Damn bein a newbie...

[Dar1stheory]

Well, first post, so, "how ya goin?"

Well I'm sittin here wishin that I had of spent just a day on this site before shopping for my latest snake, I think I've successfully bought the ugliest friggin juvenile mcdowelli in the country...

This was all made worse by the little bugger not eating for the first 3 weeks! Though I took some solace in him finally eating a fuzzy mouse yesterday...

Can I get some opinions on the best way to feed my squirmy friends, now and as they get older?

I have a 1 and a bit year old stimson that is an absolute pleasure, he eats on cue, taking a weaner mouse off the tongs every week without a second thought, I feed him in an esky to reduce his anticipation of food when the enclosure door opens which seems to suit him fine...

But I've been thinking about the potential size of the carpet as he grows, and I just don't have an esky big enough to keep my current routine working...

The carpet also refuses to take a wiggling feed from tongs, in fact shows no interest in the food at all, is this common? Cos he's snappy as hell when it comes to my fingers! I found in a book that leaving a warm feed in the enclosure for an hour or so is a good alternative, which after half an hour of looking fairly uninterested he finally took...

Would it work to my benefit getting in the habit of leaving the prey in the enclosure to reduce my chances of being tagged as a missed bite towards prey as he gets bigger?

Righto, lotta questions, thanks for replies!

 

[Rainbow-Serpent]

Try "braining" the mouse

Poke a needle into its brains until juice comes out and he should eat it, try tempting him the the mouse (using tongs), make it appear alive, and everytime he gets close to it, pull it away to make him more tempted.

Welcome by the way

 

[Slytherin]

Try "braining" the mouse

Poke a needle into its brains until juice comes out and he should eat it, try tempting him the the mouse (using tongs), make it appear alive, and everytime he gets close to it, pull it away to make him more tempted.

Welcome by the way

And I just had dinner.....:lol:

Welcome .

 

[Dar1stheory]

yeah I tried for at least an hour on 3 separate occasions to get him interested in taking one from tongs, tried cutting the head off, small punctures in the body, but he was just not keen at all???

Seriously just looked straight past the mouse like it was a carrot...

But if he'll take it sitting on the ground, suits me, just wondering if its normal, and moreso, will it work to my benefit that I get him used to eating that way so I'm not patching holes in my own body later?

 

[Rainbow-Serpent]

And I just had dinner.....:lol:.

OMG, I'm sorry, didn't realise I posted this around dinner time

 

[Rainbow-Serpent]

yeah I tried for at least an hour on 3 separate occasions to get him interested in taking one from tongs, tried cutting the head off, small punctures in the body, but he was just not keen at all???

Seriously just looked straight past the mouse like it was a carrot...

But if he'll take it sitting on the ground, suits me, just wondering if its normal, and moreso, will it work to my benefit that I get him used to eating that way so I'm not patching holes in my own body later?

Not sure about patching holes in your own body, but I know if he takes it like that, at least he's eating and not starving himself

 

[Slytherin]

OMG, I'm sorry, didn't realise I posted this around dinner time

LOL :lol: Its ok, I got a strong stomach, but it made me laugh.

 

[mark83]

If you want to feed him out of the enclosure just buy one of those big tubs from the reject shop for 10 or 20 bucks. thats what I used to feed my coastal in

 

[pythons73]

Depending on how long you just got it,wait a week or two to settle into its new enviroment,then try feeding him,make sure the temperatures are right,and basically leave him alone,just change the water if need be,good luck..

 

[mysnakesau]

Well, first post, so, "how ya goin?"

Well I'm sittin here wishin that I had of spent just a day on this site before shopping for my latest snake, I think I've successfully bought the ugliest friggin juvenile mcdowelli in the country...

This was all made worse by the little bugger not eating for the first 3 weeks! Though I took some solace in him finally eating a fuzzy mouse yesterday...

Can I get some opinions on the best way to feed my squirmy friends, now and as they get older?

I have a 1 and a bit year old stimson that is an absolute pleasure, he eats on cue, taking a weaner mouse off the tongs every week without a second thought, I feed him in an esky to reduce his anticipation of food when the enclosure door opens which seems to suit him fine...

But I've been thinking about the potential size of the carpet as he grows, and I just don't have an esky big enough to keep my current routine working...

The carpet also refuses to take a wiggling feed from tongs, in fact shows no interest in the food at all, is this common? Cos he's snappy as hell when it comes to my fingers! I found in a book that leaving a warm feed in the enclosure for an hour or so is a good alternative, which after half an hour of looking fairly uninterested he finally took...

Would it work to my benefit getting in the habit of leaving the prey in the enclosure to reduce my chances of being tagged as a missed bite towards prey as he gets bigger?

Righto, lotta questions, thanks for replies!

I am not usually one to criticising anybody but you sound like someone who has bought a snake just to bignote yourself. If I am wrong, how about you settle down, stop criticising the snake for being disobedient and start learning how too look after your pet's best interest, not what benefits you get out of it. And your snake is not ugly. There is no such thing.

it is very normal for a snake to lose their appetite when their environment has been changed. Being moved, new smells, new enclosure and all new furniture can all effect how a snake reacts when you take it home. The animal is not going to starve to death so if it fails to eat one week, leave it alone for a week or two then try again. In fact, I think you just do that now. Let him settle into his new home peacefully for 2 or 3 weeks. Establish his feeding before you think about handling him for pleasure. If was a well established feeder when you bought him he should settle well and get back into his feeding fairly quickly if you stop harassing him. Once this happens feeding will be a second nature routine that will require no effort on your part except to hand him his meal. most babies require a bit of encouragement to take a feed. Wiggling it about and gently touching his nose, back of neck or tap his tail will help make him turn and strike at the food. Some will just take it, no questions ask. Some need to be taught while others refuse to take it from you. Leave it in their enclosure and if he takes it, that is excellent. The main thing is he is eating, it isn't important how he takes it.

How big is your carpet now? I am guessing a baby since he is eating fuzzy mice. Keep him in a plastic tub for as long as possible and put him into his enclosure when he is say minimum 4-5 foot. All babies are frightened and stress easy. As cruel as it seems babies cannot go into large enclosures. They will be frightened because they feel vulnerable. It can cause him to bite, hide, run and refuse to eat. Also they wouldn't regulate their warmth well enough to want to eat. You only need a tub big enough for his hide box and a water bowl. Upgrade his small tub to say a 40L tub from Crazy Clarks but don't make big changes or you will only go back to square one.

 

[brettmo]

I feed him in an esky to reduce his anticipation of food when the enclosure door opens

Serious question, does this actually help?
I guess it depends on the individual snake.
I did this with my WP and it didn't do squat, still tried to eat me every time i went near the enclosure.
With my stimmi's i just feed them in the enclosure and can happily take them out for handling without them thinking I'm food....

 

[diprotodon]

i think you have to intise a feeding response the way i do that is to aggrivate him into striking i swing the prey item around in a circle infront of his mouth until it lightly starts to tap its nose. has worked 100% for me so far ,if its seriously not getting interested dont stress just stop give it a couple of days then try again senting with a lizard helpes also i keep a blue tongue pet so its not hard. as im no expert but these methods have worked so far ,also have been priveleged buying from a exceptional breeder the animals have really helped Thanks to TRUEBLUE for that

 

[Emmalicious]

It really depends on each individual snake..... finding out what works best for you're snake adapting to its needs so to speak. Try braining like everyone else has suggested! just gotta get it tempted!

 

[mysnakesau]

Temperature is always a major problem with snakes refusing to eat. Cold snakes won't eat.

 

[Dar1stheory]

I am not usually one to criticising anybody but you sound like someone who has bought a snake just to bignote yourself. If I am wrong, how about you settle down, stop criticising the snake for being disobedient and start learning how too look after your pet's best interest, not what benefits you get out of it. And your snake is not ugly. There is no such thing.

Whoah, thanks for the advice in the rest of your post, I don't feel that I bought a snake to bignote myself at all... I have wanted a snake since seeing one 20 odd years ago in primary school when I saw a kid in my class bring a children's for show and tell, and after a trip to cape york last year and seeing some amazing snakes in the wild it inspired me to look in to purchasing one as a pet.

I have tried to follow all the sensible advice I got from the snake "experts" at the store I purchased my stimsons from, including allowing a good settling time, setting up a good quality enclosure, with no expenses spared to accomodate him as best as I could.

My comments about my snappy new addition being ugly isn't a point of regret, my fiance's most loved family pet is a boxer that some years ago would have been killed at birth for not being the desired colours, but is a brilliant pet loved by all, and I have no doubt that I will have the same feelings for my newest pet, just making a sarcastic comment obviously lost in translation through the keyboard... He simply has blotchy, dull and uneven colours not seen in some of the pictures of other juveniles seen on the site so far, I only just got the internet recently and found this site with its wealth of information, but had I had the opportunity to see more examples of juveniles before hand I probably would have selected a more defined creature...

I have afforded him a settling in period, set the temperatures at the suggested ideals, he has an adequate hide in a small plastic enclosure used by the pet stores, I have handled him four times in four weeks, and attempted the first few feeds very carefully, avoiding as much as possible any undue stress from being hassled. And after researching alternative methods of feeding, I found leaving a feed in the enclosure a rewarding exercise!

And so I want to continue learning about my pets, and again I appreciate the input you gave me, after my scalding for being an egotistical imposter...:shock:

Thanks to everyone else for the suggestions as well!

 

[Dar1stheory]

I thought I'd add the pics of my little friends and their respective homes...

The Stimson is 1 year and 4 months, and the CCP is 5 months...

I built the enclosures myself, admittedly the smaller Stimson house is a bit plain on the outside, but he's rollin fake marble inside! He's a "Pimp-son"

 

[Tsubakai]

Can you put up any more photos of your coastal? Looks like its got a few different colours going on there. It will definately change slightly with each shed though so you could end up with a nice adult. Doesn't look too bad to me.

 

[Dar1stheory]

Can you put up any more photos of your coastal? Looks like its got a few different colours going on there. It will definately change slightly with each shed though so you could end up with a nice adult. Doesn't look too bad to me.

Next time I have him out I'll try and get my partner to take some pics of him stretched out a bit more, I suppose because my Stimson has quite distinct markings and smooth transitions of patterns and colours it has made the Coastal look, messy, for want of a better word?

Hard to see in this pic I guess, but the brown sandy colours on top, and then rough black patches around the lower half of his body, and the blotchy dark area around the head are just such a contrast to other pics of juvenile coastals I've seen recently... They seem to have much more defined patterns etc... The parents were quite different to him, a lot of black and cream colours, kinda like he's the postmans kid?

I definitely look forward to seeing how the patterns change as he grows as you suggested!

 

[Stompsy]

Ok, I don't own a snake. And I know little about them.... yet. BUT - My partner bought his jungle python a while ago and it had been a good feeder before we got it. He kept it in a small plastic tub with a small hide inside made from a big plastic lid, with a hole drilled in the top so he can get in and out.

He wouldn't eat, but mainly because he was too busy watching us (obviously scared we were going to hurt him) and no matter what we tried, including leaving it in his enclosure he still wouldn't eat.

All my partner did was make him go into his hide, and then dangle the mouse just inside the hole. Because he could no longer see us glaring at him he took it straight away and has since been a fantastic feeder, eating every 7 to 10 days.

Not sure if you've tried this but if not I hope it helps

 

[Dar1stheory]

Thanks Akarsha,

The little fella has eaten now, I was a bit worried at first as he didn't eat from the tongs like my stimson always has, but leaving it in the tub with him worked, so for now I figure I'll keep that up!

I was just looking for people's feedback as to whether this method is likely to be a good thing long term, assuming that if he learns to just take still prey each time it may reduce his instinct to strike at moving objects like my hand...

The stimson feeds from the tongs each week without hassle, and is already very very easy to handle, appears very comfortable being picked up out of his home and passed between me and my fiance!

I work with teenage kids and some with disabilities, and optimistically I hope to have the Coastal grow in to a placid adult that I may be able to use for therapeutic means...