Rejected feed : (

[Funkstaa]

Hey guys I offered Fluffy her first feed now that he's settled in on saturday avo...
( I took him out of the enclosure and put him in a click clack tub and had put a fuzzy in a zip lock bag in warm water to warm it up a little and make sure it was properly thawed through, when it was ready - I gaged this by it had a squishy stomach lol - :lol
I dropped it into the click clack and he seemed keen but when he went to strike the mouse he got himself :shock: After that I think he lost his nerve and gave up on eating...
His last feed was last friday and he brought that feed up the following tuesday so you would think he was hungry!...He's still really cranky - any suggestions of ways to offer his food, I am supposed to warm it a little yeah?

 

[Aussie Python Lover]

Leave fluffy for another couple of days then try again, but dont try keep offering food cause this can stress the snake out as obviously this is a young snake... Just leave fluffy be and try in 2 days..Don't be too concerned about fluffy just yet... And good luck

 

[amy5189]

yeah it should be warm. try making it even warmer if he rejects it again. sometimes with my fussy coastal i had to make the food really warm for her to take it.
also try feeding him in his own enclosure instead of moving him as this may upset him. then instead of just dropping the food in, use feeding tongs to wiggle the food infront of his nose so it looks like the mouse is alive
if you feed him in his own enclosure that means you don't have to move him after he's fed too, reducing the risk of regurgitation.
after its last feed did you handle the snake? what happened with the regurgitation etc...
also check your enclosure temps, cuz if its not warm enough they won't feel like eating and will cause digestion problems

 

[Serpentes]

Slow down here.

Am I right- your snake ate and then regurgitated it's meal 3-4 days later. It has not fed since then?

How often do you handle it? Why do you think it regurgitated it's last feed? Too cold, too stressed? Any ideas? How long have you have the snake for, and how much has it been eating?

Do not try and feed it for at least two weeks after it regurgitated it's last meal.

 

[Aussie Python Lover]

Not always good to feed your snake in its enclosure, cause as it gets older it will know that everytime you put your hand in its feeding time and snakes tend to tag a lot when that happens, but yes also picking the snake up after eating can cause regurge, leave in click clack for a few hours after it has eatin to put it back.

 

[amy5189]

aussie python lover afraid i have to disagree with that. if you use a hook to get your snake out, no problem.
all my snakes are fed in their enclosures and i only have one that has bitten me now. i hook them all out and can handle straight away, whether during the day or night
feeding in the enclosure reduces stress and means you don't have to handle the snake right after a feed.
also have a friend who does the same thing and i can go and handle his snakes no problem too

 

[Aussie Python Lover]

Well thats your opinion amy, but I know a lot of herpers that don't feed in thier enclosures at all no matter if a hook is involved...But as I said thats your opinion.

 

[amy5189]

yep agreed. i used to do the same but i've found it made no difference, hence why i am offering some advice that will less stress his snake. obviously if it is regurgitating food and refusing he needs the least stressful way possible, which is why i told him to try this way
but i know that some people do that cuz i used to aswell

 

[beeman]

Not always good to feed your snake in its enclosure, cause as it gets older it will know that everytime you put your hand in its feeding time and snakes tend to tag a lot when that happens, but yes also picking the snake up after eating can cause regurge, leave in click clack for a few hours after it has eatin to put it back.

There is nothing wrong with feeding in the enclosure! If you used that theory then every time you went to handle the animal for any other purpose including placing into another tub for feeding it would bite so that furphy is out the window.
Total load of BS.

Feeding in the enclosure would be better for the animal in question as it is already stressed and handling to place into another tub adds to that stress, hence animal
wont eat.
Check the temp ranges again as you were advised in another post, Leave the animal alone
for another week and then offer a feed IN its enclosure.

 

[Aussie Python Lover]

well ive never had a problem with taking my snakes out and feeding them in a seperate tub... Everyone has there own ways on how to feed there snakes, and I was just saying that it isnt always a good idea to do it... Each to thier own...

 

[licky]

i think alot of people who feed inside enclosures do that because their pythons are more "for breeding purposes" than "as a pet" .
because i doubt temperament has much to do with breeding.

 

[Hooglabah]

i agree unless your using some form of substrate that snake needs to be fed outside of the enclosure (sand, kitty litter ect) i cant see any benefit to it all my snakes are fed and have been fed in the enclosure and the only time they look like biting me in response to the door being opened is when they has spotted the rat in my hand or i have waved it in-front of the air vents/holes to get them out of their hides.

as a side sand shouldn't be used as a substrate or anything that means you have to feed your snake externally imo.

 

[Serpentes]

Problem feeders are best left in their enclosures when offered food. Established or voracious individuals have no trouble feeding once removed to a different environment (tub), but reluctant feeders need to be treated more tenderly. Offering food in the snakes enclosure does not result in aggressive snakes. Quite the opposite, many of my snakes are smart enough to know the difference between food time, water time, misting time and cleaning time. They respond according to my actions and whether I have food or not.

 

[dtulip10]

Hey guys I offered Fluffy her first feed now that he's settled in on saturday avo...
( I took him out of the enclosure and put him in a click clack tub and had put a fuzzy in a zip lock bag in warm water to warm it up a little and make sure it was properly thawed through, when it was ready - I gaged this by it had a squishy stomach lol - :lol
I dropped it into the click clack and he seemed keen but when he went to strike the mouse he got himself :shock: After that I think he lost his nerve and gave up on eating...
His last feed was last friday and he brought that feed up the following tuesday so you would think he was hungry!...He's still really cranky - any suggestions of ways to offer his food, I am supposed to warm it a little yeah?

what temps are you running? what type of snake? what is the enclosure like (dimentions, glass? wood?)? how old is the snake?

 

[Hooglabah]

i have yet to see any evidence that feeding in the enclosure causes a feeding response every time you open the enclosure. the only way i could see that happening is if it was the only time you opened the enclosure.

personally i think its just an old wives tale along the lines of "stomping while walking will scare all the snakes away".

 

[-Matt-]

All of my snakes are fed in their enclosures and it does not affect their temperament at all. There is no need to remove them.

If your snake has regurgitated it's last meal (possibly due to stress) I would not try it again for at least a fortnight and do not handle it this time...give it plenty of time to settle in.
Also what are the temps in the enclosure?

 

[Hooglabah]

on topic: i use boiling water to heat my rat (while they are in a plastic bag) and then by the time i get them to the enclosure they have cooled enough to be about 37c none of my snakes have missed a feed yet.

 

[Pythoninfinite]

Just as easy to thaw the rodents in hot (not boiling) tap water, without the bag, and feed them wet - helps keep the snake hydrated, and the reptiles find them just as appealing.

The regurge problem could be for any one of a few reasons - stress has been mentioned, but temperatures, either too hot or too cold, can also cause regurgitation as well. Always wise to hold off feeding in a heatwave, or if very hot weather is expected, or during a cold snap.

Jamie.

 

[Funkstaa]

Thanks I think : p ok where to start - Amy haven't handled him by hand at all I used the hook to put him in the click clack and back into the enclosure - After we decided that he wasn't going to eat we sprayed his tail with some skin shed solution we'd picked up from the pet shop on the weekend - the old skin is coming off now : ) I've also taken out the 'heat light as you saw on the last post temps were way too high so now just using a normal globe and his heat spot is on 21, we're getting there : p
Serpentes I've only had him a week and he regurged his food because the temps were too high I've only been able to handle him once sice he's been home with us, he was stressed out big time, but when I'm changing his water of a morning now he's not fased by me so I'm taking that as a good sighn : p
If I wait two weeks won't he be over hungry???
Dtulip, he's a spotted python temps are alright now ,I'll put a pic of his enclosure again as it's easier than describing (have added a hide since pics were taken) age wise I'm having doubts on what I was told by the shop as I saw some 'full grown' on the weekend at another store and fluffy's tiny compared - supposedly he's 3. ( I know it's gross but this is what he regurged...I honestly think he defficated it as it had the white chalky poo attatched to it but I didn't see it happen so can't say for sure)...

 

[Funkstaa]

Thanks Jamie I wasn't sure if he would accept it wet but what you say makes sence, I think we've figured out the why bit and sorted it all out now, just unsure as to when to offer a feed next : p he was interested when we offered on sat but after biting himself he was turned off lol