Retic (Esmeralda) not Feeding - Page 3

guyabano · 07-14-13, 03:58 AM

YESSSSS!!!!!!

At around 17:20 today, she took a rat!

I had just finished playing some fetch with my dog and I was bouncing the tennis ball. It got away from me and hit her enclosure. She quickly darted out to investigate and I just knew that she was FINALLY ready for some food. I hurried up to the roof deck where I keep my rat colony and picked out a medium sized rat. Plopped it into the enclosure, it peeked its head into the clay pot and came out with a snake attached to it.

Here's hoping she takes another one next week. Fingers crossed!

(sorry for the picture quality, iPhones don't really excel at taking indoor photos at sundown)

Thank you to all who contributed and helped me out in my time of need. I'm glad to be a part of such a wonderful online community.

dave himself · 07-14-13, 05:16 AM

Glad to see she's eating for you again

Amadeus · 07-14-13, 11:24 AM

Yess. Looked like she really enjoyed taking down that vile rodent.

Ivanator · 07-14-13, 03:43 PM

Congrats! Now just make sure she eats a few more times for you before you start trying to handle her again. Out of curiosity, is that bin she's in a feeding bin or what she's housed in? I'm just asking cuz I thought you had that nice big cage that you built for her.

guyabano · 07-15-13, 05:19 AM

Thanks Dave!

Amadeus, I foresee my rat colony taking a sizable hit to their population.

Ivanator, Thanks! That is actually what I keep her in for now.
Kind of a long story, but here it goes. A little before she went off feed, she already stopped using hides in the bigger enclosure. She fed normally in that state, but when she went off feed, she would always get defensive as soon as I slid the glass open. I got them with rollers in the tracks because I though it would make it quieter. Now instead of a sliding, scraping sound, it kind of makes a low rumble. Go figure. It didn't seem to bother her before, but for some reason, it agitated her quite a bit during that period.
I decided to move her to a smaller enclosure in hopes that she would feel more secure. It's also much quieter to open. I can get in and out to fill her waterbowl, spot clean etc. without bothering her too much. She's still has enough room, she's around 4.5ft. and the enclosure is a 3ft x 1.5ft.

guyabano · 07-20-13, 08:32 AM

Quick update. I wanted to post another successful feeding today but it seems like Esmeralda had something else on mind. She's shedding right now, so I'll be trying again once she's done.

guyabano · 07-26-13, 04:32 AM

She shed last night, fed her this afternoon. She took another! I gave her a larger rat from my colony and she had no problems taking it down.

So glad this ordeal is over. Now I can get back to taming her down and getting her to take pre-killed.

strictaz · 07-26-13, 11:09 AM

Very glad she's eating. Beautiful tic! How long was she off feed for?

guyabano · 07-26-13, 07:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by strictaz

Very glad she's eating. Beautiful tic! How long was she off feed for?

Thank you!

I checked my records and the she was off feed for a whole 2 months and 23 days.

waf · 07-27-13, 09:55 PM

Very unnusal for a retic.....

strictaz · 07-28-13, 12:02 PM

Yes very unusual. I've got a baby burm that's also not eating... I hate the unusual

waf · 07-30-13, 08:30 AM

My retic never skipped a meal, just when shedding. If all parameters are ok, the only thing I know make retics not to eat properly is a disease or parasitics..

strictaz · 07-30-13, 04:07 PM

Not true. There are more picky retics and burms than you'd think. Especially younger ones. Takes a while to get them on their way to being bottomless pits lol.

waf · 07-30-13, 09:22 PM

hummm... I will consider myself a lucky guy!