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Ty quickly turned to a finicky eater

C

chag67

New member
I hope that Ty is not a finicky eater now and he was just stressed from the holidays and all the handling and then shedding.

He ate very well on Dec 15th - 2 pinkies. Attacked them while I was holding them with tweezers. Then he ate again on Dec. 21st - 1 fuzzy. He attacked it as well while holding it with the tweezers. Then came the holidays. I tried feeding him on Dec. 27th and 28th. No dice either day. So I tried again today. He turned his nose up at the pinky. So I tried warming it back up and then covering his feeding tub completely so it was very dark. Left him alone for 10 minutes and it was gone. Hardly a noticeable bump so I have put another pinky in with him and hopefully he eats that one as well.

I just hope I don't have to cover him up every time I feed him. Part of the "fun" is to watch him eat. My son hasn't seen him eat yet either so he is a little disappointed.

But primarily I am just glad he ate since it was 10 days since his last meal.
 
No dice on the second pinky. It's been over 20 min since he ate the first one so I just placed him back in his warm hide to digest. I'm just gonna make a note on his feeding calendar and hope for better results in another 5 days. I'm not going to handle him at all until then to help him relax more from this past week.
 
The timing of the shedding could be the primary factor. When did he shed?

I understand the fun of watching him eat. I enjoy it too. Our corn allows us to watch, but I can't get him to strike the F/T.

I'd try doing what you usually do next time. If he goes for it, awesome. If not, give him privacy.
 
chag67 said:
No dice on the second pinky. It's been over 20 min since he ate the first one so I just placed him back in his warm hide to digest. I'm just gonna make a note on his feeding calendar and hope for better results in another 5 days. I'm not going to handle him at all until then to help him relax more from this past week.
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Sounds like a good plan. :) Keep us updated. Want to see how the next feeding.
 
BugAyedBradshaw said:
The timing of the shedding could be the primary factor. When did he shed?
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He shed on Dec. 25/26. I found the skin the morning of Dec. 26th. He was scheduled to eat on the 27th. Also I had transported the whole Viv up to my brothers for the week. I know some of you guys advised against that but I really didn't want to have to expain to my son that he would have to wait several days after Christmas to see his new pet. I think Ty was a bit stressed from all the moving around and handling from the children. The only person that he "sat still" with was me. Likely because he already knew me from a couple weeks of handling prior to Christmas.

Lesson learned though. I won't be transporting him around too much any more. I have modified my RV a bit when I got back home. He has his own space where the dining room table and booth chairs were. This whole area is his own space and is easily sectioned off from the rest of the RV.

The only issue now is keeping the ambient air from dropping below 65. Luckily the winter nights in Alabama are not that cold but the RV has no side wall insulation so the heaters run all night just to keep it 65 - 67. Tolerable for me but Ty stays primarily in his hide at night. I have a seperate space heater for his area and that seems to keep it around 70 - 72 now. At least it did that last couple nights.
 
Wilma was a shy eater when she was little. I also had to cover her and leave her alone in a dark room. Now she's great. She's definitely not an aggressive eater, but she'll happily eat with me watching (and sometimes taking photos).
 
chag67 said:
I just hope I don't have to cover him up every time I feed him. Part of the "fun" is to watch him eat. My son hasn't seen him eat yet either so he is a little disappointed.
Click to expand...

chag67 said:
No dice on the second pinky. It's been over 20 min since he ate the first one so I just placed him back in his warm hide to digest. I'm just gonna make a note on his feeding calendar and hope for better results in another 5 days. I'm not going to handle him at all until then to help him relax more from this past week.
Click to expand...

Some snake prefer to be in a dark container and left alone to eat. It might take the fun out of watching but it's about their personal preference. My corn is no where near shy. I will be putting her down in her feed tub and she won't let go of me and still eat her mouse right with me standing there holding her. Some corns are just different and some grow in and out of behaviors.

Sounds like your little one might be a little stressed. Just recently came out of a shed which can effect their appetite. Moving them effects them and frequent handling during sheds/feed can effect them.
So your next feeding day is Saturday? If so that will give him time to settle and with you not handling him until he eats again, is good.

Some people get lucky, like me, and have a snake that will still constantly eat. My corn will eat before, during, and after a shed, while I am holding her, and even through her tank being moved around. She is a great eater.
Keeping track of their feeds etc is important. It's a great way to find a start of a problem or to see how your snake lives. I keep track of all my reptiles. Including weights about every month.

Good luck, hope he continues to eat.
If you want, I can probably get a picture of my girl eating for you ;)
-Skully-
 
My Wraith used to be a voracious eater. I fed him live rodents for a while. Then he met a mouse he couldn't handle, and stopped eating after that. So I switched to prekilled.
For about 2 months I tried all kinds of dangling and what not, and it only caused him further stress.
Finally I realized to get this guy to eat takes minimal disturbance.
Since Wraith rarely moves around anymore (he's become a vegetable!) I'll drop a dead mouse right in front of his hide.
Cover the vivarium with a black bed sheet, turn off the lights, and leave for a couple hours.
The mouse is always gone when I lift up the cover.
I've stuck with this feeding method, because nothing is more frustrating than watching your snake refuse a meal, and wasting a mouse.
I'm wondering if he's developed a permanent fear of moving mice? I'd love to see him constrict again one day. He's kind of overweight, and so inactive lately. I think he's just become really fat and lazy.

I hope you've gleaned some information from my own experience.
 
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