Feeding question

Hi,

I have now tried to hair dry the pinkies (theyre dead of course..), dangle it in front of her, using and not using a paper sheet in front etc etc to no avail. She doesnt want it at all.

I havent gotten hold of larger mice/rats yet so only have medium pinkie mice.
Are they really difficult in this way? They only eat appropriately sized rodents?

Thanks,

B.

are your temps correct, do you have 2 hides i would double check on the husbandry needs, rtbs tend not to refuse food

I would wait a week and make sure everything Husbandry wise is ok. No handling and try and get a poop to the vet to check for parasites. Try a live adult mouse if you can. Pinky mice are very likely going to be refused. Is there a problem finding appropriately sized mice or rats? Where are you located?

Hi,

Thanks for replying. She is housed in a rubber tank of 70 litres (too big?)
She has a hide on the cold side, she has a hide on the warm side, she has a branch she can climb and she has a big dish to soak in. The substrate is now newspaper. The temperature is about 89-90 Fahrenheit on the warm side, controlled with a thermostat. its about 80-82 on the cold side.

She didnt like to be disturbed last night. She hissed at me several times. So I gently stepped back and left the room. Few hours later I went back and she was as docile as one can get. PMS here or what?

I have access to food, but I didnt have access to small rat sized prey last night. I did buy one today however. I have left her alone since last night. Should I keep it that way for another week?

B.

A pinkie mouse for an RTB? I'd imagine the snake is ignoring that prey because it's way way too small to even consider it worth the snake's time to bother with it. Glad you've found a much more appropriate sized prey item. Give the snake a few days to a week of not being fussed around with at all (other than basic cage maintenance), then try a nice, quiet evening feed. If this is an f/t prey item make sure it's fully warmed up (especially the head and belly) and use tongs, hemostats or long tweezers. RTB's even young ones can have very long strike ranges and you don't want a feeding error/accidental bite if you can avoid it (not nice for you and will upset the snake and likely put it off feeding that week as well as the possibility of it losing a tooth or two in the process).

Figured a pinkie mouse was too small. However she is "only" 4.5 months old, I reckoned it was worth a shot.

I also tried giving her a living grown mouse which is about the size as the small rat I bought today. She only hissed at the mouse and was very clearly on the defensive. Why? She tried to bite it several times, but there was no constricting involved. Guess shes not ready to feed just yet..?

How long have you had her, where'd you get her from and what were they successfully feeding her before you got her (mice or rats, live, pre-killed or frozen/thawed)? Where is her tank or tub located in your house specifically?

Had her for a week.
Got her from a petstore in Denmark.
I dont know what they were feeding her.
Her tank is located in the basement together with my other snakes.

How is location of the cage relevant..?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Beyonder

Had her for a week.
Got her from a petstore in Denmark.
I dont know what they were feeding her.
Her tank is located in the basement together with my other snakes.

How is location of the cage relevant..?

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The higher trafic the area is, the more stressed they can get. I am getting the impression you didn't quarentine either?!?

Hey,

Thanks for your answers.

She is in a very low traffic area. A dedicated room.

I got an e-mail from the pet store informing me she was being fed live medium mice.

So I got hold of a dead medium mouse, warmed her up to about 37 degrees Celcius. It took her about a quarter of a second to grab the food and coil around it.

Happy New Year! :)