Hi All,
So I acquired my first GTP about two months ago. I know they are very skittish when stressed and its not uncommon for them to stop eating for a period of time. I also know that sometimes they just dont feed for awhile and not to get too worried right away. I know that he was feeding every ten days before I got him (on live mice), and that there were no feeding problems prior to me getting him. I have read everything I can get my hands on, including Maxwell's book The More Complete Chondro, so I am pretty sure that i have his set up right. Here is a picture of the enclosure to help with the discussion.
His humidity stays around 80-85% during the day and slowly drops to about 65% at night. His temperature has gradients from 78 (cool side, bottom of the tank) up to 84 (cool side top of tank) and a basking spot of 89. He definitely moves around the tank depending on his mood for the temperature.
I havent handled him really since getting him as I didnt want to add to his stress at all.
Like I said, I know they have a tendency to go off food sometimes so Im not stressing about it just yet. However, we are pushing two months now and Im starting to get a little concerned. I tried first to feed him prekilled, he came towards it but instantly lost interest when I wasnt making it 'move' with the tongs. Another time I tried bringing it (prekilled) to him at his perch but he got freaked out, hissed and then proceeded to do a ball python imitation. After that I tried to just let him go after a live mouse. The very first time he eagerly came down from his perch and struck. However he missed and then immediately gave up, going back up to his perch. Ive tried multiple times since then. Again, he exhibited all the hunting signs, came down eagerly to check it out and looked like he was ready to strike, but then got scared by the mouse and went back to his perch. I will keep trying every couple of days, but if anyone can offer some further advice I would appreciate it.
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