Signs of hunger, stress?

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Originally Posted by Albert Clark

The hide is absolutely too big. The plant saucer or a paper towel cardboard end will be the way to go. The little guy is looking for a place to set up camp and grab his prey items. All your other husbandry and environmental setup seems on point. He needs a very small hide right away.

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Thank you, I'll change it, I'll try to get him a plant saucer for a hide that was also recommended in Deborah's thread, the reason I've chosen plastic hides is because they've seemed to be the most low ceiling hides I could find for him, as I said before, I have tried to find him a smaller hide before but they've been unavailable, I didn't really know the plant saucer was an option til I was directed to Deborah's thread. I will change his hide as soon as I can, I might be able to get it for him as soon as today.

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Originally Posted by iddah

My bp hasn't eaten for nearly three weeks now, he is three months old, and weighed 70g when I took his weight recently. He had a successful shed and appears otherwise healthy, he has been using both of his hides, and I have observed him drinking from his water dish a couple of times, after which he has gone straight back into his hide, so in that regard, his behavior seems normal/healthy to me.

I'd say during the past three or four days or so, he has been displaying morning and daytime activity, which he has not done previously; I usually barely see him during the day, other than if I happen to catch him going for a drink, and then going back to hiding. He still uses his hides, but appears to be out far more than usual. From what I can tell, his movement is not erratic; but he does appear to be exploring his enclosure, including him climbing up on top of artificial plants and nosing the metal grate/screen of the top lid of his viv - - a behavior similar to the one he displayed when I first introduced him to his tank. I have read that "escape attempt behaviors" are a sign of a stressed snake, which is why I'm worried he may not be eating due to something stressing him out for some reason all of the sudden.

What is confusing to me though is that this behavior is completely unusual for him and he has only been doing this for a few days; he has not seemed stressed previously at all, nor has he been out much when it is light out, until now.

Due to an ambient temp drop in his tank, I had to get him either a CHE or an infrared, and I chose infrared for being more affordable, I have had to use it to get his ambient temps back to the normal range, could the infrared be a reason for his activity? When I turned it on he did almost immediately come up out of his hot spot, appeared to be looking upward toward the source of heat with his tongue flicking, and went straight into his cool side - - so he switched hides in favor of the one that is receiving added heat.

At this point, I'm not sure what to do in order to get him to eat, other than offer larger prey item because the rat pinkys are smaller than his midsection - - and since he has refused the rat pinkys I have offered, I was considering offering him a fuzzy next.

- His breeder has established him on f/t rat pinkys; he was fed five times at the breeder's.

- His humidity and temperatures are good; his hot side is set to 33C at all times, his cool side is back at 25.5 to 26C after I got the infrared for him, and his humidity is at 60% (75-77% during more humid days).

- Handling has been kept to a minimum, and I have not disturbed the snake.

- He is currently in a 10 gallon baby tank.

- The area around his enclosure is quiet, with very minimal movement/traffic around it.

- His enclosure is clean (no mold, feces, etc), he has not defecated, though I have removed small urates.

- The sides and the back of his tank are covered in black paper.

- He has two identical, low-ceiling plastic hides; with crumpled up paper towels inside; he uses both hides.

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Mine is acting the same way. I had an unsuccesful feed 2 days ago. And she is acting the same way you describe yours acting. She must be hungry as well. Have to wait a few days to attempt again.

UPDATE

Got him an 18 cm plastic plant saucer and cut out an entrance for him using scissors, he already partially checked out the hide but hasn't gone fully in yet. It's /really/ low ceiling and /almost/ touches his back, should be nice and snug for him but he can still maneuver inside of it, I was gonna get him a 25 cm saucer but the store was sold out, I might check again later if they have the 25 cm ones. But, hopefully this is improvement from the medium size plastic RepTech hide that you guys said was too big for him.

I also switched out his red light to a CHE to keep his cool spot at the correct temps, I haven't been able to rig it up yet so for now I have to keep it straight on top of the lid of the tub and just switch it on and off to keep his cool side temp at 25C. His hot spot is set to 32C (plugged to a thermostat) and his humidity, right now, is 80%.

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HIDE COMPARISON

Old vs new hide setup.

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Such a dinky lil thing.

I believe the others were right about the hide size but another consideration is maybe turning the entries AWAY from the open side of the enclosure. You did cut them a LITTLE open for an animal of his size, so if his nerves are iffy that'll make it feel less like you can peer in on him. But you'd be surprised just how happily they'll cram into seemingly too-tiny houses.

Edit: AKA, turn the hide 90 degrees clockwise so it faces the opaque back wall, and move the water bowl so it shields the path between the two hides. Goal is for the animal to feel like it's unseen.

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Originally Posted by hollowlaughter

Such a dinky lil thing.

I believe the others were right about the hide size but another consideration is maybe turning the entries AWAY from the open side of the enclosure. You did cut them a LITTLE open for an animal of his size, so if his nerves are iffy that'll make it feel less like you can peer in on him. But you'd be surprised just how happily they'll cram into seemingly too-tiny houses.

Edit: AKA, turn the hide 90 degrees clockwise so it faces the opaque back wall, and move the water bowl so it shields the path between the two hides. Goal is for the animal to feel like it's unseen.

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Thanks for pointing that out, his hide is now facing the covered up back wall, I also moved his water dish so that he can feel more shielded.

Definitely a minor thing, but hopefully that + everything else you've done to follow Deborah's hatchling tutorial should get your boy eating once he acclimates to all the enclosure changes that have been happening. Has he used the new hides yet?

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Originally Posted by hollowlaughter

Definitely a minor thing, but hopefully that + everything else you've done to follow Deborah's hatchling tutorial should get your boy eating once he acclimates to all the enclosure changes that have been happening. Has he used the new hides yet?

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He is using the new hide, and is currently inside it, one thing I noticed after I moved him to the tub is that he's roaming less and stays in hiding again, which I'm taking as a good sign, he seems less strssed.

UPDATE


Offered him a fuzzy just now, didnt think he was gonna take it, and was dead wrong lol. My boy struck almost immediately, coiled, and I closed the lid and left to let him eat in peace.

Thanks for all the support n advice guys!!