I can't get my new snake to feed...

[Beloved_Reptiles]

I bought a darwin x jungle from you over 3 weeks ago and when I got him I was told he was due to feed. Every week since I got him I've been offering food and cannot get him to eat! He won't even strike and I'm at a bit of a loss at what to do. I've even offered different sized rats/mice and tonight tried a chicken neck just so I could get something in to him & still not the slightest bit interested. Any suggestions?
My other jungle is in the tank next to him and has same heating, etc and no problems what so ever. Initially I thought he just needed to settle in but now I'm not so sure.
I have looked in and around his mouth the best I can and there doesn't seem to be any sores or anything out of place.
Look forward to hearing some advice.

 

[pythrulz]

Sounds like another bum deal can be very frustrating how olds the snake and what are you trying to feed dont fuss to much they can go many months without feeding there are a few things you can do sent the rat with chicken.braining may take a lot of patients try warming the food before feeding that helps

 

[Beloved_Reptiles]

Also forgot to mention he's a little over 12mths old.

 

[J-A-X]

try waiting until dark, leave the prey in there, and make sure the room he is in is dark. One of my Darwins was a 'private' eater, she grew out of it by 5mths old.
Is he maybe due for a shed ?
At a year old I would think there is a reason it not eating, Maybe he would prefer a different temp to the jungle ? try raising the temp a couple of degrees.. I have 5 Darwins here, and they all have identical setups. 2 will sit under the lamp for hours, 2 others will warm up and leave, 1 rarely bothers with the heat, all are 14mths old, all are roughly the same size.
Just because the book says XXc is what they prefer, in the long run they are individuals.

 

[Elapidae1]

maybe it doesn't like it's cage mate

 

[Beloved_Reptiles]

Ok one night I actually left the rat in over night hoping he may take it whilst no one was around, but it was still there in the morning. I thought he may be coming in to shed a while ago now as he did go dull but I've been misting the tank every so often and still nothing. At night if he comes out i'll leave the heat lamp on a little longer as he likes to bask under it for a while. In every other aspect he is the perfect snake, if anything too placid, as I said I can't even get him to strike and even when he's annoyed when I was checking out his mouth the worst he'll do is hiss a little. I've even tried feeding him in a smaller container out of the enclosure, but not successful there either.
I've emailed the seller to ask what he thinks. My only other thought was the seller bred his own rats, could it be that he's used to feeding on freshly killed rats? If so that could be a problem...

 

[diamond 007]

Maybe you could try a live pinky rat, I wouldn't give it anything bigger than that live....

 

[J-A-X]

Do you thaw and heat it in hot (not boiling) water in a zip lock bag, ... if you're giving it to him wet it may be putting him off IF he's use to fresh killed. Make sure its super warm when he gets it,
Out of curiosity what size are you trying to feed him, (one of mine refused any rat 'naked' I had to keep her on mice until she was ready for weaner rats, and she had no hesitation the first time it was offered.)

 

[Beloved_Reptiles]

Ok that might be the problem, I have been defrosting them in warm water, but not in a bag. Now that I think of it that would make sense! I've been trying to feed fuzzy rats or mice of similar size as one of the breeders was getting out of mice and chucked a few in for me. I'll have to learn to defrost in a bag, I'm sure that'd have to make some difference. Thanks!

 

[J-A-X]

anything is worth a try, let us know if it helps, and if he's coming up to a shed he may not be interested in eating and some people would advise against feeding pre shed, if its a relatively small prey item then its not usually a problem,

Just make sure it is super warm and get it in the tank asap, the extra warmth seems to spark interest too.

keep us updated.

 

[Ramsayi]

You have had it for 3 weeks and have been trying to feed it every week? Leave it totally alone for a few weeks other than cage maintenance then try feeding it in the early evening with whatever type/size food items the person you got it from was feeding it.

 

[pythoncrazy]

Yes I have had the same problem with my newly bought jungle;
I am told she is about 18 months old. But she is the opposite of yours she is very snappy and bites all the time when in the cage and out, but now she calms down after about 15 mins but still won’t take food. I like you have tried other foods, quail, and weaner rats ect... I thought the quail would be a goer because it’s gamer but all she wants to do is bite her food or me.
I do have two large jungles male and female and they are my garbage deposals for when my little one refuses. However I have not been trying to feed her every week I am trying to get her to relax and trust me. It is a slow battle and I know she will be worth it in the end.
I will feel much better when she is eating though.

 

[solar 17]

One left of centre problem l see is that according to your posts you have had the new snake three weeks and he/she is in an enclosure "next" to your other snake, "what if" this new snake has IBD or OPMV and "maybe" its one these terminal conditions thats causing your newbie not to eat, l am sorry but l don't see any quarrantine here and these conditions mentioned are "highly" contagious and terminal illnesses all new snakes into anybodies collection should be quarranteened unless from a "known" closed collection, now maybe you have been told an untruth about its eating regularity maybe you are doing something the said snake is not happy about but everybody should take precautions with quarranteening and l sincerely hope its just a feeding "glitch"......solar 17 [Baden]

 

[pythons73]

Totally agree Baden,even from "Known"closed collections i still quaranteen for a minimun 6months.Sounds as thou he-she needs more time without being disturbed,except for cage cleaning-water change etc.Leave alone for a week-two then try again at night with little to none movement.Patience is the key to getting "new" snakes eating on regurlar occasions.With any "new" snake i dont handle until its eating good...

 

[Beloved_Reptiles]

Ok thank you all for your advice, i'll see what happens. The seller is going to contact me about it too.

I just checked on him & he shed over night! Hopefully this was the issue.

 

[hornet]

If you still have no luck try offering it quail. My female Rough scaled python went off her food after coming to me, went well over a month without even the slightest interest in food, that was untill i offered her a quail.

 

[Beloved_Reptiles]

Thanks Hornet, I was going to try that next if unsuccessful.