New Coastal Carpet

[peterjohnson64]

Hi Guys,

I recently purcahse a great new coastal carpet. he is 8" long and extremely tame. I want to keep him in an aviary with my hybrid. I live in Sydney. Is this OK?

But also, I have had him now for about 5 weeks and I can't get him to eat. Is this normal? I was told he was a good eater fo frozen rats. I have offered him frozen rats and live birds. Do I just wait?

any help.

Cheers

Peter

 

[staffsrule]

Hi Peter, I cant answer your questions, but had to tell you that is a very nice snake.

 

[Surfcop24]

Peter I have been told Snakes can go without food for months witout even having to worry about it..... But ... Has to eat sometime... Whats the temps like in Sydney... I would assume it is starting to warm up right?

 

[newtosnakes]

temps in sydney have been quite warm lately. But not consistent.

Peter - have you left him with the rats overnight in his enclosure??

 

[kahn_10]

hey peter
some snakes will go months on end as my female coastal has done which is due too breeding. have you tried different feeding methods or offering mice instead???? i wouldnt recommend leaving rats in the enclosure overnight as it could indanger the snake thats just my opinion though :lol:
cheers kahn

 

[Meg]

Peter,

I'm new to all this but i have done a fair bit of reading of late as i'm interested in purchasing a coastal myself. I read that if you're having trouble feeding them, to use freshly killed items of the food they were previously eating, so if you say rats, then freshly killed rats (or even frozen ones thawed and slightly warmed by leaving them in a plastic bag in warm water to give them the heat signature) and to leave it in the cage overnight, trying different lighting aswell, some only like to feed in the dark, and others directly under their heat lamp.

sorry if i sound patronizing or like i don't have a clue, just what i read is all....

:mrgreen:

 

[Meg]

they said also, not to worry yourself too much unless you notice it start to lose weight or act strangely, cos they won't starve themselves just for the hell of it, but will feed when ready...

hope that helps a bit!

 

[peterjohnson64]

Thanks everyone, funny thing is, his mate has been getting double feeds each week and now she doesn't want food eaither. I caught a starling and she left it alone which is really rare for her but I am not stressed about her as she is fat from the last four weeks. I guess I just ahve to wait for him to start eating. But what about housing outside? Is that OK?

 

[lutzd]

You could try a live zebra finch, but I'd buy it from a retailer. Wild caught birds could be a problem in that they may contain parasites, etc.

A small live mouse might be the go to resurrect their hunting instincts but don't leave them unattended with any live prey. One of my fussy eaters won't take it unless the light is out - must be shy! JMHO of course!

 

[Pythoninfinite]

Wouldn't worry at all - many snakes, especially males at this time of year, but females too, can go off feed till early summer. Part of the normal cycle when their hormones are acting up. That animal is probably a bit overweight anyway - it looks in very good nick. best not to be tempted to use birds if you can avoid it - finches especially carry big worm loads, even if you do get them from a pet shop. frozen thawed is the way to go, and I'd say from the photo that your snake is NOT a difficult feeder - it'll eat when it's hungry. As far as outside accommodation goes - as long as it has insulation from extremes (and too hot will kill much faster than too cold) of temperature, and a place to bask in morning/afternoon sun, should be fine. Good luck.

 

[The Rock]

I agree with lutzd, under NO curcumstance should you feed wild food to a captive bred animal peroid.
The snake you are holding is that the hybrid or the coastal, cause it looks to me like a intergrade not a pure coastal.
If you are handling it all the time that would more than likely be the reason it wont feed as you will be stressing it out.
hope this helps.

 

[peterjohnson64]

HI Rock, This is the coastal and he would only be bought out of the cage once a week. This photo was taken the night we got him. He lives in a 4x2x6 high tank. I have been moving to a smaller yet warmer cage to feed him with no luck. When I move him outside he will only be handled about once a fortnight. If I put food in his current cage the female eats it all - although now she wont. Perhaps I shouod try that???

 

[NCHERPS]

Wouldn't worry at all - many snakes, especially males at this time of year, but females too, can go off feed till early summer. Part of the normal cycle when their hormones are acting up. That animal is probably a bit overweight anyway - it looks in very good nick. best not to be tempted to use birds if you can avoid it - finches especially carry big worm loads, even if you do get them from a pet shop. frozen thawed is the way to go, and I'd say from the photo that your snake is NOT a difficult feeder - it'll eat when it's hungry. As far as outside accommodation goes - as long as it has insulation from extremes (and too hot will kill much faster than too cold) of temperature, and a place to bask in morning/afternoon sun, should be fine. Good luck.

I entirely agree with the above comments, give it a bit more time to settle in to it's new surrounding and then try a defrosted rat or rabbit.
All the best.

Neil

 

[danw]

nice lookin snake

 

[serpenttongue]

Firstly the snake looks like an intergrade or even a diamond/coastal carpet hybrid.

You really need to give it time to itself in a cage it can get used to. Stop holding it for now. Perhaps the last owner never held it much and so the animal was never stressed, thus an excellent feeder. Handling does stress snakes to a degree.

Also with all the frozen rats available there's no need for wild food items to be offered. If it ate rats in the past, it will eat them again.

You should also realise that once it has started feeding regularly it may go off food again if you move it outside. As for keeping it outside, i would never keep a coastal outside in Sydney. Thats just my opinion though, i know many keepers do, and with great success.

 

[lutzd]

If I put food in his current cage the female eats it all - although now she wont. Perhaps I shouod try that???

Not sure if I'm reading this right, but it looks like you feed them in the same cage together? If that's the case, my opinion only I wouldn't. I keep two macs in the one cage, but always take one out and feed him seperately. Once they've had their fill, I leave them a while to calm them down before returning him to his cage. I usually wait until the one in the cage goes into her hide before returning the other one and guiding him into the other hide. I learnt my lesson early in my herp "career" when they both went for the same mouse! :shock: :? I had to dunk them both in a bucket of water to seperate them. Could have been nastier if either of them decided to seriously attack the other. Sorry if I misunderstood your statement. I just don't want to see you lose a snake, that's all!

 

[iceman]

IMO- ur snake is like serpenttongue said it a diamond/coastal.

 

[Tanzen]

Hi, looks like a coastal/diamond intergrade to me. It definately needs to lose weight. I live in Brisbane and breed coastals and wouldn't keep a coastal outdoors in Syd. I like to keep them at about 30degrees. Make sure you separate snakes at feeding time!

 

[R1MAN]

yeah i vote integrade. still a nice looking snake.

settle time i would say is needed. i moved one of my coastals to a different enclosure and would not eat unless put back in its original enclosure - fussy bitch

 

[Scale_Addiction]

lol@R1MAN...

i recon that coastal/intergrade/woteva, could miss a few feeds, it doesn't look like it's starvin... meow