GTP feeding

[fluffykitten]

Drop the temps. I keep mine at an ambient of around 77-79 throughout the cage. He has one small spot at the back right corner that has a little Nano CHE and a t-stat set to 85F. GTPs generally dont like it really hot. At least he isnt grounding so you got a plus there.

Second, dont mist the snake. Most babies hate being sprayed with water and it can piss them off or stress them out. I personally never mist my cage and im using a Zoo Med 18x18x18 cube. I just cover the top with tin foil and leave a hole in the back right corner for the CHE. I use Reptichips on the floor with a large water dish and a live potted plant. That keeps humidity around 65-70%. You dont want a constantly wet cage. That will create RI conditions.

Also give us a pic of what you got. The snake might not feel secure. Pat LOVES plastic plants so i have 4 of those in cage which he will sleep next to and play around on all night long. It's a good sign he is at least exploring at night.

When you offer him food, are you just touching him? Sometimes you have to kind of smack em around to get them good and pissed lol. Also you can try and pinch the snout of the pinky mouse to create blood.

Also is the snake drinking? A dehydrated snake wont eat. Again, need to see the set up. Do you have elevated water bowls? Have you seen the snake drink? Are you injecting the FT with water?


Also, if i didnt emphasize it enough, you need to make sure the snake is drinking. They use liquid to digest food. They also lose liquid to too much heat. They also piss out liquid. And neos will dry up quick. Try and hold a little tiny bottle cap of water to the snakes face during the day. It might drink. Pat drank water that way at first. Then he figured out the elevated little water dishes and found his large water dish at the floor which he swims in pretty much nightly. I still inject his FT fuzzy mice with water though to make sure he stays hydrated even though i have seen him drink.

I have seen him drink, he has a good size water bowl on the floor but none up higher. I'll try the bottle cap of water idea too.

When I try to feed I first offer it just in front of head then I'll for the lack of better words gently smack him around with the pink by tapping him on the head and sides and tail. This worked well for the first two feedings. I can try to inject the pinks too but that will only help if I can get him back on food.
I'll work on getting a picture of the enclosure in the morning.

[Sauzo]

I have seen him drink, he has a good size water bowl on the floor but none up higher. I'll try the bottle cap of water idea too.

When I try to feed I first offer it just in front of head then I'll for the lack of better words gently smack him around with the pink by tapping him on the head and sides and tail. This worked well for the first two feedings. I can try to inject the pinks too but that will only help if I can get him back on food.
I'll work on getting a picture of the enclosure in the morning.

I would for sure add a couple little elevated water bowls. I personally use these. https://beanfarm.com/collections/foo...t=723909738523 with https://beanfarm.com/collections/foo...t=724029079579 as well as the large water bowl on the floor.

I wouldnt smack him on the head. They generally arent fans of having the prey come at their face. They seem to really get worked up if you rub it on their tail. I just dance mine around on tongs in front of him and then kind walk walk it away and after he checks it out for about 10-15 secs to verify it is food, he will snag it. But i dont put it right infront of his face. Like i said, i will bounce it out away from him a little, then touch his tail, then pull it away and then maybe touch his back body, and then bounce it in front of him some more. You know when they are interested as Pat will slowly follow it out as im bouncing it away and then when i bring it back in, he grabs it lol. He really isnt a deathly eater. He is pretty polite and grabs it by the head and then i just pull it and shake it a little and then let go and he hangs it down and wraps it and swallows.

[SDA]

Good to see that image. I think you might have read the weight wrong as there is no way the GTP from that image is 17 grams. It also is not underfed. If anything it is doing well and can handle the lack of eating for a bit.

Follow what Sauzo said about feeding and water. They respond best to prey offered in front of them on the perch and allowing them to "hunt" it. Ganja wants her prey slowly moved toward her head and takes about a minute or two before she shows interest. It is important not to just offer and give up. It can take several attempts before they strike and coil.

[fluffykitten]

Good to see that image. I think you might have read the weight wrong as there is no way the GTP from that image is 17 grams. It also is not underfed. If anything it is doing well and can handle the lack of eating for a bit.

Follow what Sauzo said about feeding and water. They respond best to prey offered in front of them on the perch and allowing them to "hunt" it. Ganja wants her prey slowly moved toward her head and takes about a minute or two before she shows interest. It is important not to just offer and give up. It can take several attempts before they strike and coil.

Thanks everyone for your support and information so far. I went to the store and picked some things up this morning and will make some more changes tonight after work.
I'm going to
Cover the sides and back with some background
And made another change to my heat set up to bring down the temp some more. I made a change last night and the cool side went down to 75 to 77 but the hot spot is still a bit too high.
I'm going to order a elevated water dish too and put in some more plastic leaves so there is more hiding spots.
Anyone know were to get some chick down for scent? Should I just try to pick up a frozen chick this weekend at the expo?

As far as the weight I'm pretty I read in correctly, unless its not accurate. tho I do use it for all of my other guys and it seems correct. I guess I will have to dig out my calibrated weight set to check it I guess maybe its off on the low end.

[Sauzo]

Thanks everyone for your support and information so far. I went to the store and picked some things up this morning and will make some more changes tonight after work.
I'm going to
Cover the sides and back with some background
And made another change to my heat set up to bring down the temp some more. I made a change last night and the cool side went down to 75 to 77 but the hot spot is still a bit too high.
I'm going to order a elevated water dish too and put in some more plastic leaves so there is more hiding spots.
Anyone know were to get some chick down for scent? Should I just try to pick up a frozen chick this weekend at the expo?

As far as the weight I'm pretty I read in correctly, unless its not accurate. tho I do use it for all of my other guys and it seems correct. I guess I will have to dig out my calibrated weight set to check it I guess maybe its off on the low end.

You can have a little warmer hotspot. You just want to be sure to offer the snake cool spots too. 75-77F for a cool spot is great. Just make sure you give them some cover on the cool and warm side so they dont have debate on security vs temps. Security will win out all the time which can cause the snake to become too cold or too hot.

Like i said, Pat LOVES his plastic plants. He sleeps next to them during the day and plays on them during the night haha.

And no idea where to pick up chick down. Maybe look up your local feed stores or 4H clubs and find a local poultry farm and ask explain how you need chick down to the owner/farmer and he might just give you some.

And i agree, i dont see that guy weighing 17 grams. I think your scale is messed up. And really you dont need to weigh him. You are just stressing him out. I have no idea what Pat weighs. I am just happy he eats like clockwork every 5-7 days, poops and pees good and is a happy looking snake. Also doesnt hurt that for a biak, he is pretty laid back. He did try to caudal lure me last night even though he just ate the night before haha. Big ambitions from such a little snake.

[SDA]

Just to reiterate, GTPs have a rather unusual stress response in captivity. They don't all go through this but when they do it can be frustrating. They can seem fine for a week or two and actually seem to be doing fine then they sort of shut down with feed responses and activity. This delayed response can last weeks to over a month. During that time they can refuse to eat and might ever go through a stress induced shed that seems problematic (mine did that).

The best thing to do is once you get husbandry on point you don't do anything and I mean anything to interact with the snake short of cleaning waste, replacing water regularly (like every 3 days or so in some cases) and offering food.

Your snake could just be going through stress but I also have to point out that GTPS are voracious eaters. They will literally gorge themselves to death so a feeding problem should not be ignored as typical.

The possible causes are:

You bought a neonate too young that was not weened properly. A breeder should never release a GTP before it is eating several meals

Improper condition and inadequate feeling of security. This might be what is going on so get that husbandry on point and I mean on point.

Disease. Your snake is too young hopefully to be negatively impacted by disease and we still do not know how and where you got this. Even from a breeder, GTPs can harbor parasites.


Of these three the first two is most likely your culprits and removing all possible means of stress (too high heat causes stress as well) is crucial.

While adjusting stress learn techniques for stimulating how they feed. There are youtube videos and many sites that explain how to do this. Avoid at all costs touching the mouth directly and do not come from above. Learn how to "tickle" them on sides with prey to get a response going. Also learn the difference between a defensive strike and a actual grab.

Your snake should technically be over 6 months old and if so can safely survive a month of not eating.

[fluffykitten]

So I have made some changes. Covered the sides and added smaller branches and added more plastic leaves. I also ordered the elevated water dish that will probably be here Monday or Tuesday.

[Sauzo]

Looks good but i would move the CHE over to one side or the other. GTPs tend to go to the highest perch available and with the CHE right smack in the middle of the highest perch, the snake cant really get cool.

And for the plants, what i have found works best for Pat is i will put the plants in front of the perches and not actually on the perches. That way the snake can still sit on the perches right next to the plants without plants actually covering them if that makes sense. Basically you are putting the plant between the perch and front of the cage. i do that with all 3 perches. Pat will sleep in the back left high perch behind a plant during the day and then at night, comes to the front high perch and sits in the middle of it.

And i would avoid misting the plants or the snake and if you have to, just mist the substrate. I mist my substrate about once a week. If you mist the plants and the oak dowels, they will mold. I found that out the hard way and a few people told me that too lol. And make sure the perches cant spin or move. GTPs dont like that.

[fluffykitten]

it may just be the way it looks in the picture, the CHE is all the way in that back right side.

ill work on the plants I may have to trim them down a little bit. funny enough I looked in there this morning and couldn't see him. after looking for a bit I noticed he was curled up in the plants looking pretty comfy. The perches are pretty solid and don't move around I just cut the wood slightly big and they are just kind of press fit in. That will work for now until I find some that works better. But at the very least they are much more stable than the old ones. what did you use to mount your perches?

I haven't misted at all since yesterday morning and this morning I was still at 73% so I may be able to cut back on misting a bit.

[SDA]

Some people actually let their cages dry out between misting as in letting humidity drop to 40-50%. Outside of a shed cycle you should be fine not being so liberal with misting.

You changes look really good. Once you good with temps you may find a better feeding response. Keep us posted how it goes.