young anaconda won't feed

[blood_shot]

Hey everyone. I recently purchased a young male green anaconda from backyard reptiles. Snake was gorgeous upon arrival (althought UPS did send it to the wrong house). When he arrived he was nearly 24in long, good girth and seemed in good spirits. He's a very calm and docile anaconda, never tried to nip me and always just curls up in my lap or around my arm when I take him out. I never expected him to be like this so early, I figured it would be 6 months to a year before it had any trust in me if ever. Anyway, its been about 4 weeks now and for about the last two weeks I have been presenting him with mice but he seems to have zero interest. I have tried one frozen adult mouse and 3 live mice. I have searched very hard locally for young chicks but they are just hard to come by. I have thought about trying a large goldfish but I have honestly never tried with any snake I have even owned (this is my first boa though) so I was holding off on that. Anyway all advice and input will be appreciated

[infernalis]

We got some Conda keepers here, be patient.

[blood_shot]

We got some Conda keepers here, be patient.

I will, thanks

[MoreliAddict]

Not a Conda person, but pics of the snake and enclosure will probably help them help you. I also like anacondas and want to see it. lol

[marvelfreak]

Please don't feed goldfish as they are very hi in ammonia and can be deadly.
For one mice are way to small. Anacondas should be started out on rats. I would try a rat pup or weaned. If F/T doesn't work you could try live just to get him started. Plus no handling until he eats. Could also be he just hasn't really settle in. Also what are your temps and what's your set up look like? Picture would really help. Any questions just ask.

[blood_shot]

I have him in a 20 gallon tank with river rock on the hot side and a shallow water side with a filter/waterfall setup.I know it is not big enough but he is barely two feet right now. So over the winter Im going to build a 75 gallon setup on a stand. I like the river's edge setup especially it being a primarily aquatic snake. I am keeping it just at 90* on the hot side and it stays 80-78* on the water side and a constant 70-80% humidity. Snake has left a couple bio-logs in the last couple weeks. Whether it is from the yoke from when he hatched or he fed once I am not sure. I am starting to think Back Yard Reptiles does feed the hatchlings or log any feeding. Judging by the size he was/is when I got him last month he cant be more than 7-9 weeks old.

[blood_shot]

Please don't feed goldfish as they are very hi in ammonia and can be deadly.
For one mice are way to small. Anacondas should be started out on rats. I would try a rat pup or weaned. If F/T doesn't work you could try live just to get him started. Plus no handling until he eats. Could also be he just hasn't really settle in. Also what are your temps and what's your set up look like? Picture would really help. Any questions just ask.

Ive tried large adult mice, I could try a rat pup but I just gaged the size lump it would give. I am going to wait about 5 days to try again but I will try with a rat pup next time. It has been a stressful time as I just set up the shelving I had him on over the weekend.

[marvelfreak]

Do you have any hides for him?

[Danimal]

I have not kept an anaconda but I have had newly acquired pythons and boas go for long stretches without eating that ended up okay. Importantly, I didn't just wait for them to start eating, after 5 or 6 weeks I took them to the vet and had them checked out. I live just north of you and will PM you the name of a local Vet that does exotics, you can call and inquire if you feel it necessary.

Also, are you familiar with "First Monday" in Ripley? You should be able to find chicks there. And later rabbits and piglets........

[blood_shot]

I have not kept an anaconda but I have had newly acquired pythons and boas go for long stretches without eating that ended up okay. Importantly, I didn't just wait for them to start eating, after 5 or 6 weeks I took them to the vet and had them checked out. I live just north of you and will PM you the name of a local Vet that does exotics, you can call and inquire if you feel it necessary.

Also, are you familiar with "First Monday" in Ripley? You should be able to find chicks there. And later rabbits and piglets........

Haven't heard of it, I went to the local co-ops and they looked at me like I had lobsters crawling out of my ears when I asked for young chicks. I would love the number for the exotic vet

To Marvel- Before I went to the rock/water setup he did have a hide but NEVER used it. I moved it from the hot and cold side and he either sit behind it or beside it. Think I should try putting a hide back in? Would it be worth trying a chick instead of a rat? What about the temps? Naturally it is hot in Brazil and he does come to the warm side for an hour or so during the day but pretty much sticks to the water the rest of the time with part or his body out of the water (like the picture). I dont have the lights on timers but I turn them out when I sleep (which is roughly from 7pm to 2-3am)

[marvelfreak]

To Marvel- Before I went to the rock/water setup he did have a hide but NEVER used it. I moved it from the hot and cold side and he either sit behind it or beside it. Think I should try putting a hide back in? Would it be worth trying a chick instead of a rat? What about the temps? Naturally it is hot in Brazil and he does come to the warm side for an hour or so during the day but pretty much sticks to the water the rest of the time with part or his body out of the water (like the picture). I dont have the lights on timers but I turn them out when I sleep (which is roughly from 7pm to 2-3am)
You could low the temp a couple degrees. I found my Yellow spend 95% of his time on the cool side. I use Reptile bark in my cage just deep enough he can burrow, but he very seldom does. I have a hide on both the warm and cool side. i found mine like to hide behind it more than in it. As for water the only time i see mine even near it is to get a drink or to try hiding under the bowl.
As for the chicks i would stick with the rats. Some snake if the eat something like that young can acquire a taste for it and it can become very hard to switch them over. Plus the poop not as stinky or runny.

[MoreliAddict]

The only surfaces the snake can be on are rock or water?

I'd recommend putting reptibark on the dry side...

[blood_shot]

Okay so..

A hide and lower the temp

As far as feeding goes I will try a frozen rat pup in a few days and no handling (its been since the weekend since I held him). Danimal gave the number to a local exotic vet so thats cool.

[marvelfreak]

Okay so..

A hide and lower the temp

As far as feeding goes I will try a frozen rat pup in a few days and no handling (its been since the weekend since I held him). Danimal gave the number to a local exotic vet so thats cool.
Cool and if you want you can add the vet to this thread. It a thread to help people find reptile vets.
http://www.ssnakess.com/forums/general-discussion/91811-reptile-vet-list-worldwide.html

[Danimal]

Cool and if you want you can add the vet to this thread. It a thread to help people find reptile vets.
http://www.ssnakess.com/forums/general-discussion/91811-reptile-vet-list-worldwide.html

Done.


Blood_Shot.. First Monday (http://www.firstmonday.ripley.ms/) is a large flea market in Ripley, Ms (https://maps.google.com/maps?oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&q=Ripley+Mississippi&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=0x887e0efefceaf979:0xabb90dd9cbc21760,Ripley ,+MS&gl=us&ei=wTxbUOC5O-Xs2QXMqoDgCw&ved=0CH8QtgM)
The first weekend of every month. Beside the normal hodgepodge of items you will also find, usually, a rather large assortment of livestock and hunting dogs. My wife and I go a few times a year. The next one is a week from Friday.

[blood_shot]

I usually go to flea markets to people watch, but now I have a good reason to go lol.

[Ivanator]

I don't have first hand experience with anacondas but my friend had a green for a while and, from his experience, once he started feeding chicks to his, it would not eat anything else! They were like crack for it and he eventually got rid of it cuz whole chickens are extremely hard to find in my area. Ive had the same problem when I fed my retic guinea pigs and it took forever to finally get him to take rabbits.

If I were you, I would continue to try and offer it mice or rat pups and eventually it should start taking them. Do you feed him inside or outside of his cage? Some babies won't eat after they've been handled or only take live so I would start by just throwing a live mouse in its enclosure so it can hunt it naturally. This is just from my experiences with baby retics, but it should work with anacondas as well. I hope to get a green one day so keep us updated. I would love to hear your experiences.

[blood_shot]

I have tried 3 live adult mice with him and he had zero interest in them. Once I got him in the water and the mice got near the edge I figured it would be all she wrote but no dice. The plan right now is to try a frozen rat pup probably saturday or sunday. Live rat pups will be tough to find, usually private owned pet stores have them but there aren't any around me. Also I have been trying to feed him inside his cage.

[marvelfreak]

Something i just remember my first Yellow Anaconda would only eat pre killed left by the water bowl over night. Try covering the cages and see if that helps.

[blood_shot]

like with his light off?

I am rarely in my room/ near the cage during the day except when I sleep. So most of the day he is in his cage in my room with nothing on except his filter and my turtle's filter below him. I also keep my room very dark ( I have worked nights for the better part of 4 years)

[marvelfreak]

Then i would just try leaving it in over night. Just never do it with live food.

[blood_shot]

well then....we have a plan

[blood_shot]

UPDATE

couldnt find any rat pups so I got a small rat (maybe 1.5 times the girth of the snake), thawed and heated it, turned off everything and room is extremely dark. Guess we play the waiting game.

[marvelfreak]

Sounds good. For as small as their head are they can eat some amazingly big food. It shouldn't have any trouble eating it. Got my fingers crossed for you.

[blood_shot]

Well he finally fed. Not sure when, hell I got tired of waiting and put a towel over his cage and was chillin watching tv most of the evening. When I woke up there was no rat and a lump in the snake. Thus I can conclude the rat is now inside the snake.

[Danimal]

That's awesome, now you can relax some.

[millertime89]

Good news. Keep offering rats and maybe throw that hide back in, if he was sandwiched between it and the wall of his enclosure he might have just felt more secure there than inside it. I've got 2 snakes like that. I would also add cypress (and only cypress, its pretty mold resistant) to the side opposite the water. Once he's digested his meal I would love to see more pictures of him.

[rmfsnakes32]

Glad he ate for you!

[blood_shot]

Thought I would put up another pic, you can see the lump on the right portion of his body. Sorry the mister is making the pics foggy

[marvelfreak]

Sweet glad to hear he ate finally for you.

[Ivanator]

Nice! Congrats and hopefully now that he's fed, it'll get easier.

[blood_shot]

He ate again on the first take. Glad he is doing this on the regular now.