NEWBIE - Stimson Feeding Question - PLEASE HELP

[louise77]

Trust me to pick the fussy eater! (although I'd be hypocritical to complain ).

dkae1986 - I hope it doesn't come to the point of braining them for I'm just not sure I have the stomach to do that :shock: BUT then again I handled the mice / rats last night better than I thought I would - so who knows.

Faye - I'm a thinking (going by the past records) she may be more of a rat girl. I'll offer the pinkies to start with, but I see on her records she has eaten a good few fuzzies too (even with the pinkies). Her records show she has also eaten a hopper rat once too - but like the adult mice that was a once off.

Would you recommend trying again in a day or so - or wait until next Sunday and give it a complete week?

Thanks again everyone!

 

[shellfisch]

Would you recommend trying again in a day or so - or wait until next Sunday and give it a complete week?

If you are satisfied that your temperatures are correct, then (if it were me) I would wait the complete week, and then try again

 

[louise77]

Yeah - methinks I'll wait

 

[micksta9]

Good luck! My little guy was constipated for 3-4 weeks and finally did a poo last night the wife and i are so proud of him. He he

 

[GrahMand]

i would keep clear of "pinkies" .. she need fur and bones in her diet ... when i got my jungle she didnt eat for 4 months ... then she shed and loves to eat now .... and yes the temps are a major factor in if she eats or not ..... enjoy ur snake

 

[dragonboy69]

Maybe it could be shedding thats why its not eating when did it last shed. My late Stimson went through a faze were it ate then it shed then wouldnt eat until it shed again.

 

[louise77]

micksta9 - WHOOO HOOO! Good to hear there's no more constipation and at the same time, glad I heard about it for I would never have thought snakes could get constipated!

GrahMand - Temps are spot on (that was one of the first things I learnt about when researching on here) so made sure they're all good I've got a bag of mice here so I will definitely keep on offering them to her. But since the last few things she's ate have been only pinkies and fuzzies - if that's all she'll eat I'll probably have to roll with that until she is well and truly settled in and see if she's less fussy after that. But then again I may not have to worry about all that.....

For dragonboy69 I think you may be onto something. On the records they have her last shed in the middle of October and by the looks of things she usually sheds every month so she may well and truly be due. And with her sheds - she wouldn't eat a fortnight before so that would make sense (it's coming up to a fortnight now till her last feed) so if she sheds in the next couple of days that could be it.

Have to keep my eye out for it - I know to look for the cloudy eyes and that they look and bit dull & dry (it's hard though since I haven't really seen in real life to know exactly). See what happens.....

 

[unicorns_dreams]

I found since feeding my spotted python that I need to turn her heat off before handling her or she gets snappy, goes anything that moves, my son had the same problem, but once she cools down easy to pick up. Good luck and enjoy your new friend, and there is so much help on here, its where I looked for ages before getting Lizzie, Going to get an enclosure for my next snake which is ready when I am. My partner doesn't like snakes at all, but has touched her and said never again but at least he tried, my kids love her.

 

[micksta9]

Well if a shed is scheduled be exited your little baby is going to look all sexy soon. Following my little mans shed he is all vibrant and looks great. If she looks sort of opaque and dry and has been this way for 6 or so days spray a bit of water via an atomiser into the enclosure to increase the humidity. This helped my guy shed perfectly in one peice.
PS Sometimes fussy feeders need freshly killed mice ive heard, i havent had to go there yet but it might be an option?

 

[micksta9]

Forgot to ask has she got loads of places to hide out etc, they are pretty shy and mine has 4 hides in a 550x400x400 enclosure with heat mat at 32'c and globe at opposite end at 26'c deep water bowl etc. If she's stressed she wont eat to help Bart settle in we also put a towel over the front of the enclosure to protect him from us passing by.

 

[louise77]

unicorns_dreams - I can understand that with the snapping - my girl seems a bit more active and curious late in the evening when it's a lil cooler. Good on him for at least touching her - even if it was just the once

micksta9 - Our enclosure is about the same size as yours - I have relatively the same temps as you (during the day can get a lil higher). At night I don't use any heat as it's summer and the temp sits around 24 - the guy I got all the equipment from said that's what he does for his Stimson. Although I decided that when feeding her I am going to use a night time bulb so it's warmer for her to digest (since she is more active of an evening - that's when I tried feeding her). She has one little hide and then one of those massive fake rocks that she loves to go behind and hide in crevices of..... I have a camera with a really good zoom and earlier I took a photo of her from the other side of the room - she's peeking out of one of her hiding spots behind the massive rock. Noticed her doing this the other night and thought it was hilarious for she actually looked like a meerkat popping her head up and looking around.....


And this one here was taken the day after we got her and she is in her other hide...


I'll keep an eye on her and see if it could be a shed - but nonetheless I'll try her again on Sunday *fingers crossed*

 

[gold&black...]

Didn't bother going through all the post, but the only reason they say mice over rats is cos, a fuzzy/hopper mouse has more Hair and bones as compared to a Pinky rat.... Once the snake gets big enough, u can provide it with rats that have both hair and larger bones included.. Also, the better way to look at it is, a rat has more fat and proteins than a mouse....

But for an initial, I found that young snakes fed on mice with hair (fuzzy/hopper) had more solid droppings... They take a longer time to defecate than a snake fed on pinkies.... It only means that the snake absorbs every inch of what it eats when it's fed on a small feed with hair and less mass than with a larger mass and no hair...

I start all my new young snakes on mice rather than rats and eventually try and shift them...

Hope this info helps....

Cheers

G/B...
ps. It's just like us eating only meat without fiber or a healthy combination of both....

 

[micksta9]

louise your tank looks great and we showed our little man your pics and we think he wants to ask her out hehe, she is as cute as just love em!
No doubt she will be fine!
We put some timber drift wood from a pet store over the top of our hide for extra shelter might be worth a try for security and when it becomes time to shed.

 

[louise77]

gold&black...shall definitely try and keep on offering her the adult mice. But for starters I'll just be glad with whatever she eats - just to get the first feed out of the way

micksta9 - your boy has got great taste I'll keep that in mind about the driftwood too!

AND I got to handle my girl tonight! She was real active (usually is at a certain time) and I decided to open the door to see what she would do and out she came. Just as unicorns_dreams said - I took a deep breath and just firmly (even though I was nervous) and gently lifted her body and let her explore. I stayed close to her enclosure in case she wanted to dash back in - but she went in the opposite direction and wanted to explore my arm. I'm positive I was more nervy than she was - but because she was so good I calmed down real quick and now I'm stoked I got that out of the way and I know I can do it if need be WHOO HOO. Now all I need is for her to chow down on Sunday and I'm on cloud nine!

 

[micksta9]

Hi fellow Stimson's owner did she feed? We all hope she has eaten, Bart was particularly concerned

 

[andrew_117]

How'd the feed go?

I fed my Children's that I got from the Snake Ranch for the first time on Sunday as well and she happily accepted it. She's just finished having an explore up my arms and neck as well, she seemed very settled and didn't want to go back in her enclosure, was just happy wrapped around my arm

 

[andrew_117]

Also Louise, I know it's hard to tell from the photo but the bedding looks a little dry, just thought it might be handy to have a spray bottle of water to help increase the humidity of the enclouse once it's shedding time, but looks great otherwise. The first picture is great, kinda looks like that picture of the Loch Ness monster with it's head arched out of the water

 

[louise77]

*sighs* Not so good guys Tried last Thursday as she was her active happy self and thought she might go something - but a big fat NEGATIVE. Then Friday she started to get grumpy and no more exploring and has stayed that way - no more coming up to see us or anything - plus she does seem a good bit darker and dull. Been keeping an eye out for that 'blue' colour and the cloudy eyes - but that doesn't seem to be happening.

One thing I did find the other day was a little poo! I think she may have been slightly constipated when I first got her and because last week she was coming out and getting a bit of exercise that may have helped there. So now I think (hope) that she is going to shed soon and will offer something after that - wish it would HURRY UP - I want my happy girl back!!

Andrew, how long had it been since your girls last feed? I've read to spray the cage when shedding looks to be on it's way so I've been doing that. The humidity seems to be sitting around 50 - 60% is that good for the shedding? And I had to smile when you said about Loch Ness - that's the exactly why we're thinking of calling her Nessie LOL

 

[andrew_117]

Don't let it discourage you, keep offering every 5 days or so. I fed her on Sunday and by then it had been a bit over 2 weeks since she had last fed at the Snake Ranch. She was a little reluctant at first and took about 15 minutes of dangling it in front of her before she bit, she didn't constrict either, just put her mouth round it casually and dragged it back into her hide. She came out about 10 minutes later looking for another which I offered but she didn't eat after another 10 mins so I chucked it away (I have a huge supply from a friend)

Sorry if I missed it but have you handled her yet?

 

[louise77]

Maybe I'm not dangling it long enough in front of her - I try for a few minutes but she turns away and moves away from it.

I have handled her - she is a real curious girl with a brilliant temperament. She was back to her usual self tonight - wanted out and all. She is still a bit darker than usual and it's been a while since her last shed so I'm pinning my hopes on that's the reason why she isn't too hungry. It's been about a week since I last offered and seeing she's in a good mood - I might try again tonight and keep dangling it *fingers crossed*