Feeding Issues

[sevirus669]

Yeah this is probaly a pretty common post title right? Anyways, I am pretty new to the Royal Python and my problem basicly goes like this, I have a basicly baby royal, appx 5 months old, appx 18-20" long and have had him since the beginning of this month (09/04 when I got him). He has had 3 feeds, one on 09/03 before i got him (pinkey mouse), 09/08 (pinkey mouse) and 09/15 (went up to fuzzy mouse). All prey is frozen then thawed and has been offered with tongs and has been procured from the same place. On the 09/15 feeding he ended up eating his mouse the wrong way (from the tail to the head). On 09/17 he moved to my office of my house so things would be a bit more quiet for him, before then he was kept in a fairly high traffic area even before I got him. Since the 09/15 feeding i have offered food every 3 days and have reallt got no response, he will check out his prey flick his tounge at it a couple times and then just shy away, I have even tried leaving the prey alone over night in the cage with him and still no result. I am wondering if anyone has any input of feeding tricks that they can share with me.

Day Temp: 90F on bask side & 83F on cool side w/ 55-60% humidity
Night temp: 80F ambiant w/ 55-60% humdity

[juddb]

A trick that worked for me was moving one of my females (who wasnt eating consistantly like the others) from the 32qt rack to the 15qt rack, keep in mind she was 700+grams and as soon as i moved her into the 15qt rack i waited about 5 days and she takes now every seven days.

[dr del]

Hi,


Does that mean you are dropping his temperatures at night?

Moving his tank might have caused him to need to settle in again so I would probably keep the temps up 24/7 and leave him completely alone to re-setle for 7 days then offer again - if he doesn't eat then leave him another 7 days with no disturbance and try again.

How do you prepare and offer the food - there may be a few things we can suggest to try.


dr del

[Stewart_Reptiles]

In many cases food refusal is often due to husbandry issue.

Remember you have moved his enclosure so this can also be a contributing factor.

i have offered food every 3 days

If offered to soon after refusal or too frequently it will only contribute to stress your BP and lead to more refusal

Night temp: 80F ambiant w/ 55-60% humdity

Make sure to maintain constant temps day and night (Do you use a digital thermometer/hygrometer?)

Also make sure your enclosure is the appropriated size, an enclosure that is too big can be overwhelming, and can cause stress overtime.

Make sure your hides are tight enough so your BP can snug in, all sides must be touching your BP's body (Avoid log hides as they do not really provide enough security for a BP).

I would also suggest you not to handle your BP until he resume feeding.

[sevirus669]

He has two hides, one on each side, one made of rock that is real snug, and one small log on the other that is only open on one end. I will see about keeping the consistant temperature thru day and night, is 85F ok? Also I am using a digi hygrom/thermo so i know those readings are accurate. He is in a 20" x 10" glass tank so I dont think that the size is an issue. Thanks to all who posted so quickly, please keep the suggestions coming. Thanxx again

[SatanicIntention]

No, keeping the temperature consistent means keeping the warm side between 92-94 and the cool side between 82-84 constantly, no night drop, and no single temp for the whole cage.

Balls don't respond well to temp swings and that's probably why he's not eating. Also, I would get rid of the half log, they are horrible hides. They don't provide any security whatsoever and he'll be sandwiched up against the cold(75, which is probably room temp, is cold for them) glass, which could lead to illness. I would make sure to have two identical hides so he doesn't choose a hide he likes better, and won't properly thermoregulate.

After you get his enclosure fixed up(maybe cover the sides with a dark sheet or towel), leave him completely alone for a week, except for changing water, and then try to feed. If he refuses, wait until the same day next week.

[dr del]

Hi,

Actually if the back and sides need covering I would suggest either cork or polystyrene sheeting as this could make it easier to keep the temps up at night as well as increasing his feelings of security.

You can get backing designed for fish/reptile tanks in most pet stores that would save you having to look at raw cork or polystyrene as well.

I'd still like to know how you prepare the food mainly to see if it might benefit from heating the head up a little more or something.


dr del

[juddb]

Hi,

Actually if the back and sides need covering I would suggest either cork or polystyrene sheeting as this could make it easier to keep the temps up at night as well as increasing his feelings of security.

Reflectix works too. $1.35 per ft at ace hardware. (for the US) sorry Dr D

[dr del]

Hi,


Never appologise for giving better info - I have only a vague idea what reflectix is and didn't know if it was robust enough to wrap round a tank.

I had it pictured in my head like silver bubble wrap - and I get all O.C.D around that stuff and start popping.


dr del

[sevirus669]

Sweet info again everyone, i cant thank you all enough. Luckily my Sevirus has his own room with his own baseboard heater w/ thermostat, so my room temperature is above average, ambiant room temp is about 80F. I have switched my lights around and I am now sitting at a constant 90F on the hot side and 83F on the cool side and the tank has been enclosed on 3 sides with cork so no more heat loss and hopefully an added sense of security (crosses fingers). Also no more food offering or intrusions for a week. got rid of the log hide and switched to another hand built snug rock hide. He seems to like it

As far as my thawing method goes, I thaw out at room temp til the prey is soft to the touch then place in zipper type bag and heat up in hot water til it is above room temp (I have one of those hand held infared thermos, I love being a chef). Although one thing I really dont know is what is a good temp for the prey to be at, I have been figuring somewhere around 98F (typical body temp). Please let me know if there is a better way to thaw. I would like to switch to live/killed prey but i just dunno if he is big enough to eat the mice that I can get around here.

Please keep the great info coming.