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I can't get our little carpet to eat

J

Jenstet

New member
I'll try to keep this short:)
We've had him for three weeks now and he hasn't eaten for us yet. We left him for a week to settle in but handled him a few times last week. We've tried to feed him 3 times .
The first in a bin. He seemed stressed just being in the bin and had no interest in the fuzzy. After that we have been trying to feed him in his viv.
The second we wiggled it in front of him when he was out for the night. He struck once but I think he was just irritated we were wiggling a mouse in front of him.
The third we slit the head of the fuzzy and while he flicked on the cut and I felt he was going to do something exciting he eventually backed off.

I weighed him when we first got him and he was 49 grams. He's 6 months old. He last ate for the breeder on January 1st. He lives in a 20 gallon long. A UTH on a thermostat set at 90. He has a basking light that gets to 90-92 in the hot spot. The ambient temp on the hot side is 80. On the cool side is 73. He never goes into the hides though. His humidity is between 35-50%. I spray 3 times a week to try to keep it up. He does have a big water dish to splash around in.

My big concern is that he is going to slowly deteriorate. Will he eventually get hungry and eat? How long can a little guy go without eating?

We have decided to stop handling him until he eats for us. Handling him is a process as he is pretty nippy. I think the handling adds to his stress.
I'm going back and forth between wanting to try harder to get him to eat and letting him have some space to adjust.
Our corn snake is so easy to feed and jungle carpets are known for being good eaters. I'm a little stumped.
 
I wouldn't try to feed him every night, back off for a few days, like 3.

Dangle the fuzzy in front of his nose then move it away about 2 inches, keep doing that and see if it gets his interest. I learned this technique from Brian from snake bytes TV and it works.

If he struck at it once I would not give up, sometimes my Corn takes 15 minutes to get him interested., ya know, tease him a little.....patience and he should eat.

The handling defiantly adds stress

Good Luck.
 
http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=28342

Here's a thread that may help you. Lots of techniques you can try, but don't let it worry you, if possible. I have a young dumerils boa that goes on long hunger strikes; he last ate on November 28th. Last year he went four months w/o eating.

It may still be an adjustment for your guy, or it may be that he's a picky eater, and you may have to find the right combination of tricks to get him to eat, and even then it may only be occasionally, like my guy.

Personally, I would cover his cage and leave him alone for another week and then try feeding again. The last thing you want to do is add food to the list of things that stress him out. Ultimately, he may need to feed live. He may need to be left alone with the prey. You just need to be patient and keep trying different methods until you find what works. Good luck and keep us posted.
 
I will try to get in touch with Heather. thanks.

How does one provide a hot spot for a python without a lamp? He doesn't use hides and is always in the vines. It has a ceramic bulb if that makes a difference. I have wondered if the size of the tank is an issue.

I will try some of the scenting techniques.

Some other advice I received was to cover the sides of his tank with paper to get it darker for him. That may along the lines of what Joba means by covering the cage.

This is going to take some doing but I feel good knowing that he has been eating for a few months so he should be able to do it again.
 
Jenstet said:
Some other advice I received was to cover the sides of his tank with paper to get it darker for him. That may along the lines of what Joba means by covering the cage.
Click to expand...

Sort of. I eventually took my guy in to the vet and he had me completely cover Dexter's cage so he'd feel safe and relaxed. First, he even had me put Dexter into a small rubbermaid, shoebox sized container, and put that inside his cage, completely covered.

How was your snake living prior to you acquiring him? A small, dark, tub, most likely; that might be just what he needs right now to feel safe.

Just passing along that experience. I'd check with Heather first.
 
Jenstet said:
It has a ceramic bulb if that makes a difference. I have wondered if the size of the tank is an issue.
Click to expand...

The ceramic bulb is fine in a 20L. You posted heat light not lamp so assumed it was a white light.

It sounds like a stress problem to me.
A small snuggly tank or tub with hides would help with that. When a snake that has been eating regularly then stops when getting a new home, it's almost always a stress issue. At 49g you got time to correct the stress issue, what ever it is, with no worries for a while. :)
 
He came from a one of those plastic shoebox rack systems. From the basement of a childless house :)
I also have a 10 gallon tank I could use.
I'll wait to hear from Heather but I think that a smaller enclosure makes a lot of sense.
 
I agree that he is probably stressed by going from a small rack tub to the 20-gallon tank. Try setting him up in a smaller tub, similar to what the breeder had. As others have mentioned, he needs to feel safe to eat.

Also, are you feeding rat pinks, or mice? Some carpets are very difficult to get feeding on rats - I've got a couple in my collection like that.

Kathy
 
Kathy::-offtopic

12.10 Cornsnakes, 8.5 Ratsnakes, 5.7 Carpet pythons, 2.3.6 Chondros, 1.1 Ball pythons, 0.1 Hog Isle boa

Now I understand the "Insomniac" label! Holy Cow!
 
Just to clarify. You have had him three weeks. You left him alone for a week, then tried feeding three times in the past two weeks? You have a UTH AND a heat lamp?
What was the breeder feeding the snake? Did you offer the same type of prey he was used to or did you try feeding something different?
1) get rid of the heat lamp-that's too much heat
2) stop misting, they do not need it.
Have you contacted the breeder you got him from?
Do not try harder to get him to eat, you will just stress him out even more.
It won't hurt him to miss a couple meals. Leave him a lone for at least a week.
Do not offer food more often than every 7-10 days, at minimum. You could stretch it out to every two weeks, to make him hungry.
Cease handling him any more than necessary until he is eating for you.
Babies tend to be bitey, because they think you are trying to eat them. As they grow, they usually grow out of it.
You may need to move him to a smaller enclosure.
You may also need to just leave the food for him overnight. I have a couple that will not eat while I am in the room. They wait until I leave the room and shut off the light before they eat.
 
insomniac101 said:
I agree that he is probably stressed by going from a small rack tub to the 20-gallon tank. Try setting him up in a smaller tub, similar to what the breeder had. As others have mentioned, he needs to feel safe to eat.

Also, are you feeding rat pinks, or mice? Some carpets are very difficult to get feeding on rats - I've got a couple in my collection like that.

Kathy
Click to expand...

Joba said:
Kathy::-offtopic

12.10 Cornsnakes, 8.5 Ratsnakes, 5.7 Carpet pythons, 2.3.6 Chondros, 1.1 Ball pythons, 0.1 Hog Isle boa

Now I understand the "Insomniac" label! Holy Cow!
Click to expand...
I think that is a valid question, that could be part of the problem.
 
First, thank you for taking the time. I sincerely appreciate the help.

Yes, I have both a UTH and a ceramic heat emitting bulb. If I remove the bulb the tank will go down to 73 ish degrees except for in the hide. This is okay? I thought he needed a hot basking spot. He hangs out under the bulb a lot in the evenings and has never gone into either of the hides I have for him. I'm guessing he will just find the heat he needs like any snake would.

I'm using the mice she gave me. She was feeding him 2-3 fuzzys once a week. BUT..I am almost out and there is an expo this weekend so I can pick up whatever you think I need.

He is set up in a low traffic area. I should say the lowest traffic area in our house.

All the other info you restated is correct. When we picked him up I went over everything I had for him and the only thing she questioned was the UTH. She seemed to think it wasn't necessary. She kept her adults in tanks with big red basking lights on them. This guy was in a rack and she kept the heat in the room cranked up. That was where I got the misting from as well. I had read it wasn't necessary but was just doing what was suggested. I have been in contact with her twice since we got him and she seemed to think he would just start eating on his own. He just needed time. She didn't have any specific advice for me just to wait out the "adjustment period". She did offer to exchange him for another but that wasn't really what we were looking to do. I will see her at the expo this weekend and see what she thinks as well.

okay, so here is the plan.
-move him into a 10 gallon tank with just a UTH set at 90 on the thermostat. no heat lamp.
-leave him for a week, no handling, no feeding attempts.
-after that week try again? and then only try every two weeks.
-handle him minimally (for cleaning purposes if need be) until he starts eating.

If I am using only a UTH I can also cover the tank to keep it dark. Do you recommend this?

As for the feeding, we will just do the dangle and if he doesn't go for it I'll leave it in there overnight. I think I'll put him on newspaper in the 10 gallon so there are no substrate mishaps.

anything here I need to change or may have misunderstood?

I should add that we had been handling him a lot after that initial week. Every other day or so. We were initially more concerned with getting him easier to handle than any feeding issues. We've obviously made some mistakes here.
 
You can cover the sides of his viv with brown paper (if covering is what the experts recommend). I know for nervous BPs, it works to cover all the sides and then just gradually remove the paper little by little.

It might be confusing when you call the heat emitter a bulb. The common term for them is CHE.
 
I saw that you are in NH (I'm in Maine) which is why I understood the need of the ceramic heater and misting.
In general.....
Using the ceramic heater for the cooler months is ok if that's the only way to get the temps right.
Misting is ok to get the humidity up as long as your misting away from the snake.
Those are the two easiest ways to keep the heat and humidity correct without raising the room temp and running a humidifier in New England.
I think that going to paper in a ten gallon is going to create a temp and humidity control issue also. Hopefully by switching to the 10 gallon, there won't be a need for the ceramic heater but if you need it then use it.
I agree with all the advice in general but what applies in southern or west coast states doesn't necessarily apply in New England and visa versa when it pertains to heat and humidity. :)
 
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