Feeding?

Took Bradley in for his first vet appointment today to a great reptile vet! He had a lot of substrate in his mouth and has some slight irritation on his gums, but other than that she said he looks healthy! Got him some reptile carpet to replace the cypress mulch with. She said that I really should try to feed him asap as he is a little underweight. He wouldn't eat for me before, how do you assist feed and at what point should I try this? I'm gonna give him 'till the end of the week to eat by himself, unless I get other (experienced) advice...

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Originally Posted by ginandbradley

Took Bradley in for his first vet appointment today to a great reptile vet! He had a lot of substrate in his mouth and has some slight irritation on his gums, but other than that she said he looks healthy! Got him some reptile carpet to replace the cypress mulch with. She said that I really should try to feed him asap as he is a little underweight. He wouldn't eat for me before, how do you assist feed and at what point should I try this? I'm gonna give him 'till the end of the week to eat by himself, unless I get other (experienced) advice...

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I'm glad that Bradley is healthy. What was he eating before? Live or f/t? Rats or mice?

Hi, I don't know about the feeding issues but I wanted to mention that the reptile carpet can be very hard to keep clean and sanitary - I would not recommend using that.

There are soo many other good options such as newspaper, paper towels or even the brown craft paper works great.

Just wanted mention this because I used the green reptile carpet when I first got my very first snake - it was awful. Very hard to keep clean is all.

Good luck with your snake.

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Originally Posted by L.West

Hi, I don't know about the feeding issues but I wanted to mention that the reptile carpet can be very hard to keep clean and sanitary - I would not recommend using that.

There are soo many other good options such as newspaper, paper towels or even the brown craft paper works great.

Just wanted mention this because I used the green reptile carpet when I first got my very first snake - it was awful. Very hard to keep clean is all.

Good luck with your snake.

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Agreed, prefer the paper towel route myself.

he was eating live pinky mice. i have f/t fuzzies. i want to get him off the live ones. also, he was assist fed at the pet store, he is 3 months.

I also do not recommmend repti carpet, it harbors bacteria, germs.
How old is Bradley? What was his weight at the vet?

Thanks for the heads up on the carpet, I haven't opened the box yet (Bradley is in his feeding tank, getting comfy so I can try to feed him... paper towel in that one), so I can take it back. He is 3 months, 44 grams. The last time he ate was 7/23, and he had a good poo 7/26. Also, if I leave the (dead) mouse in the tank with him, how long should I leave it before I consider it no good?

I use the carpet but I have two and clean them often. I like them.

I use carpet but not the expensive reptile carpet. I go to lowes and get a yard of the cheapest indoor outdoor carpet they have. Then I cut it up into lots of bin size pieces. I take soiled pieces out right away and replace them with clean ones. I use bleach (color safe) to wash them.

edit:oh yeah - pinkys are way too small for bps. Small hatchlings eat hopper mice but quickly move up to adult mice. Get a few live hoppers and he may get less substrate and more mouse in his mouth!

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Originally Posted by Ladybugzcrunch

edit:oh yeah - pinkys are way too small for bps. Small hatchlings eat hopper mice but quickly move up to adult mice. Get a few live hoppers and he may get less substrate and more mouse in his mouth!

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Not to hijack the thread or anything, but when should I switch from hoppers?.....he's 18 in. and 75.7 grams.