BEL Problem

[BIO]

Hi guys, I just got my Blue Eyed Lucy the other day from the breeder, and I'm quite worried about the conditions she's in. She's an Aug hatched, but she only weighs 79g as of today. I tried offering a fresh-killed small hopper overnight but she didn't seem to show any interest.

Should I start to worry and try assist-feeding now? The breeder said she ate last Thursday, but I'm quite worried when I weighed her.

Any advise? Thanks. Here are some of her photos.

[DooLittle]

I would let her settle in for at least a week. I don't think you need to worry about assist feeding yet. Once she is settled in, she will probably take a meal. Assist feeding is very stressful on them. You could wind up doing more harm than good.

Also, what was the breeder feeding her? It may take a few live feedings to get her going.

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[swansonbb]

1st - She's beautiful.
2nd - Breathe. It really hasn't been that long since she's eaten.

Questions:

1. Can you describe your setup? Maybe a picture? Temps on hot/low side?
2. Are you handling her? That could easily stress her out and cause her to go off feed - especially when they're so small.
3. Have you tried offering her live? A live hopper is sort of hatchling bp crack..

[MisterKyte]

I wouldn't be too worried yet, she doesn't look too small for an August hatch so you're probably still good. Also, is that a hopper rat or mouse? You'd probably want to cross reference what she was eating before because some snakes will only take one or the other and they don't swap over easy.

[Kodieh]

What specifically was the breeder feeding her? Whatever it is, be it live p/k or f/t, do that. That will hopefully get you away from right now till she can stand to actually miss a meal cause your transitioning to what you feed the rest of your collection.

If you do have to feed live, I hear gerbils are pretty much cracked as well as hoppers.
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[MisterKyte]

If you do have to feed live, I hear gerbils are pretty much cracked as well as hoppers.

Gerbils and ASFs will pretty much get any BP eating the only thing is they're both pricey and hard to ween off in most cases. Personally, I'd only reserve it for a seemingly desperate situation.

[I-KandyReptiles]

1st - She's beautiful.
2nd - Breathe. It really hasn't been that long since she's eaten.

Questions:

1. Can you describe your setup? Maybe a picture? Temps on hot/low side?
2. Are you handling her? That could easily stress her out and cause her to go off feed - especially when they're so small.
3. Have you tried offering her live? A live hopper is sort of hatchling bp crack..

x2

We need to know you're set up. If your husbandry is fine, she probably just needs time to settle in.

[BIO]

Thank you very much guys for lessening my worries. I guess I better give her a week or two to settle in her new environment. My worry started when I weighed her because I got 3 September hatchlings which are all weighing at least 220g each, which are almost triple her size.

I tried offering her a live small hopper this morning, but then again she just doesn't showed any interest. She's just getting stressed out. So I just returned her to the enclosure.

Here's her current set-up:


She usually burrows like my mojave. My mojave usually prefers eating freshly-killed and in complete darkness. Other than that, she also won't eat. But she's a healthy 206g, unlike my BEL.

Temperature doesn't seem to be a problem here in the Philippines as the average temperature in my reptile room is this:


The breeder told me she ate a hopper mouse last Thursday, and just shifted from pinkies.

[Royal Hijinx]

Did you say you returned her to her enclosure after offering her food? Does she have a heat gradient?

The only two thing I will suggest, for now (besides letting her rest for a week), is to add a hide of some kind and feed her in her enclosure (if you are not already).

[BIO]

Did you say you returned her to her enclosure after offering her food? Does she have a heat gradient?

The only two thing I will suggest, for now (besides letting her rest for a week), is to add a hide of some kind and feed her in her enclosure (if you are not already).

Oh I practice feeding all my bps in a separate smaller enclosure. I thought this practice would make them learn not to strike from their enclosure. Is this no good at all?