Help! Retic not eating! - Page 2

jpsteele80 · 04-22-14, 03:14 PM

Can you post a pic of the snake, curious of the size now

dastefster · 04-22-14, 03:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jpsteele80

Can you post a pic of the snake, curious of the size now

I will try when I offer food next (tonight or tomorrow). I'm trying not to disturb her. But just for your reference: she was 470ish grams before this fasting session of hers and I weighed her last week and she was around 450 grams. Have not measured her exactly but she is somewhere around 3-4 feet in length.

IW17 · 04-22-14, 08:37 PM

I'd offer a second hide on the Cool side. My retics actually favor the Cool side, only going warmer after eating. Thermo regulating is a must with reptiles, but with only one hide the snake might not move due to stress.

dastefster · 04-22-14, 09:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IW17

I'd offer a second hide on the Cool side. My retics actually favor the Cool side, only going warmer after eating. Thermo regulating is a must with reptiles, but with only one hide the snake might not move due to stress.

Yeah, I have 2 hides for my motley boa...but he actually doesn't really go in either that often he just chills outside. But I've had him for awhile and he is a bit older so he isn't stressed by my everyday activities. I might have to get a bigger bin to put another hide in, I'm running out of space. My goal was to not buy a real cage until she was a bit older and I can buy one cage and be done with it. They grow so fast I hate to buy an "appropriate" sizes cage now and have to keep upsizing with her growth rate, which would be costly.

IW17 · 04-23-14, 03:30 PM

I don't blame you. I go cheap as I can while still being affective until I move them to their permanent home.

dastefster · 04-26-14, 12:43 AM

Update: Ok so this morning I woke up and she was out of her hide for the first time (that i've seen) in a month! Thats good news (I think)! Since she's not too stressed to come out of her hide anymore I'm going to attempt to feed her again tonight or tomorrow night. Also, as some suggested I put another hide on the cool side of her cage. I snapped a quick picture for those who wanted to see her size, it's not the greatest picture in the word but Like I said; I'm trying not to disturb her as much as possible!

dave himself · 04-26-14, 12:49 AM

She's very nice mate, glad she's coming round for you. And fingers crossed for taking a feed for you

dastefster · 04-26-14, 12:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dave himself

She's very nice mate, glad she's coming round for you. And fingers crossed for taking a feed for you

Thank you! Fingers are crossed on my end too

dastefster · 04-26-14, 01:14 AM

UPDATE #2: Just warmed up a mouse, offered it to her and BAM! She ate it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was kinda weird though, she missed the first strike, which has never happened, so I thought at first she was striking at me in defense like she did last time I went into her cage..but she struck again and coiled! First of all, I want to thank you all for your time and advice!!! It was awesome to have your support and knowledge. To kind of turn the tables without starting a whole new thread: I have 2 last questions for you all. 1.) I'm a bit reserved about handling her again..like I said previously, last time I went in her cage before tonight she was striking at my every move..completely out of control..how long should I wait before attempting to handle her again? and my second question is: Any tips for raising a big breed like this? I've had several 8-9ft boas but never anything like what she will be some day..and I don't want to have a mean un-handlable 17+ foot snake on my hands. Obviously this is a broad question, but any words of advice you wish you knew your first go-round? Thanks again all of you!

dave himself · 04-26-14, 02:22 AM

Mate first of all congratulations on her feeding that's brilliant news

. And I can only speak from my personal experience with retics which is very limited but I'll try and help. On the point of her striking and missing the prey item, my girl does this I just put it down to her getting over excited and she lunges at everything with a heat signature lol. On the point of handling I would try tap training some people say this has no effect but with both our burms and are retic I do notice a major difference in there behavior when we tap them before entering their vivs. I help out in a reptile shop at the weekends and we recently got a baby GC retic in who was not the friendliest of snakes I've ever met but with short handling session and a few bites is calming down really well in the past few weeks. Sorry for the long reply I hope some of this helps

Lankyrob · 04-26-14, 06:24 AM

I had an SD retic that would strike at EVERYTHING that could have a remotely warm signature when he smelt food. Ended up that when we fed him we just slid the door open and threw the rat in and let him find it rather than strike feeding him.

**millertime89** · 05-05-14, 10:10 PM

Get her on rats asap. 82 is a little cool but I would go no hotter than 90. I stick to 88 and my snakes have no problem leaving me big brown piles. If you run all ambient with no gradient you want it 80-82.