? Just curious, I use the same method but serve warm.

[marvelfreak]

what other than a heat lamp should I use?
UTH under tank heater or heat pad.

[Lankyrob]

I warm the whole rat by lying it in a bowl on top of a hot radiator and then when ready to feed i press the skull hard against the radiator for about ten seconds to give it that added temps.

[MoreliAddict]

Why hot? Just curious, I use the same method but serve warm.
Carpet Pythons have really good heat pits, they pick up on the heat signature as well as the smell.

[Wildside]

Carpet Pythons have really good heat pits, they pick up on the heat signature as well as the smell.

So does it just work better for arboreals then, or is a high temperature something that would make f/t more appealing to all snakes?

[MoreliAddict]

So does it just work better for arboreals then, or is a high temperature something that would make f/t more appealing to all snakes?
I'm pretty sure all pythons have nice large heat pits, but I could be wrong, I just know that Carpets do :). So it's not necesarily an arboreal thing, just a thing for snakes that pick up on heat signatures well.

[Wildside]

I'm pretty sure all pythons have nice large heat pits, but I could be wrong, I just know that Carpets do :). So it's not necesarily an arboreal thing, just a thing for snakes that pick up on heat signatures well.

LOL! You're killing me, I'm a boa keeper. I think it'd be safe to say they have relatively smaller heat pits than pythons but anyway what I'm after is why "hot" instead of just "good 'n' warm"?

[MoreliAddict]

LOL! You're killing me, I'm a boa keeper. I think it'd be safe to say they have relatively smaller heat pits than pythons but anyway what I'm after is why "hot" instead of just "good 'n' warm"?
"hot" puts out a better heat signature than "warm". But a good eater will take either way.

As I said, this is just what works best for me...

[Wildside]

"hot" puts out a better heat signature than "warm". But a good eater will take either way.

As I said, this is just what works best for me...

Ok thanks. I was wondering because I've got a female who has gone on an f/t strike. She's only eating live atmo. I thought maybe I'd try a "hot" rat if there was a good reason behind it.

[MoreliAddict]

Ok thanks. I was wondering because I've got a female who has gone on an f/t strike. She's only eating live atmo. I thought maybe I'd try a "hot" rat if there was a good reason behind it.
I'd go for it.

As soon as a snake of mine takes f/t, I never offer live again. They could get a preference for live only. Also, you don't want to condition them to think that refusing a f/t will get them a live one.

[Rogue628]

When feeding f/t:

Serve the rat HOT and wet right out of really hot water. Not boiling or scorching, but really hot. And you know your snake just took some water in with his meal which is good. - That's just what works best for me.

Also, you should contact the breeder and find out if it was mouse hoppers or rat hoppers...

Lastly, some snakes take a while to get used to a new "home" before they're comfortable enough to eat. Try not to stress, he'll eat eventually.

I use this method and seem to get a better feed response as well as feeding at night since they're nocturnal animals. In my experience, the hotter the prey, the quicker they are to 'find' it and strike. You don't want it scorching but really hot. Some of my animals will only take it hot out of the water. I typically thaw their food to room temp, then put the rats in a container I specifically use for heating their food that's filled with hot water for a couple of minutes, and then feed.

I agree with finding out what he was eating prior to your purchase. If he was on mice, personally I'd continue with them until you have your animal consistently eating, then try offering rats as they're a much better food source for your retic. Also, double check with the breeder if he was feeding live, pre-killed, or f/t

Also, as been stated, some animals take time getting acclimated to their new home and as much as you want to handle him, I wouldn't until he ate. Getting him out for a quick cage cleaning is fine, but no more than that.

In all, get his husbandry requirements dead on, keep his stress level low and offer a food he's used to eating and at a nice hot temp if he's been eating f/t and soon you'll have a voracious eater pounding down food everytime he's fed.

[Slcburm]

Well any update? Did you get him eating?

[Wildside]

Well any update? Did you get him eating?

LOL I don't know about the retic but I'm gonna try the hot rat today ;)

[MoreliAddict]

LOL I don't know about the retic but I'm gonna try the hot rat today ;)
Was looking at old emails last night, and saw one from back in the day from Spot's breeder, who advised me to do the hot water thing. He said "water can be as hot as your tap gets" - that's what works best for me.

[Shadow1014]

Well any update? Did you get him eating?


No, sadly I did not. I tried an overnight, live, and even moving him into a quiet room. I made absolutley sure he stayed warm and the humidity was high also.I have two dogs and being quiet and no movement was recommended, still nothing worked. I contacted the breeder via email and told him everything. He offered for me to bring him to the show and do a trade because obviously, I did not want this animal dieing in my care. This is not a breeding snake, it's a pet. I know trading happens very often in the reptile world, but it's just not quite that easy for me. He saw the upset within me and was extremely helpful. Instead of trading for another, he took the retic into his care. Once the snake has begun eating regularly( if he eats) the snake will be returned. He gave me many options. He let me pick out another snake as a "backup" and if he can't save this retic, he will give me this other. I walked out worried but happy. The breeder was extremely helpful, and I am thankful.


Sorry it was so long :)

[millertime89]

Glad to hear the breeder made it right. Hopefully your old little one survives.

[Lankyrob]

Nice to hear of a good breeder doing his best to make things right :)

[Shadow1014]

Glad to hear the breeder made it right. Hopefully your old little one survives.



Yes, the breeder was extremely helpful. He is Sam from Redog Reptiles and I recommend him to anyone and everyone. Cross your fingers the litle guy lives :)

[Shadow1014]

My bad! Silly typos! Dying* and Reddog Reptiles*. There may have been more but those were the two I caught :)

[Slcburm]

Nice to hear of a good breeder doing his best to make things right :)


Not to be rude but "make things right"? This could have nothin to do with the dealer. It's very helpful of him but he doesn't have to take it back by any means. I'm not trying to be rude we don't know what temps the cage is at and are they the right temps? Does the snake have hides? Handled excessively? Is it in a room with where there is lots of traffic etc. again I'm not trying to be rude but lets not put this on the breeder right away

[Lankyrob]

Not saying it is the breeders fault whatsoever but at the same time to see good customer service is good, isnt it?

[Wildside]

I've been looking for this thread. That hot rat trick is boss! Thx Guys.

[Tekpc007]

i just did the blowdryer trick to feed 2 juvi carpets and BRB who would not eat FT , and it worked ! all 3 snakes took it nice and warm once i let the blowdryer run for about 2 minutes , on the 1st try too within seconds. Now i can stock up on some FT instead of doing the live fresh killed way.

[iBaman]

I feel super lucky...I got my guy two days ago, and while it took him ages to actually eat the rat, he did eat it...hooray! Does this mean I can hold him sooner?! (after he's out of feeding frenzy, of course). I've always done the hot water trick...don't even dry them off xD never had any problems (minus a mouse exploding once...yuk). I do the nom nom dance too..more for my amusement, I think xD

[millertime89]

I feel super lucky...I got my guy two days ago, and while it took him ages to actually eat the rat, he did eat it...hooray! Does this mean I can hold him sooner?! (after he's out of feeding frenzy, of course). I've always done the hot water trick...don't even dry them off xD never had any problems (minus a mouse exploding once...yuk). I do the nom nom dance too..more for my amusement, I think xD

Give him two feedings before handling even though he ate shortly after coming home, just to be safe.

[iBaman]

Awww mannnn. but, better safe than sorry. He's just so fun to hold!!

[millertime89]

You really should've come to the expo, got to hold so many awesome retics today, well worth the 7 bucks to get in. Two days after his next meal, which should be coming up in the next few days right?

[iBaman]

Haha, I've only held him at the guy's house who I got him from and on the drive home xD He's been in his tank ever sense, and ate tonight. (need to move his hide back...but I'm afraid of being bitten...he keeps turning around and looking at me). a few days to his next meal? he's been being fed weekly, and I fed him tonight.

[iBaman]

I wanted to go so bad, but it's a 12 hour trip for us, and I had to work this entire weekend =[ next one though, like I said! Only a month to wait!