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Dippy

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Does anyone else have a snake that is a problem feeder? Or just decides to eat when it wants to and not before? I'm curious as to why my snake seems to want to eat differently to my other reptiles... My Bredli eats straight out of hand and is the perfect feeder but my Childreni just seems to sniff it and run away. Her first feed she took it straight out of my hand and needless to say i was pretty excited about it as she was my first pet snake, But now she wont touch it till she wants to and i find the only way she will is if i lay the mouse out in front of her hide and let her decide. Which could take anywhere between an hour to 2 days and thats every feed, Although i fed both snakes last night and both mice are visably in the belly of both snakes lol so i'm hoping this becomes a routine. Has anyone else had a snake that does this kind of thing?
 
Yep, one of my stimsons pythons behaves exactly the same. Only eats when it wants to and refuses rats full stop. I've tried everything with no luck, might change it's name to megan fox....
 
Heaps of people have this issue Dippy.
First question would be about temperatures - are they right? How often are you feeding? How often are you handling? How often do you offer food when she refuses?
Also, I wouldn't leave a mouse sitting for two days uneaten. They would likely be getting pretty stinky by that stage. In my limited exerience, if they don't taken it within an hour or two they aren't gonna take it. So I try again a week or two later
 
i have a little coastal thats like that. finally found a winning combo.. crank up the heat and make the mouse look like its seizing. not the nicest way but seems to be working atm
 
I agree with saximus as I had a problem feeder and when I fixed up her heat and didnt handler her or try to feed her for 2 weeks, she now eats with no problems every time i offer her a feed!!! I thought I had everything set up nice for her but I was wrong! Now its fixed I havnt had a problem!!! I had to put in more hides for her 2 as she is shy!!!
 
one of my hold back stims has decided to become a fussy feeder now
wont take rat pinks, wont take frzzy or weaner mice,

all its siglings are sill eatting anything offterd , but i guess this one has other ideas atm.
 
Nagini's temps are sitting on about 31 - 33 degrees so temp isnt an issue, And i handle her about two or three times a week for about 5 - 10 mins so i dont think there's an issue there either. I try to offer food about 4 or 5 times before i give up lol, Something that does spring to mind though is when i got her she wasnt handled at all so she was extremely snappy and now she is as tame as just 2 months in. The only time i see any aggression is when she is sloughing which is pretty normal, I'm not sure but could it have something to do with her only just becoming handlable? Maybe she doesn't know that a mouse in the hand is the same as a mouse on the floor?

She is in a click and clack with a hide that takes up half the enclosure and she slides underneath her paper towel so it prob isnt a hide thing either... And i did the no feeding or handling for two weeks and nothing has worked so far lol
 
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Four or five times a week is a lot. Especially when people would recommend you leave them untouched for two weeks to see if they will take the prey item. When you say you offer if with your hand what do you mean? Do you hold it by the tail or the leg and dangle it or are you holding like half the body? Your scent could be rubbing off on it and confusing the snake. You could try some feeding tongs to see if it helps. I would actually recommend that for both snakes regardless because a feed bite from a full grown Bredli could be interesting down the track.
All of that said it could just be the ambient temperatures not being high lately. Is the weather in the Gong as crap as it is in Sydney? Ants seem to be much more sensitive to external weather condition than others (just look at the number of threads that pop up in mid-late autumn with Ants who have already switched off for the season)
 
I have 2 spotted pythons and i do the same thing everytime on the same day around the same time as well. However my 2 year old spotted woulc eat everyday if I let her, she takes about 10 seconds to register, strike and start eating. However my 5 year old spotted will got for a month or two without eating and then decide she wants to start eating properly again. When she does eat however it is only after I annoy her by putting it in her face everywhere she goes and sticking it halfway into her enclosure.
 
I have a similar problem with my little childrens python. He wont take a pinky no matter what I do. He actually jolts himself away from it as if he is scared. Since I have owned him for about a month and half he hasn't eaten for me and Im so worried he will wither away and die as he is still super young and only has one developed eye
 
Lol i meant i try feeding her 4 or 5 times in the night i offer the food lol, I attempt to feed her once a week and only touch her 2 -3 times a week for 10 - 15 mins. I think you could be on to something there about my scent rubbing off on her prey. I try both dangling it by the tail and laying it on the floor of the enclosure and sliding it across by the tail but it doesn't seem to have any difference. She is deffinately interested when i do this but she just doesnt go any further than investigating it. I'm not too sure wether my scent rubs off when i pull the hopper out of the bag or when i'm drying it of all the water from heating it up lol, Deffinately something to look into.

I have also tried sticking it in her face and touching her with it to try and get an aggrivated strike and she too runs away.
 
I try not to touch the mice even when i get them out to defrost. I just use long tongs. I hold the mice by the back end and wiggle it around out the front of what ever hide shes in at the time. In under 10sec she has gone for it every time no problems! I still get super excited every time she strikes!!! Hahahaha!!
 
hahahahaha! i tryd but charli is a bit to shy still so I just feed her and walk away!!!!
 
Lol Eccy the Bredli's one is the best, It was the first time my misses had seen a snake feed in person and she was holding the phone and filming... And as he struck she jumped and the little scream was to loud to register on the phone. Funny as .
 
Dippy
Is the snake eating , even though the item has to be left on the floor ?

Temps down here are pretty low , so you may expect a little less interest in feeding from ants.
 
Yeah she eats fine, Its just when she decides she is good and ready lol. Her worst was about 3 weeks ago where it took her 2 days to eat it but last night she ate over night. I have moved her feeding from every 4 - 5 days to about 7 days. Which seems to be helping a little.
 
Yeah she eats fine, Its just when she decides she is good and ready lol. Her worst was about 3 weeks ago where it took her 2 days to eat it but last night she ate over night. I have moved her feeding from every 4 - 5 days to about 7 days. Which seems to be helping a little.

Ok so not a problem feeder , just a little fussy and typical for ants , they can be frustrating little buggers at times ...try not leave food in there for 2 days mate , often they move them onto the heat and after 2 days it's not going to be very pleasant when you find it , trust me I have missed the odd pinky and found it days later when the smell gets out ;)
 
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