My 1.5 year old male children's python pretty much refused food all winter. He finally ate a month ago after many unsuccessful feeds, even once the weather started to warm up, but MAN he is fussy! I had to try everything - braining the mouse, warming it with a hairdryer, he even has UV in his enclosure which is set to a day night cycle for cryptic basking. The time he ate, the variable which was different was that I fed him at night time.
He's definitely hungry - he's active in his enclosure, has a feeding response when I try to clean his enclosure, and has even bitten me and latched on thinking I'm food when I've tried to handle him. Given this, last week, I tried to feed him a 1 week old quail - he acted keen, struck at it, constricted, but then he lets go of it with his mouth and kind of looked at it for a while from different angles. Eventually he completely let go of it with his body and kind of just angrily roamed around his enclosure. He ignored the food but acted aggressively towards me through the glass. I should also mention that in the past, he has been known to refuse black mice and only eat white mice. I thought it'd be nice to get him some quail to diversify his diet a bit!
Could it be that he's just a fussy eater - doesn't like quail, and only likes white mice? And he only likes to eat at night time? I've tried investigating my husbandry - his warm side temps are around 32-35, and he has a cool side that probably stays around 21-25 depending on the ambient temps outside the enclosure. I don't do much for humidity besides a big water bowl on his warm side. He has plenty of hides, logs, leaves, etc. He's certainly not shy either - he often hangs out on top of his hide and perches on branches too, I don't think he minds being perceived. Perhaps he feels vulnerable eating under the UV and prefers eating in the dark. Is there any feedback anyone could give, or things that I might be missing?
On the other hand, my jungle (male, same age) has never refused a feed. I treat them similarly husbandry wise, but I haven't put UV in his enclosure yet. I'll often end up feeding him my children's mouse that he doesn't eat.
TLDR Can anybody offer some wisdom on a fussy adult Antaresia, not eating during November?
He's definitely hungry - he's active in his enclosure, has a feeding response when I try to clean his enclosure, and has even bitten me and latched on thinking I'm food when I've tried to handle him. Given this, last week, I tried to feed him a 1 week old quail - he acted keen, struck at it, constricted, but then he lets go of it with his mouth and kind of looked at it for a while from different angles. Eventually he completely let go of it with his body and kind of just angrily roamed around his enclosure. He ignored the food but acted aggressively towards me through the glass. I should also mention that in the past, he has been known to refuse black mice and only eat white mice. I thought it'd be nice to get him some quail to diversify his diet a bit!
Could it be that he's just a fussy eater - doesn't like quail, and only likes white mice? And he only likes to eat at night time? I've tried investigating my husbandry - his warm side temps are around 32-35, and he has a cool side that probably stays around 21-25 depending on the ambient temps outside the enclosure. I don't do much for humidity besides a big water bowl on his warm side. He has plenty of hides, logs, leaves, etc. He's certainly not shy either - he often hangs out on top of his hide and perches on branches too, I don't think he minds being perceived. Perhaps he feels vulnerable eating under the UV and prefers eating in the dark. Is there any feedback anyone could give, or things that I might be missing?
On the other hand, my jungle (male, same age) has never refused a feed. I treat them similarly husbandry wise, but I haven't put UV in his enclosure yet. I'll often end up feeding him my children's mouse that he doesn't eat.
TLDR Can anybody offer some wisdom on a fussy adult Antaresia, not eating during November?
