baby burmese won't eat!!!!!

matrix1829 · 07-05-03, 06:23 PM

I just bought a baby burmese 1 week ago and when I tried to feed it today it turned it's nose on it. Before you ask yes the conditons are ok. temp30 on one side and 25 on the other. I have a hide box and a pool for him to swim in. any ideas would be greatly appreciated. thanks.

Bartman · 07-05-03, 06:32 PM

my friends snake wouldnt eat for about a month, it was weird he took it into reptilia(pet store) and they said it was really healthy, anyways what he did to get it to eat was rub the mouse on a frog to trigger its eating senses or somthing and it actually worked. Now he doesnt have to do that but it could work. just a guess

..........good luck though

matrix1829 · 07-05-03, 06:45 PM

thanks bartman but i live in the city ans there not to many frogs around.

snakemann87 · 07-05-03, 06:49 PM

i never heard of a frog!!??? try different food items. NEVER live and pinkys just dont do it for burms. try a mouse, rat, different color. But dont worry its just a week. He should be fine in a week im sure. I only say this cause its a burM!!! pics would be great

matrix1829 · 07-05-03, 07:02 PM

thanks elapidae but since i've already tried today should i wait till next week to try again?

burmer · 07-05-03, 08:55 PM

He may be a bit shaken and still getting used to things. I waited 5 days before I even tried to feed him, he did eat though. You could also try leaving a pre-killed mouse or rat pup outside his hide box right after you put the lights out leave it there for him.

Mason · 07-05-03, 10:18 PM

How are you trying to feed it?
Saul eats in a salad type container with a few kikkin pinkies (just give them a look over for bugs or mites [lol] for some reason I just think something alive it stimulating enough for any starving young snake ) .
You should post the size of a snake, Depending on that is what you feed.
If it is big, then takl to the last owner, and chill for a bit.
If it is small try locking it in a piece of tupperware with holes, put the tupperware back in the tank/cage with snake and pinkies both. . . . . Check in a few hours.
I got a seethrough piece snap top type thing I don't really know what it is called.
Saul didn't like it at first so I would leave her in there for about 14 hrs at a time. If the it doesn't want to eat by then it needs a drink. try again in a couple days. I'm pretty sure it will eat by the second 'camping' , if it doesn't eat the first time.

watching is fun, sometimes boring and stressful for you. The pinkies roll over and move around the area =stimulation.

Soon; in about 6 months you can just put the open tupperware in the cage with a few pinkies, and Your Burm will eat by it self.

BurmBaroness · 07-06-03, 01:49 AM

You CANNOT feed a burmese python pinkies. They are too small, and alot of snakes won't even bother with prey items that are too small. Start with adult mice, prekilled or frozen/thawed, and as soon as possible, when it is big enough, switch to small rats. If you've only had her a week, how much time did you give her to settle in? NO handling and quiet area with little traffic for a week. I would even skip the adult mice and go with a similarly sized rat, maybe a crawler rat, but NOT LIVE. I am not familiar with Celsius temperature, but the F temps are 90-92 degrees warm side, and 82-83 degrees cool side. If she's not sick, and you give her time to settle in, she should eat fine.

matrix1829 · 07-06-03, 11:06 AM

I went to a reptile store and they told me to just give it two weeks without feeding him. just to leave him alone and let him get use to the surroundings.you where right colubrid pinkies are too small for a burmese. a small prey for burm gives him to much trouble getting it down because even when he contracts his muscle to push it down, he can't because the prey is to small for him.

matrix1829 · 07-06-03, 11:32 AM

sorry I didn't mean colubrid, I meant burmbaroness.

The_Omen · 07-06-03, 11:35 AM

Quote:

temp30 on one side and 25 on the other.

30c = 86f
25c = 77f

Those temps are way to low for a burm..
Try getting the tem up to 33c (92-93f) on the hot side and at least 28 (close to 29) (84-85 f) for the cool side.

One of the biggest reasons that reptiles will refuse food is the husbandry, which a big part of that is the temps and the humidity.

Keep the humidity between 73 and 76%

You didn't mention what the humidity is, so i won't guess at it but can you tell us?

Burms are eating machines.. Every burm I have had has eaten within days of being set-up. The proper temps will go a long ways in making this one respond to food.

One major thing I wish that all you celcius users would do, is go to http://www.joshmadison.com/software/
download convert.exe and see just how close your set-ups are to what they should be in farenheight.
Celcius has to wide of a range of difference compared to f measurments and a few degrees of on the F scale, may not show up at all on the c scale.. and a few degrees difference in an animals enclosure can make aworld of difference in its life.

matrix1829 · 07-06-03, 12:18 PM

ok I'll put a stronger lite for the warm side. but when you say 33 is that the ambient temp. or the basking spot, because when i say 30 i meant the ambient temp. the basking spot is 33-34. but he never goes to the basking spot he always stays in his hide box and only comes out when i turn off the lite.

Mike177 · 07-06-03, 03:47 PM

burms are usaly no to picky about the humidy but it still needs to be up. in my opinion it dosent need to be 73-76 but still is good to do if you can i keep my burm at about %60+ probly higher i dont realy trust my hygromitor, you can try feeding it weanling rats that are about the size of adult mice, that way ferther on down the line you wont have to switch it from mice to rats because some burms dont like the switch, if you have trobble with the humidy you can try a fogger but they are excpencive but very convenit and effective, i keep a fogger in my burms cage 24/7 but my burms cage is also 32 square feet but if you have any other problem dont be affriad to holler

SD-SNAKE · 07-07-03, 08:22 AM

. but he never goes to the basking spot he always stays in his hide box and only comes out when i turn off the lite.

I hope your using a timer for your lights and not going by when your around to turn them off. Day time hot spot should be 90-93 with the cold side around 84-86, at night no lower then 78. You can keep your humidity around 60-65%, but bump it up when the snake is in shed. Feeding, get it on rats prekilled or f/t which should not be a problem with a burm, pre item should be as wide as the thickest part of the snake. Also do you know the sex of the animal? You called the snake a "it" and "him". Hope everthing goes well with the burm. take care Nick

Mason · 07-07-03, 02:22 PM

ok then my idea sux I guess, baby rats can be pretty big before they get to the point of 'dangerous'....

Are you people saying no to live because of the possibilities of mites, or cause the snake will have a bad temperment and be nasty as an adult.... either way once the sanke is feeding regularly isn't it easier to switch to frozen then, , , ,......

How big is this snake anyway?