probably nothing...

[MZ33YO]

hey guys! I got my blonde spotted finally and he's doing really well. He seemed to have settled down so i went to feed him last night, he was interested and opened his mouth over the pinkie. Then he gave up and just left it. He was last fed by the old owner on the 23rd of last month. He is a hatchie as well. Is there anything you could suggest to maybe spark his interest a little bit more? Thanks, steph.

 

[MZ33YO]

So there's nothing at all that anybody could suggest to help me feed my hatchie????????

 

[Danni]

Hi there i dont think id be much help but ... others will ask you what the temps are... how big the enclosure is ... how long have you had him... how are you warming the rodent for ??
all those kinds of things

 

[notechistiger]

How long did you leave him to settle? He may just still be stressed. Other wise, offer the mouse slightly warm. You could consider braining the mouse (sticking a sharp object such as a pin into the head to make it smell more appealing to the snake), or slitting its throat. Both of these have worked exceedingly well for me.

 

[fidzy]

did u try once and give up when he left it? give it another go and move the pinky in front of him, get him exccited

 

[Danni]

How long did you leave him to settle? He may just still be stressed. Other wise, offer the mouse slightly warm. You could consider braining the mouse (sticking a sharp object such as a pin into the head to make it smell more appealing to the snake), or slitting its throat. Both of these have worked exceedingly well for me.

heheh i guess if it smells gross to us it would smell appealing to the snake...

 

[MZ33YO]

Temps are fine, he WAS interested in it and went to take it into his mouth, then kind of left it and hasn't been interested since.
I have tried a couple of times but he really couldn't care less.

He looks pretty healthy but as I'm a stress head I thought I would get ontop of it before it turns into an issue for me.


I give them to him warm as they are frozen pinkies.

Maybe I will try again tomorrow morning or something....

 

[Danni]

it could be due to stress, maybe he hasnt settled yet?
could be coming up for a shed... maybe?
you didnt mention how long you have had him... has he been left pretty much left alone since you got him?

 

[MZ33YO]

How long did you leave him to settle? He may just still be stressed. Other wise, offer the mouse slightly warm. You could consider braining the mouse (sticking a sharp object such as a pin into the head to make it smell more appealing to the snake), or slitting its throat. Both of these have worked exceedingly well for me.

You my friend are a genius!

Slit the throat, put it with him in his feed cage and he took it within a few seconds.
Guess he likes the smell of blood aye haha..


Thanks guys!

 

[mysnakesau]

One of the biggest factors of food refusal is usually temperature related. Even though you think he has sufficient heat, he may spent more time off the heat, or perhaps is cage is too big and again he spends his time hiding elsewhere. If he is cool or cold, he will most likely refuse to eat. So try popping him on more heat for an hour or so before feeding and try again.

Also with frozen food, make sure the pinky is fully thawed and warm all the way through. It might feel warm on the outside but could be still cold or frozen on inside. So when he clamps down he feels the cold and lets go.

 

[MZ33YO]

i didn't change the temps but i did change around his enclosure so maybe he was distracted or nervous. He is still only a baby but i also put him into a frosted plastic container with the pinkie to eat and he took it. I think maybe he felt safer to eat it in there, he couldn't see out so the only thing for him to concentrate on was the pinkie. Thanks for all your help guys, if he does go off his food in future everything suggested here will help immensly.

 

[shlanger]

It's a know fact, and one that you have just found out, that small snakes do better in small containers/cages/ boxes. good luck!

 

[wranga]

seeing as you say it went to take the pinkie then let it go sounds like it could be related to temperature. are you sure the pinkie was nice and warm, that there wasnt any cold spots on it? make sure next time its fully warm and tease your snake with it using tongs. also they feeding late at nite as snakes are nocturnal. hope this may help

 

[ConsoleWizard]

thats the same thing my JUNGLE PYTHON did,

He opened his mouth grabbed the fuzzie and then let go, but after i picked up the fuzzie from the tail and was wiggling it about he grabbed it and started eating it,

Maybe you should try moving the pinkie around a bit. Worked for me