my Lestat won't eat!

[anghaha]

Hi all!

Just wanted to pick everyone’s brains about my Lestat’s situation. Before I do…lemme give you a run down of who I am and what I know etc.

My 10 yr. old daughter had been asking for a snake for over a year and long story short we finally caved after she put up ½ the $ for one plus his set up etc. We met with Ron at North Texas Reptile Breeders (awesome breeder btw) and he sold us a normal little guy which my daughter named Aussie. Ron does feed all his BP’s live, but we thought we’d give frozen a try since we heard so much about it being better and safer. Aussie wants nothing to do with the frozen stuff and has no problems striking, coiling, and consuming his live dinner pretty quickly. So…we’ve left him on that & see no reason to change it.

Aussie has been an awesome addition to our family (hence he’s usually called Awesome Aussie around the house) of 2 dogs, 5 cats, 1 red eared slider, and a couple dozen fish. BUT I’ve also learned that we have A LOT to learn about keeping BP’s. It’s fun learning though. Except for trying to keep the humidity up in his tank (yes, it’s glass), him having a couple bad sheds, WHICH I watched a youtube video on shed assisting that was really helpful and I’m proud to say we both made it through that process w/flying colors…I was sooooo nervous at first because I didn’t wanna hurt him.

Because of Aussie, I caught the bug and had to have one of my own. We went back to Ron at NTRB and my BF bought me a beautiful baby boy Lemon Pastel…Lestat!

Now…I know I’m getting long winded here, but I just wanted everyone to know that I am a new BP owner, but I’m learning a lot everyday. There’s a ton of helpful information on here and everyone seems really helpful, but I’m just terrified of being criticized and all due to my lack of knowledge, so I’m really not into hearing all that.

So…back to the main reason I’m wanting to pick everyone’s brains. Lestat won’t eat! I’m not really really worried about it yet because I hear BP’s can go quite a while w/out eating, but I’m getting there. He hatched May 17th…Ron always makes sure they’re eating well before letting them go to their new homes. I took him home June 7th and was told he ate a couple fuzzies the day before, which would be the 6th. We feed Aussie once a week, so will feed Lestat on the same schedule. We let Lestat settle in and acclimate to his new home and he’s been totally cool when we’ve handled him, a little spazzier than Aussie, but probably cause he’s so young. When the next feeding day rolled around, the 16th (would make it 10 days since he ate last) we thought we’d try him on a very small mouse. I promise it wasn’t bigger than the widest part of his body. His first strike he missed and his dinner ran away. He tried again a few minutes later and struck at the side of the mouse’s body and started constricting, but wasn’t quick enough and the mouse started to bite him. With no time to waste being a little more humane about it, my BF quickly reached in and thumped the mouse in the head (I think it killed him) Lestat freaked out and slithered away. We tried for a few more minutes to get him to eat the mouse, but it was a no go. He was hardly wounded. When I went to go clean him up and put some Neosporin on his bite you could hardly tell anything was there. He seemed really wound up though, so I put him away to chill out from the traumatic events. I handled him regularly since then…he’s not seemed aggressive or anything, but I kept thinking to myself “He has got to be soooo hungry!” Well, the next feeding day came around, Mon. the 23rd. We didn’t want a repeat of the last episode and had decided maybe he wasn’t ready for a small mouse yet, so we thought we’d get a frozen fuzzy. I put it in a baggy, ran it under hot water til it thawed out, shot it w/the hair dryer to warm it up, used tongs to make it scoot around on the floor to entice Lestat…NOPE! He was scared and kept balling up…when we’d put it down and walk away for a few minutes to give him some privacy maybe? He just slithered around it and even over it, but acted like nothing was there.

I’m soooo frustrated! & getting on the verge of really really worrying. It’s now been almost 3 weeks since he ate last…thinking about trying to get a live fuzzy…I’m so sorry to everyone that took the time to read this whole thing for it being so long, but any advice would be appreciated.

Angie

[JoshJP7]

Just a quick repsonse before others chime in with more detail..

- No handling till he eats
- Keep a pencil or something small and skinny around when feeding live... When the mouse/rat goes to bite the snake put it in the mouses mouth.
- Stick with live right now until he has a couple meals then try on FT.
- Some BP's are shy eaters and will leave food if they dont feel safe.

It sounds like your problem isnt that big... try live again ... stay around till the snake kills the mouse and then leave him alone to eat em up!... Where are the pictures of this new snake!!!!!!!!!

[Stewart_Reptiles]

If you feed an appropriate size prey in this case hopper or small mouse there is no reason for your BF to intervene, BP are efficient and a bite from a prey that size does not represent any danger.

Stop handling him for a while, such a young BP should not be handle too much and if he is not eating with consistency you should stop any handling!

Also being that young I would recommend you to feed him every 5 to 7 days not every 10 days.

Until he eats with consistency (4 to 6 consecutive meals with you) I would recommend you to keep feeding live. Once he is well established you can attempt to switch him if this is what you want to do but for now the priority is to get him to be a consistent feeder.

Can you describe your setup?

Is your snake house individually?

How big is his enclosure?

What are your temps?

What is your humidity?

What type of thermometer hygrometer do you use (dial, stick, digital)

How many and what kind of hides do you provide? Are they tight (all side touching your BP’s body and identical?)

[anghaha]

Where are the pictures of this new snake!!!!!!!!!

I would love to post a pic, but how come my posting rules say i MAY NOT post attachments?

Thanks for the suggestions, but are you saying I should try another live small mouse again? or agreeing that I should try a live fuzzy? Which the fuzzies are hard to find unless I wanna pay the big bucks in gas, but will do it if I have to.

[JoshJP7]

Im not too sure on the stages of mice but I'm pretty sure you shouldnt feed your snake anything smaller than a hopper mouse (10-15g)... large mice are like 20-30g. I'm assuming by fuzzy you mean hopper... which is fine as long as were talkin mice not rats

To post a pic you need to upload the picture in your gallery and then copy/paste the link into your post.

[anghaha]

Stop handling him for a while, such a young BP should not be handle too much and if he is not eating with consistency you should stop any handling!

after bringing him home he was only handled a couple of times before we tried feeding him.

Also being that young I would recommend you to feed him every 5 to 7 days not every 10 days..

we will be feeding him every 7 days...in the beginning here we have only tried to get him on the same schedule as our other BP, which is why he went 10 days the first attempt to feed. After the first attempt we only waited another 7 days. Of course I know he's young and doesn't need to go more than every 7 days before he eats again...hence my concern.

Can you describe your setup?

Is your snake house individually?

How big is his enclosure?

What are your temps?

What is your humidity?

What type of thermometer hygrometer do you use (dial, stick, digital)

How many and what kind of hides do you provide? Are they tight (all side touching your BP’s body and identical?)

ExoTerra 18"cube, substrate provided by NTRB (forgot what it's called), styrofoam rock wall along back wall, I've hung fake greenery moss from cork board on the right and left sides so it feels more enclosed, 2 identical hides (they don't look the same from the outside, but the insides are identical ( I used wire mesh and sheets of dried moss to make them the same shape etc. on the inside), UTH, corner water dish, housed individually, not yet 100% about temps & humidity, will soon be getting an accurite as I'm very aware for a need for this type of monitoring) for now i'm misting a couple times a day, but I do know he uses his warm and cool hides equally. Hides are pretty snug, but he does have growing room in them. I think it helps having the dried moss glued to the entire dome shaped ceiling to make him feel more secure.

[naba2002]

i had an incident where my bp got scratched on the eye, stopped eating for no mater what i tried. all i can tell u is leave it alone, keep up ur husbandry, wait until he sheds, prescent the room a few hours in advance and then try feeding. it worked for me so good luck

[anghaha]

Prescent the room? how the heck do you do that?

& I'm not so sure I can wait til his next shed...who knows when that will be. He's only 5 1/2 wks old!

I'll stop handling him completely if I need to, but do I try feeding him again now? do i wait til next feeding day which is monday???

[JoshJP7]

Last time you tried was monday? If so then id say try again tomorrow night when hes out and about... feed a live hopper and let him take it down in peace.... Prescenting is just putting the mouse in the same room near his tub so he can smell it... I think your only problem before was that you got all up on his business when he was trying to eat so he didnt feel safe... i think youll be OK.

[naba2002]

Prescent the room? how the heck do you do that?

& I'm not so sure I can wait til his next shed...who knows when that will be. He's only 5 1/2 wks old!

I'll stop handling him completely if I need to, but do I try feeding him again now? do i wait til next feeding day which is monday???

ooo didnt c how young it was. i was telling you what worked for me. i think the main thing is not to stik food in his face every single day, i no its frustrating, i almost went mad when mine didnt eat but just give him a chance to chill out. and this may help also... http://ball-pythons.net/modules.php?...warticle&id=60 keep us updated.