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Dumb snake?

Yvette

Yvette

I am Yvette.
So I have this snake...his name is McBeth. I got him when he was an itty bitty little baby, feeding on one pinky (it was so cute that that's all he could eat). One day I fed him and the next day he had a very slight bump. It was hardly noticeable. Next feeding day I got him a fuzzy. He was terrified of it! He tried to get away as fast as he could. So I bought him two pinkies. I did the two pinkies for a while and then decided to try the fuzzy again. He was terrified of it...again. So I kept doing the pinkies and about every three feedings trying a fuzzy. Every time he was scared of fuzzies. Eventually he was eating three pinkies!!! Today (he's 11 months old now) I thought "this is the last straw!!!" got him a fuzzy and gave it to him. He tried to get away from it, but I kept on trying..........an hour later.......seriously...an hour later........I picked up my snake and got the fuzzy with the other hand. BOOM! Grabs the fuzzy and starts eating it! It took him less than ten seconds to swallow it! There's no bump in his stomach.
Why was he scared of the fuzzies? Should I do the fuzzies for a little while or get him a hopper for his next feeding? I'm wondering if he will be scared of hoppers...
 
I think I've heard of some picky eaters refusing to eat anything with fur. I forget how the owner's accommodated for this, I want to say they fed hairless-mice?
 
I bet it's more stage fright of you than fear of the fuzzy. It's normal for some snakes to take even hours to decide to grab it . . which is why many put their snake with prey in a paper sack until it eats.

I do like to watch, but as a very personal rule of thumb, I feed only at night and in dark to semi-dark. The only time mine has refused is during daylight hours while being watched. If I had to use a paper sack on a snake, I'd attribute it more to a personality quirk than a flaw.

Just a thought, and good luck!
 
PS. If your snake has only been feeding on pinkies, a hopper is a LARGE leap, imho. But I will wait for the more expert to chime in. :)
 
An hour's nothing. As above, some will only eat when left alone overnight with the food item. If he feels like he's being watched and threatened, it makes sense that he's going to refuse something that will take longer to swallow as he'd be vulnerable to attack in the wild. Pinkies can be dispatched inside a minute, where a fuzzy would have taken him longer. Now he's old enough and big enough to swallow the fuzzy quickly, he might feel safer about eating it.

If he won't eat immediately in future, just leave him alone with the food- overnight if necessary.
 
I probably should have mentioned that I feed him in a different feeding tank. I always put the snake in and put the mouse down. He always gobbled up the pinkies, but with the fuzzy I would have to leave it over night. In the morning the fuzzy would still be there and my snake would be cowering the a corner. So he wasn't scared of me.
Yesterday, I "chased" him around with the mouse for an hour. I decided he was going to eat pinkies for the rest of his life so I grabbed my snake and the mouse and he grabbed the fuzzy from my hand.

windowswisher said:
PS. If your snake has only been feeding on pinkies, a hopper is a LARGE leap, imho. But I will wait for the more expert to chime in. :)
Click to expand...

So does everyone else agree to feed it fuzzies for a little while before switching to hoppers?
 
I personally would feed the fuzzies a few more times before moving up. It might not be necessary, but IMO better that he be getting too small of a meal for awhile than possibly having a regurge.
 
As long as the hopper is no more than 1.5 times the width of your snake, you should be fine feeding hoppers. But, yes, if you'd rather play it safe, feeding fuzzies a couple more times is alright, too.
 
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