Help!

[Nfoster0301]

1. Your probe should be outside of the tank. If your snake pees, or dumps his water on it, the probe will read the temperature way too low and kick the heat pad on until It gets to your set temperature. This will kick it on way too hot and the snake could be burned. Tape the probe to the underside of the heat pad, or peel it back and put it between the heat pad and the tank glass. Personally, I have mine taped with aluminum tape so it will conduct heat and only measure the heat pad. You will have to set your thermostat to a higher temp so that the bottom of the tank is at 90-91

2. Snakes are nocturnal, so he'll be more active at night naturally. I have a baby albino who was super active all the time. She wasn't eating for me, so I tried feeding her a live mouse. After about 15 minutes of her looking at the mouse, she finally struck at it and ate it. Hopefully this kicks her appetite into gear and then she'll start growing. After she ate, she was much less active. I think she even stayed in her hide for a solid 24 hours after eating. Make sure you get your little guy to eat because babies can't survive as long without food.

3. If you have him in a tank, he may feel exposed and whatnot. Small snakes are okay with being in a shoe-box-sized enclosure because they get overwhelmed with too much open space. You may need to put him into a small container with a heat pad underneath it and it'll make him feel safer. Once he feels safe, he'll eat.

4. Try cleaning everything in the tank prior to feeding. A snake won't eat if they can smell their own excrement or urine. My albino was really hesitant to eat, so I cleaned the tank, the hides, the fake plants, the water dish, and my moisture box. I replaced the paper towel in the bottom of the tank and I made sure it was warm before putting her back in.

5. Remove clutter from the tank when feeding. My snake wanted to stay in the hide with the live mouse running around her tank. Also, the mouse was burrowing in the fake plants that I have. I removed the hide and the fake plants so that she could keep an eye on the live mouse. At one point, the mouse was cuddling with my snake, but after I walked away, I heard the squeaks from the mouse being attacked.

6. Turn the lights out when you try to feed. The snakes like to eat in the darkness, so if your tank lights are on, turn those off too. Put the live mouse in there but keep an eye on it. If you're gonna try f/t, put the mouse on a piece of newspaper after you've warmed it up right outside of the hide the snake is in so that they're forced to smell it, and leave it overnight. Before putting the mouse in, use the hair dryer trick to waft the fumes from the mouse into the tank by blowing the mouse with the hair dryer. Put the hair dryer on full heat and heat the head up so that the snake will think it's alive and attack.

7. If you're using f/t and they're kept in a plastic bag, try rinsing the mouse with warm water. It'll get rid of "the freezer smell" and it might entice the snake to eat it.

8. Cover the tank with a towel so you can't see anything that's going on inside. It'll help the snake be more secure. I did this and I kept peeking to make sure the live mouse wasn't attacking my snake, and as soon as I put the towel down and walked away did my snake attack.

Good luck, hopefully this list will help you out!

Thanks a ton man, great response. Do you have any comment on the basking? And also, how long until I should worry about the snake not eating?