Problems on feeding my sunbeam snake (Xenopeltis unicolor)

[walktheapp]

Hello everyone! So I already have this beautiful sunbeam snake (Xenopeltis unicolor), but until now it hasn't eaten anything yet! It's a wild-caught one and was an impulse buy. I actually live in Indonesia where this snake is originally from, but there's only a very few people who keep it as a pet. And there're only a few caresheets about sunnbeam snake.

At first, I only keep it in its terrarium filled with a little water (the shopkeeper told me to do this), then I did net research and just a few days ago I switch to coco peat for its substrate. My snake seems to love it so far, it keeps buries itself into the substrate just like what I found on the net.

The thing is it hasn't eaten.anything, yet. And it's been two months since I got it. I've tried giving it mice and fish, but none of them were eaten. Now I'm going to try a frog, since it an amphibian-eater (I actually hate frogs so I'm a bit late on trying to feed my snake with frogs). Should I keep the frog alive or dead when feeding my snake?

Thanks a lot. Advices are much appreciated. Sorry if my english is bad

[Kuamata]

From what I can find, burrowing is good, for sure. Don't handle it unless absolutely necessary. Your warm side needs to be roughly 87F with the cool side about 76F. You must have the humidity between 80%-100%. If you have it in a tank, try covering the glass. If it's in a busy part of your home, move it to a quieter, not as busy location. Make sure you provided plenty of hides and some climbing opportunities. Seeing as it is wild caught, it would probably react better to a live prey item... Even in optimum husbandry, they've been known to pass away in captivity...

For the record, I'm only trying to help lessen the chance of it dying... I do not support snatching up exotic animals from the wild for profit(poaching) or impulsively buying a living, breathing creature that relies on you to know how to care for it.

[walktheapp]

Originally Posted by Kuamata

From what I can find, burrowing is good, for sure. Don't handle it unless absolutely necessary. Your warm side needs to be roughly 87F with the cool side about 76F. You must have the humidity between 80%-100%. If you have it in a tank, try covering the glass. If it's in a busy part of your home, move it to a quieter, not as busy location. Make sure you provided plenty of hides and some climbing opportunities. Seeing as it is wild caught, it would probably react better to a live prey item... Even in optimum husbandry, they've been known to pass away in captivity...

For the record, I'm only trying to help lessen the chance of it dying... I do not support snatching up exotic animals from the wild for profit(poaching) or impulsively buying a living, breathing creature that relies on you to know how to care for it.

Thank you for your reply. Yes, I'm fully aware that I was wrong about the impulsive buying

I'll try my hardest. Thank you once again I really appreciate it.



If anyone has other advices too, I'm all ears. Thanks.

[Kuamata]

Being that it's wild caught, you may want to get it to a qualified veterinarian if possible. That's usually a staple rule with any wild caught reptile, as they may be loaded with parasites.

I also found that they may get what appears to be blisters on them. Don't dry it out, as it will kill it, antibiotics and proper humidity will cure that problem.

Also, since they need such high humidity to survive, keep an eye out for mold. I usually put my heat source under a water source for humidity. Under tank heaters(UTH) are usually more humidity friendly than lamps and bulbs are.