First Feeding

[EL-Ziggy]

@ Bogertophis- I respect your experience and expertise and I’m not necessarily disagreeing with you. There are exceptions to every rule. Some animals will fail to thrive no matter what we do. That’s the circle of life. I’ve conceded that there are some unconventional species that require more than general feeding care. The situation you described with the longnose snake is an excellent example. You stated that it’s an animal that primarily eats lizards and other snakes in the wild and is rarely kept in captivity. I can understand if it’s very difficult to transition those animals to a rodent based diet and I wouldn’t recommend new keepers take on those kinds of challenges. When I say generally that all healthy snakes will eventually eat if presented with food, I’m speaking primarily about the snakes that are most commonly kept in captivity like BPs, other pythons, boas, and most colubrids which have been eating commercially farmed rodents and avian prey for generations. In those cases, where animals have previously eaten, and then stopped eating after leaving the breeder, or during winter/breeding seasons, I believe that it’s always just a matter of time and patience before survival and self preservation mandate that the animal eventually eat again. That’s why I recommend keepers relax, not panic, and stay the course. Every stubborn feeder situation that I’ve had, and in ALL the countless threads I’ve seen on this forum, and other public platforms, has ALWAYS ended with the snake eating. Sometimes it takes weeks or months but I haven’t seen one “healthy” animal starve itself to death yet. Snakes that have never eaten, or require assist/force feeding, should never be made available for sale to the general public unless they come with the appropriate warning.