New Male: Perseus

Good afternoon fellow forum readers! I recently purchased a Male Albino on 12-15 to go with my Albino girl Medusa. His name is Perseus (I'll give an internet cookie to anyone who gets the connection to the names) and he's a nice high contrast albino with a cute little orange spot on his tail. He currently weighs in at 182 grams and was born on 6-28-13. I’ve got big plans with the two of them when they are older.

However, this little bugger is giving me a hard time eating. He’s in a 15 quart tub, with a small water dish and a hide box. I’ve offered him live food three times since I’ve purchased him, and all three times he will follow the mouse around and just stare at it. A few times they even touched noses. Here’s a pic:

http://i1278.photobucket.com/albums/...psf0a7b328.jpg
As you can see, he just sits there and stares at him, and that mouse was in there for well over an hour today (under close supervision). So do you guys have any suggestions? I normally feed my brood on Fridays, so I plan on not touching him like I have been until then.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Greek Mythology, Perseus was the fall of Medusa and wore her head on a shield to turn his enemies to stone. Gimme my cookie!! /grabbyhands/

Have you tried scenting with a rat/rat bedding?

*Hands Archimedes an internet cookie.* But no I haven't tried that. I don't have any rats that aren't in my freezer. The breeder I bought him and many more from told me he was a great eater, and fed small-medium mice once a week.

I would definitely leave him be except for water change and checking on him. I know it may sound stupid but have you tried a white mouse?
I have 4 that will eat mouse or rat, but my picky female will literally only eat live white mice.

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You know, now that I think of it, the last two mice I've tried have been black and white, the first one I tried was all white though.

When I was switching my live feeder to f/t, I warmed it up a lot, then moved it slowly around the tub a little then left it in there. It was gone in the morning. Not sure if he would take a f/t but since then my live feeder is completely switched to f/t and eats every 5 days like a champ.

good luck!

My female normal will only eat white rats too. Tried her with black and white ones and she wasnt interested in the slightest.

LOL, I find that weird that some finicky snakes will only take a certain color of food. I guess I've never given it a thought. Any more suggestions? Has anyone else had issues like this?

Have you tried a rat pup? Do you know what he was eating before?

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No, I've not tried rat pups. They are a little hard to come by around here. The breeder had him on small to medium mice once a week, and said he never missed a meal.

He could be either going off feed due to the winter months, i read where some of them go off feeding during the winter months.

I have two thoughts that came to mind.

First, he could just be settling in. Monitor his weight and keep offering every 5 to 7 days. If he's settling in still, when he's ready he'll eat. It's only been two weeks so he's not in a situation of any severity yet.

Second though, has he gone into shed at some point in the last two weeks?

He probably is still settling in I hope. I had the same issue with my female albino when I first got her, I think it was five weeks before she finally ate for me. No, he's not going into shed he's still nice and bright and is very active at night moving around his tub and what not.

Here is an update for anyone who is interested. Yesterday was feeding day for the guys (and girl) I have in my quarantine room which is four snakes total. The two live eaters pounded their mice within seconds and the other took his third frozen thawed mouse (small victory for me).





I decided to feed my albino last so the scent of mouse can be in the air. I placed a white medium sized mouse into his tub and watched. He was in his hide, and didn’t come out, 20 minutes later nothing. So I took the mouse out.





Later that night around 10pm I heard noise coming from his tub so I looked into it and he was out exploring so I decided I would try again. I placed the mouse’s cage next to his tub and waited. From what I could see he became interested because he made his way to the corner of his tub and was staring at the mouse. I pulled his tub out and dropped the mouse in. Again after 20 mins I look into the tub, the mouse is in the corner sleeping, and the snake is back in his hide…





So I’m getting stumped, I’ve left him alone have touched him only to get his weight, still at 182. He’s active during the night, but during the day he is in his hide which I know is normal.





One thing however, when I do pick him up, he always feel stiff, not bendy like other snakes. I guess it may be because he is still stressed, but its something I find odd. I'm getting discouraged, and slightly annoyed. I also have a new pet mouse for the next week.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Montypython696

Here is an update for anyone who is interested. Yesterday was feeding day for the guys (and girl) I have in my quarantine room which is four snakes total. The two live eaters pounded their mice within seconds and the other took his third frozen thawed mouse (small victory for me).





I decided to feed my albino last so the scent of mouse can be in the air. I placed a white medium sized mouse into his tub and watched. He was in his hide, and didn’t come out, 20 minutes later nothing. So I took the mouse out.





Later that night around 10pm I heard noise coming from his tub so I looked into it and he was out exploring so I decided I would try again. I placed the mouse’s cage next to his tub and waited. From what I could see he became interested because he made his way to the corner of his tub and was staring at the mouse. I pulled his tub out and dropped the mouse in. Again after 20 mins I look into the tub, the mouse is in the corner sleeping, and the snake is back in his hide…





So I’m getting stumped, I’ve left him alone have touched him only to get his weight, still at 182. He’s active during the night, but during the day he is in his hide which I know is normal.





One thing however, when I do pick him up, he always feel stiff, not bendy like other snakes. I guess it may be because he is still stressed, but its something I find odd. I'm getting discouraged, and slightly annoyed. I also have a new pet mouse for the next week.

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Wouldn't get too annoyed or discouraged. When they get bigger they can go a lot longer than 2 weeks without food. As long as the weight is stable it's not usually something to worry about and they'll start eating when they feel like it.

Do you close the tub when you put the mouse in? Or leave it open and watch?

I always close the tub, I put the lid on and slide it back into the rack. I keep it under close supervision though always checking in every few mins to make sure nothing has happened. I know balls can go awhile without food, I've got one now that hasn't eaten since 10/31, but this guy only weighs 182 grams.

Here's another update. Another week has gone by and I offered him a smaller mouse than normal to see if he would eat that. It was a no go, again.... I'm going to move him into a smaller tub later on this evening, he's in a 15 quart now, which is what all my smaller guys are in. But I'm thinking 6 quart would do the trick. I've also ordered bigger heat tape as well, since I mainly use 4 inch, which it being so cold here in Ohio I went and ordered 6 inch for the smaller tubs.


Hope this works!

Was he eating live b4 u got him? Cause one of mine I've been trying to switch to live and he won't ever strike .. even tho I decided to this at the worst possible time since he is on n off food for the past month but he's 500+ my other 2 boys just mad the switch from mice to rats with no issue at all and there around 200/250 so it don't make sense to me y he won't eat he still young and shouldnt be going on food stike yet ... u should leave the mouse in there for a couple hours put some mouse food n water for it n check every hour or so

What are your plans once they get older?


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My main plans, providing this little bugger starts eating for me. Is to breed them, to get some nice albino babies. Then within a few seasons breed them with a pair of pieds, and eventually go for albino pieds. Because albino piebalds would just be so darn cute!