Jungles not feeding HELP

[othman]

Hi,

i just recently bought a couple of jungle pythons they are bout 1 and a half years old. The previous owner said they are great feeders and she feeds them a couple of fuzzies every couple of weeks. as soon as i got them i fed them..and they both ate fuzzies. two weeks later i came to feed them, i dropped a couple of fuzzies in the enclosure..they both seemed to respond and notice that foods inside the enclosure they become very active but they dnt seem to eat it. they just sit and stare at it. ive left the fizzies in there for a couple more weeks and they still havent eaten it.

if anyone could outline what could possible be wrong? ure help would be greatly appreciated.

i have a thermostat in there set to 30 degrees..with a 40 watt red light bulb in there too...which by the way never turns off. could that be an issue?

 

[salebrosus]

i keep my jungles around 28 and dont have an issue. I use an ordinary day globe and turn it off at 6pm. Weather usually sits around 28 where i live anyways.

Also i would have thought being 18 months old fuzzies are just far too small. I would expect them to be on medium rats by now. Have you tried scenting the food, maybe offer day old chicks instead. i have one jungle (total pain iin the ****) will not feed on anything that is not a day old chick.

 

[funcouple]

sounds like your enclosure maynot be getting to 30C if it never turns off. are you warmming the fuzzies up properly? did the old owner just drop the fuzzies in or tease the snake to get them to strike? im thinking you mean fuzzy rats. 18 month old jungles should be feeding on larger than fuzzy rats. i have a 18 month old jungle the takes medium rats 120gram with no problems

 

[Fireflyshuffle]

oh dear...fuzzys you say hey? poor jungle, no wonder he doesnt wanna eat it. thats like us being given a grape for dinner lol

 

[othman]

They are fuzzies and are about the size of my thumb. previous owner said that i shouldnt feed them anything bigger as they may not be able to swallow it. further shes been feeding them that with no problems.

how would i heat them properly, i put them in hot water for a minute or so till it defrosts and then i just place it inside the enclosure. is there a better way of preparing it? also how would i scent them.

why has feeding them become an issue ever since i recieved the snakes? previous owner mentioned they had no problems wut so ever. the only changes i did was i moved around the location of the water bowl and placed it near the globe...to create humidity. could this prove to be an issue?

having said that..i never turn the heat light off. should i be turning it off at nite? also the 40w partytone red bulb which i have is located at the far left and the thermostat is located at the far right where the temperature sits at 25-26. im not sure what the temperature is under the globe.

any ideas guys?

 

[Wild~Touch]

Could they be coming up for a shed ?

 

[herpkeeper]

a couple of Q's:
how many times a week are you handling them ?
are they housed together ?
do they have a milky appearence ?

 

[lovey]

two weeks later i came to feed them, i dropped a couple of fuzzies in the enclosure..they both seemed to respond and notice that foods inside the enclosure they become very active but they dnt seem to eat it. they just sit and stare at it. ive left the fizzies in there for a couple more weeks and they still havent eaten it.

I'd only leave the fuzzies in the enclosure overnight. They must of stunk the enclosure out if left in there for a couple of weeks. No wonder they haven't eaten them. :shock:

 

[Frozenmouse]

yeah 12 hours would be the longest you would ever leave food in a cage before removing it.
Pythons get a feeding response from ;
1- movement (wiggle the food item)
2- smell (make sure the mice / rats are not soaked in their own urine and poo give them a wash under some warm water and pat dry with a paper towel)
3- warmth , most aussie pythons have heat sensing pits around their face if the prey item is warmer than ambient temps this will also trigger a feeding response . (make sure you use tongs to offer food as the thermal image given off by your hand will be much to big for the snake to recognise as a prey item.
Good luck

 

[othman]

Ausome...i did wat u suggested dabool...i dipped it in boiling water for a few ,moments pulled it out and wiggled it infront of them and then BANG they striked....although i made a huge mistake of feeding them in the same enclosure...the female bit the male...and tangled all over him..wouldnt let go..till we sprayed abit of water on them. they both fed....theyre both still tangled...and seem to have trouble realesing each other. what to do?

also..should i be turning the heat light off at nite? i live in melbourne and we have very unpredictable weather. whats suggestions there

also...do they need to tell the difference between night and day...my room is very dark i have a fluoroscent tube in there..not uv..and turn it on from time to time. shall i get a timer and have the light on 7 to 8 hours a day?

 

[jasontini]

They should have been in separate enclosures.........................

 

[CodeRed]

Ausome...i did wat u suggested dabool...i dipped it in boiling water for a few ,moments pulled it out and wiggled it infront of them and then BANG they striked....although i made a huge mistake of feeding them in the same enclosure...the female bit the male...and tangled all over him..wouldnt let go..till we sprayed abit of water on them. they both fed....theyre both still tangled...and seem to have trouble realesing each other. what to do?

also..should i be turning the heat light off at nite? i live in melbourne and we have very unpredictable weather. whats suggestions there

also...do they need to tell the difference between night and day...my room is very dark i have a fluoroscent tube in there..not uv..and turn it on from time to time. shall i get a timer and have the light on 7 to 8 hours a day?

If they are still entangled grab them both and hold them under water. They'll let go in a few seconds.

Is it a infrared heatlight? If so I would suggest leaving the heat light on at night. Melbourne is too cold for jungles at night.

 

[Cheyne_Jones]

Othman I think you should return your snakes to the person you bought them from before you end up killing them...

 

[Frozenmouse]

oh dude you need to do a bit more research before you jump into purchasing reptiles next time.
try the search option all of your questions have been covered 100times over on this site alone.

 

[Inlandtaipan078]

Poor snakes!!

Jump on the V.H.S website and use the search feture on A.P.S and have A read of the caresheets not being rude but you clearly have no idea about husbandry it would take to long to explain everything in 1 thread and meanwhile It is your Animals that are suffering:?

 

[Inlandtaipan078]

Where in melb are you located?

 

[othman]

relax everyone..its just another learning curve. ok they attacked each other..no big deal. they released afterwards...

no its not an infrared heat light..its just a 40w red partytone normal globe from bunnings. should i invest in somethin stronger?

inlandtaipan i live in bulleen.

 

[MontyB]

Othman,

Guess you have learnt your lesson but I think most people thought about the welfare of your reptilian friends than your sensitivity,

1. Get them homed in separate enclosures (I assume they are in one enclosure atm)
2. Set each enclosure up with a decent heat gradient
3. Always feed separately
4. Upsize from fuzzie rats to medium weaners (a feed should leave a noticeable buldge and it sounds like your guys need something more substantial)
5. Read as much as you can and then read some more.

 

[Emmalicious]

Ohh sorry thats gross leaving a rat in there for weeks they begin to smell horrible and rot! gross!

 

[Kaaza]

you should never leave anything dead in the enclosure any longer than over night omg cant imagine how much it stank..............