special needs ball

ok so when i got her, the guy said she was one month old, im new to all this so i dont know age/weight ratios.

right now she is two months and 72g is this right?

she doesnt strike prey on her own, its f/t im gonna try live when the mice pups get a little bigger

i wedge the f/t into her mouth then she bites, coils and eats on her own..


how do i change this before she gets too old.

sometimes it takes awhile for their "striking" instinct to kick in. when i get non-feeder corns, i give them live pinks and i've NEVER seen one kill the mouse before.

they just swallow it alive. WORST. THING. EVER.

i would just wait a bit. at least she's eating.

72 grams and 2 months is not bad at all. their weights can range GREATLY, so it's really not a good indicator of age at all.

How are you preparing the F/T prey?

yea im gonna try fuzzie/pinkie pups, THanks

thawing in hot water in a mug for 20-30 minutes (fuzzies)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Naginibellatrix

yea im gonna try fuzzie/pinkie pups, THanks

thawing in hot water in a mug for 20-30 minutes (fuzzies)

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if you aren't doing this already, blast it with a blow dryer for about 30 seconds. If you have a temp gun it's a little easier. Your target temperature for the prey is 99-100F. That is the natural body temp of rats, and heating it up definitely affects some snakes feeding response.

What is your set-up and numbers like?

10 gallon
70-88 night/day temp
aspen
decorative leaves (She lives to climb these)
A stone hide
a small water dish

no need to drop temps at night.

do you have heat on one side??????


I can't tell from your post, but you need that at least 88 on one side and at least 78-80 on the other at all times.

yea, zoomed heatpad under hide

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Naginibellatrix

yea, zoomed heatpad under hide

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what are you using to regulate the heat pad??

2 months and 72g??? I know its not unheard of but I have a almost 2 month old at a 100g. He was a slow starter too but when he figured out what a mouse fuzzy was:O:O:O:O He is sweet as can be but on fridays its flying ninja teeth for fuzzys:D

ok, well i still stand by my no night drop statement and also, as said, i hope you have something regulating said heating pad.

My guess you have an husbandry issue that you need to fix, and sadly if you keep assisting this animal this is only gonna stress it more and more.

10 gallons is not the way to go for very young hathlcing and at the weight you are describing your BP is hatchling weight and already tow month old.

You want to get it to eat for you here is what you need to do.

Switch to a 6 quarts tub (nothing bigger) you can eventually add a 6 inches wide plastic flowerpot dish, use aspen as bedding, offer proper gradient temps and DO NOT drop your temps keep them constant.

Give your BP a week and offer a LIVE hopper mouse in it's enclosure, in the meantime NO HANDLING not until this BP puts on weight and eat on a regular basis once it does if you want to switch to F/T you can do so however right now the priority is to get it to eat on it's own and everything mentioned is designed to achieve this.

The key with hatchling are EXTRA SECURITY & STIMULATION when it comes to feeding.

Good luck.

72 grams is a tad small, but I would say relatively normal for a baby that hasn't been eating on its own. I sold my month olds at 110-120 grams, but I fed them a lot and they started at 60 grams.

Two things I would do are, get the temps raised a bit, don't drop them at night, and put her in a shoe box sized tub until she starts eating well. I would also put crumpled newspaper in the tub to help fill in the extra space, and make sure her hide is snug. Assist feeding can kill them from the stress unfortunately, but if you have to do it, at least you are trying.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by PitOnTheProwl

what are you using to regulate the heat pad??

2 months and 72g??? I know its not unheard of but I have a almost 2 month old at a 100g. He was a slow starter too but when he figured out what a mouse fuzzy was:O:O:O:O He is sweet as can be but on fridays its flying ninja teeth for fuzzys:D

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i bought 2 Bp's from a breeder and had it shipped to me and they both eat great i havnt weighed my spider but my mojave is 130 grams and she is 2 months and 2 days old, but like others said the weight varys and i dont feed mine mice i feed rat pinkys/fuzzies cause that is what the breeder was feeding them and i dont want a mice eater only. and i think if u feed the rats they will gaiin weight faster just my opinion though.

well she ate a live fuzzy. went nuts over it. so glad. though im weary about the live food. im glad shes eating.

her temps are regulated, heatpad and all.

i plan on keeping her in the tank, thanks for all your help