Getting my first noodle Tuesday!

[Bogertophis]

Thank you for the response! ive read the "no sticky near the noodle" warnings . I have a feeling the snake wasn't well taken care of by the previous owner, it was seized along with multiple other animals and the previous owner is now incarcerated. Id be willing to bet at a minimum the husbandry was off. That would explain the stress and defensiveness. Luckly the shelter did at least a little research, tank is too big, only 1 hide, but the temps and humidity were right. I feel like I can give the little guy the best chance to thrive. I am going to have to work with feeding though, they've been removing him/her to feed, so im not sure if it is going to have a good "in tank" feeding response. But one thing at a time. for now, ive got the temps and the humidity set up and places for him to hide, so im sure everything else will fall into place with time and care.

If that snake put up with being handled & moved to another container to feed, it should feed even better if left to eat where it's most comfortable & secure, so I wouldn't worry too much about that. Many snakes are actually put OFF eating by that process, plus they're more likely to bite either when hungry before, or after being fed, as they're still in "feed mode".

Something to work on would be switching to pre-killed or f/t (frozen-thawed) prey, for safety & all that, but don't try to change everything at once. Stay patient, it pays off.

I once adopted a dog (a Doberman) that had been seized from the owner (who was charged with animal cruelty etc), so I can relate. She was so stressed that her brown hair turned white in many places & fell out, & she was only a few years old...but home with me it all grew back beautifully...she was a real sweetie, though I had to muzzle her for the vet...she wasn't keen on men, as that's who abused her. It feels really good to help out a rescue of any kind when we can, & I agree, it's doubtful that your new snake was properly cared for previously. Sounds like a pretty good shelter...many don't even try to help snakes, or have the means to.