Anyone ever change enclosures and have snakes go off feed?
I recently switched all my snakes from glass terrarium's to Rubbermaid and sterelite tubs. All my snakes but one have their same behaviors; total pigs but my calico female has only eaten 2 x since I put her in. Temps and humidity are fine. 79-80 ambient cool side temps and 80-83 on the warm side with uth and my probe is between the tub and heat source and set at 93 (it's 89-90 with my substrate) Any ideas? Maybe I'll wait another week and if she doesn't eat I'll set her back up in her glass tank.
Re: Anyone ever change enclosures and have snakes go off feed?
She's been in there over a month and up until then ate every 3 days aggressively. So she's missed 8 or 9 feedings. I never had issues with husbandry in the glass. I find it harder to control temps/humidity in the tubs actually.
Re: Anyone ever change enclosures and have snakes go off feed?
How big is she? Every three days is a fairly aggressive feeding schedule. Very aggressive for those 500 grams or bigger...
Re: Anyone ever change enclosures and have snakes go off feed?
She's big enough to take a small rat but won't touch them. So that's why I was feeding her every 3-4 days. I don't have a good enough scale but she's not up to 500 grams yet.
Re: Anyone ever change enclosures and have snakes go off feed?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
bcr229
Offering food too often can stress them out. So can feeders that are too large. Give her a week in her new enclosure with minimal handling (just enough to clean her up and change her water if needed) and then offer a weanling rat.
Btw she's a 2013 but not sure of actual DOB and she's my 7th ball python. I've also owned a rosy boa, 2 corn snakes, a garter, GTP and ATB so I know how to handle my snakes. I had to sell my last collection to pay for a broken heel and a 10k ambulance ride. I've always had them in glass enclosures too. Ive just never had a trouble feeder till now so this is pretty new territory for me. Ive had her for over 6 months and she absolutely will not touch a rat of any size, shape or color. F/t or live, doesn't matter. She has also never been offered a prey item too large. She was eating 2 f/t mice every 4-5 days but since temps dropped she stopped eating 2 and was just taking one. That's why I moved to every three days until I moved her into her tub. She's been in her new tub for over a month now so shes comfortable. My 2014 spring banana male is about to pass her up in size. Now she won't touch a mouse. She never really took live from the beginning either but I've tried live, fresh killed, and f/t. She'll tongue flick them and just stare. I think she just doesn't like being in a tub.
Re: Anyone ever change enclosures and have snakes go off feed?
I think maybe it was the 2 week winter we had in cali. Ambient temps went down a few degrees and I had to get a space heater to evenly distribute the temps. Must have gone on hunger strike. She took her usual 2 mice without hesitation last night.