Felix back at the pet shop!

[pumba]

Greetings all:

Just figured I would give all of yall a update on my non eating Felix. I called the pet shop like suggested in here and attempted to get a trade for a snake that would eat. (I know I am a bit paniky but dang it has been almost 4 weeks since the little guy has eaten.) Well they were not real receptive to the idea of a up front trade, but they wanted to keep him overnight and possibly a few days to let their snake guy look him over and see if there is anything wrong with him. I have tried everything to get him to eat. I did find out one of the problems, I was told they were feeding Frozen/Thawed at the shop. I called about the eating problem and talked to the feed person and found out they were feeding live...ARRRGGGGGGG, so frustrating. Anyway I went and purchased a live fuzzy and tried in the bag (Like at the shop) in the tank, Everything but force feed (Which I refuse to do). Nothing. I have even left him alone for a week without any disturbance other than to change water, He dosn't appear to be stressed. He regulates his temp on his own. The warm side is and stays 93-94.9 and cool between 80 and 83, with humidity hanging in there around 58%.. Wish me luck and any suggestions will be highly reguarded.

Thanks
Ray

[iceman25]

Sorry that had to happen Have you tried taking a live mouse, scenting it with gerbil bedding and then attempting a feed? This has worked for me on most occasions. Good luck! And for future references, consider buying from a reputable breeder so you know that they will eat for sure

[frankykeno]

Oh Ray that is frustrating. Remember tho with a pet store purchase the odds are sometimes just stacked against you. We got ours from a pet store and consider ourselves lucky that we ended up with a healthy snake but that's so often just not the case. None of us will ever know what a young snake has gone through before getting into that pet store tank and often the store won't even tell you where the snake actually came from.

You might want to consider taking a store credit for the snake if they won't refund your money or give you a replacement that is actually feeding well (insist on being there to see it feed first). You could consider buying another baby from a breeder, then using the store credit for feeders for the new snake.

I hope that you are able to sort Felix out but if not, then I hope you can get another snake and have a better experience. They really are great snakes and I'm sorry you're having such a hard time with your first one.


~~Jo~~

[pumba]

Greetings All once again:

Well just got the new little one setteled in. I went ahead and took yall's advice and just told the pet shop to give me an in-store credit, lord knows I did need a few things any way. *****Moving on along***** I found a place that sold only reptiles, and mostly snakes, they were very upfront and were willing and ready to give me their breeder information. Not to mention the new little one looks, Literally Looks way more healthy than poor Felix. Felix was the same length as the newby but he was only 52Grams and the new one is weighing in at a stout 85.7g. I like the his patern a bit more as well. He is way more active, and he feels stronger in my hand. No compairison! I will miss Felix, after all he was my first,,,lol,,, but I would rather have a good healthy snake right off of the bat rather than a poor one. I didn't get to see him feed because he had just fed yesterday. I could see the lump so I believed them. The guy I spoke with in there seemed very knowledgable, and guaranteed that he will eat, if given a week or so for adjustment.

By the way, the "Snake guy" at the origonal pet shop tried to feed felix to no avail. He told me that he had never seen anything like that. He even tried to force feed, Not with my concent, and Felix just spat it back out. I think he is a bit ill. (Now I have something to compair it to) Just the way he moved around tends to make me feel that way.

Also I managed to find a 10 gal tank rather than my big 55 gal. I do not like it as much but whatever to keep the little guy happy and snug. I miss my large tank with all of my cool stuff inside, but it will have to wait a bit, and it will have it's new tennant. Now that I figured out how to regulate the temps in the large one just right, I have to go back to the drawing board, figures...lol the little one just seems to not have enough room.

At any rate, I feel much better this go around. Wish me luck.

Thanks to all.
Ray

[tigerlily]

It sounds like you are way better off this time around, but I'll wish you luck anyway. You'll have that new guy in your nicely furnished 55 gal sooner than you think, so just hang in there. I'm glad that your first experience didn't sour you on bps in general, and that you'll soon have a feeding experience of your own!! Let us know how the new guy does for you!

[frankykeno]

Wonderful Ray! I hate to hear that they force fed poor Felix, probably didn't do him a bit of good from all I've read about forcefeeding. Don't feel too bad though, you did try your best and probably Felix was never in great shape to start with. Sounds like the new little snake is a corker! Just give it the time and quiet to settle in and read up as much here on first feedings and I bet it goes great this time around.

I'm sure you're dying to get the snake into it's bigger enclosure just like we were when we got Baby at 17" but it really is best that they stay in something they can feel safe in. Just imagine being a little bitty snake in a huge enclosure and trying to feel secure enough to get from hide to hide safely. That's just got to be stressful on the snake, so a nice small enclosure is really best for the baby for now.

We've just moved our 5 - 6 month old snake to a bigger enclosure (and bigger hides for the fatty thing LOL) and it took a few days to settle in and for Baby to get okay with the extra open spaces to move around in.

So glad to see you are continuing on with snake keeping after your less than great first experience.


~~Joanna~~

[pumba]

Yep the new one, "Loki" is working out wonderfully. Tonight he ate his first meal in his new home. I like,,,,,,,,I like alot!

Thanks all

Ray

[tigerlily]

Congrats!!!! It's always easier when you start off with a healthy snake!!

[frankykeno]

Excellent! Congrats on the successful feeding Ray! Isn't it amazing how fast and hard they hit.

~~Jo~~