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feeding in viv problem

T

talc22

New member
Hi, ive got a bit of a problem feeding my 3 year old female. Last week she refused her first meal since ive had her, after trying for a short time to get her interested in the mouse with no luck i returned her to her viv. I thought that she may be off food as i read they go off it near breeding time, and she has been unusually active for the last month.

I tried to feed her again tonight in her feeding tub, but she was more interested in escaping than eating a mouse. After 40 mins of putting her back into the tub a waving a mouse at her i returned her to the viv. I sat the mouse on the lid of her hide and placed it just inside the door of the tank and closed it, by the time i put the tub away and returned she was eating the mouse.

Im glad that she ate but i dont want to start feeding in the viv and why wont she eat in her tub. Has anyone got any ideas, thanks.
 
I had a few that would only eat while under their hide, and now with so many, I feed in their tubs and vivs. I just make sure I have a nice sized spot clear of substrate for them to eat on. You could also use a plastic lid or paper plate so they don't ingest any substrate.
 
yeah i would rather that she ate in her viv as not eating at all, but as she has always ate in her feeding tub why has she suddenly changed also is it kind off bad to feed in the viv as they may associate your hand for food.
 
talc22 said:
yeah i would rather that she ate in her viv as not eating at all, but as she has always ate in her feeding tub why has she suddenly changed also is it kind off bad to feed in the viv as they may associate your hand for food.
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Not sure why, you can always try a larger container and leave her in the dark. I haven't had the problem of mistaken identity, but my hands usually smell of soap or antibacterial wash and not mice. I also show the more food aggressive ones a flat palm before I pick them up.
 
I have one that started off only taking food in her viv. After she pooped once (outside of viv) there was a long, completely undigested piece of aspen in her feces andso I switched her to feeding in a tub. Later, she got sick an refused to take food in a tub again. Right now her feeding response is a little unreliable (IE striking and constricting the minute I set it down one feeding, practically requiring me to beat her with the pink before she'll notice it the next) so I'm waiting for her to become the enthusiastic feeder she once was before switching her to a tub again. I've heard of snakes getting viv aggressive but it's not an instant thing. Snakes learn patterns rather slowly, as they aren't anywhere close in intelligence to say a rat or a dog, so feeding in the viv a couple times before switching back to tub shouldn't teach her that opening the viv means food. As for my viv-eater, she's never so much as hissed at me, let alone been aggressive.
 
ok thanks for your help, it sounds like its not too bad a thing to feed in the viv but i will keep trying her in the feeding tub first and try get her back into eating outside the viv.
 
It she definitely a she? Just asking in case it is a male exhibiting breeding behaviour (although females sometimes do too), perhaps the desire to eat this time was simply stronger than the desire for lurrve...
 
CaptBogart said:
I had a few that would only eat while under their hide, and now with so many, I feed in their tubs and vivs. I just make sure I have a nice sized spot clear of substrate for them to eat on. You could also use a plastic lid or paper plate so they don't ingest any substrate.
Click to expand...

LOL...the first time I fed Dottie, it was in her viv on a paper plate. I was so worried that she was going to drag the food off the plate, and consume it on the aspen. She didn't, but from that day on, I have been using a feeding tub.
 
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