Childrens Python gone off food

[keeper of snakes]

Hi All
my son has a 12 month old childrens fed well on pinkies onto fuzzies have increased size again it ate one but did appear to struggle with size took nearly 14 minutes to get completely inside mouth did notice he had to re locate his jaw with a few stretches after eating but is fine his last feed was 24th dec 2019 he is still in a 300mm enclosure with small hide temperature gradient is 29 to 30 on end to ambient temp on the other around 23 to 25 he did change substrate from newspaper to small wood chip but he is fed in a seperate chinese container to prevent ingestion of wood chip.
Was wondering if he may be traumatised by the larger food (should he go back to smaller food) or could it be the change in substrate
He looks healthy still getting around and regulating temp just has no interest in food since xmas.
thanks in advance

 

[CF Constrictor]

Hi K of S
Maybe try upping the temp at the hot end to about 34 or 35c and see if that helps. I seriously doubt the large size would put it off. I tried to feed one of my coastals an adult quail when he was about 18 months old and he managed to get its head and neck down alright but after about 45 minutes trying and trying he gave up and spat it out , so close but just couldnt stretch his mouth enough. Now hes fully grown , he gulps them down no probs.

 

[keeper of snakes]

Hi CF
yeah i thought the same i never seen my snakes hesitate at a big meal just not sure why not eating i might remove the wood shavings and see what happens

 

[Fall guys]

Use papertowel or news paper and try again

 

[keeper of snakes]

i also forgot to mention that hot side switches off around 7:30 and sits around 23 24 degrees celsius over night until 7 :30am
is this OK

 

[CF Constrictor]

Yeah , that sounds ok in general but it will need higher temps to digest a meal, so maybe try keeping the temp around low 30s overnight and let them drop to about 23 or 24 over night a couple of days after feeding and see if that works.

 

[Sdaji]

Obvious things to try in a case like this are not removing the snake before feeding, increasing the temperature a little and giving more than 12 hours per day of heating. If your reason for only giving 12 hours is that you're using a lamp instead of floor heat, an obvious thing to try is using floor heat since for Children's Pythons it's better, and you're best off not using any sort of lamp or UV for them.

Good luck

 

[keeper of snakes]

Yeah , that sounds ok in general but it will need higher temps to digest a meal, so maybe try keeping the temp around low 30s overnight and let them drop to about 23 or 24 over night a couple of days after feeding and see if that works.

hi
sorry do you mean low 30s during the day and 23 to 24 overnight
if so it normally sits around 32 to 34 during day and at the moment around 24 overnight
[doublepost=1581065453,1581064957][/doublepost]

Obvious things to try in a case like this are not removing the snake before feeding, increasing the temperature a little and giving more than 12 hours per day of heating. If your reason for only giving 12 hours is that you're using a lamp instead of floor heat, an obvious thing to try is using floor heat since for Children's Pythons it's better, and you're best off not using any sort of lamp or UV for them.

Good luck

thanks for advice
i have heat cord no lamps hot end is 32 to 34 for about 12 hours then it switches off and depending on the weather sits around 22 to 24 over night and i was removing snake into seperate enclosure to prevent wood chip ingestion

 

[Sdaji]

hi
sorry do you mean low 30s during the day and 23 to 24 overnight
if so it normally sits around 32 to 34 during day and at the moment around 24 overnight
[doublepost=1581065453,1581064957][/doublepost]
thanks for advice
i have heat cord no lamps hot end is 32 to 34 for about 12 hours then it switches off and depending on the weather sits around 22 to 24 over night and i was removing snake into seperate enclosure to prevent wood chip ingestion

You're giving two different stories. In your first post you say 29 to 30, now you say 32 to 34. If it's the first, increase it to second. If it's the second, okay, that should be a good setting. Either way, as I said, at this time of year give more than 12 hours. If it's not on a thermostat you should use one. Make sure you're measuring the temperature properly.

I didn't ask why you were moving the snake, I said that not moving your snake is an obvious thing to try, since moving them often makes snakes less keen to feed. Eating a wood chip shouldn't hurt your snake unless it's of an unusual type which is sharp or toxic in which case you need to change your substrate anyway.

When newly arrived snakes eat one meal then refuse it means they were previously happy with conditions but the new environment is not to their liking, most commonly in regard to temperature, which is the most important husbandry aspect for reptles. Either that or they're just coming up for a slough or in unusual cases they can have acquired an injury or something after arrival, but I'm assuming we can rule that sort of thing out.

It's perfectly normal for a python to take 15 minutes or more to eat a meal of appropriate size. Some will do it faster, some slower, 15 minutes is within the normal range. If you're even considering pink mice it's small for its age and should be being kept warm (I'm talking about hours per day not maximum temperature). I would maintain a 24 hour gradient, but with an Antaresia small enough to eat pinkies I'd only give 1 or 2 hours per day off heat if at all. It's okay for the cool end to fluctuate over the 24 hour cycle but I'd want it to have access to comfortable temperatures all day or at least most of the day.