my snake wont eat?

[scottyy]

i just moved my two year old retic into her final 8'x4'x3' enclosure and the temp on the hot side is 94 and about 78-80 on the cool side with a humidity of 50%-60%. she has been in there for about 4 weeks not without eating at all. i have been offering food and she seems interested but when she gets close to striking she just backs down and slithers away. i have never had trouble with her eating before and i dont understand why she seems so interested but just wont eat it.

[shaunyboy]

sometimes the extra space,can make the snake feel insecure/stressed/vulnerable to predators...

i bulk my tanks up with plenty,branches,fake plants,hides,etc,imo this makes the snake feel less vulnerable/stressed so it feeds

i don't know the correct hot end temps for a retic,but if its too cool,then it won't eat because it needs the heat to aid digestion

that said,it may be just one of these snakes,that takes a while to properly settle in to new surroundings and feel secure enough to eat...



its only Carpet Pythons i keep and they tend to like the extra space,they also have great appetites and feeding responses

that said ive had a nervous feeder hatchling,i had to down size her tank time and time again,until she finally felt secure enough to feed

please let us know how it goes

cheers shaun

[Amadeus]

Retics are generally voracious eaters.

Put plenty of hides and cover in the new enclosure.

Try every 7-10 days. eventually it WILL EAT.

[NCHornet]

Maybe still stressed from the new home? Substrate is the same as before? I agree with hides, try feeding at night, place the F/T prey on a plate inside the cage and shut off all lights and leave the room. Check in the morning, my bet is it will be gone.

[scottyy]

the substrate is the same and i never really considered the fact that she would feel insecure because the new cage isnt too much bigger to me (the old one being a 6'x3'x2' enclosure) and i suppose to her it is quite a change. it does make sense that she is intimidated by her new home because she is so interested in the rabbit until she slithers so close that she touches it and then immediately turns away from it. the next time i feed her i will leave it on a plate overnight and just see what happens. i am also working on my own background using the Styrofoam and grout method. thanks for the advice.

[Mikoh4792]

Originally Posted by scottyy

the substrate is the same and i never really considered the fact that she would feel insecure because the new cage isnt too much bigger to me (the old one being a 6'x3'x2' enclosure) and i suppose to her it is quite a change. it does make sense that she is intimidated by her new home because she is so interested in the rabbit until she slithers so close that she touches it and then immediately turns away from it. the next time i feed her i will leave it on a plate overnight and just see what happens. i am also working on my own background using the Styrofoam and grout method. thanks for the advice.

What is the range of the hotside? If the basking area is too small maybe she isn't heating up very efficiently.

If it is a small basking area maybe you could raise the temps so it can still move to a "cooler" warm side. I've been told a retic keepr on this forum gives his retics a 120F basking spot with success.

[millertime89]

drop the hotside to 88 and give it a bigger patch, on an 8x4 I would do a 2x4 patch for the hot spot. Are you using a lamp or heat tape or what for the heat source?
How long is she?

[scottyy]

her cage is at an ambient temp of 92-94 on her hot side and 80-82 on the cool side (where she spends most of her time) and as far as heating i am using rhp and heat bulb for her hot spot of 94. and she is about 11 feet long

[millertime89]

drop the temp, 88 hot and 76-78 cool side or if you can get away with it 80-82 all over with no real gradient.