• Hello!

    Either you have not registered on this site yet, or you are registered but have not logged in. In either case, you will not be able to use the full functionality of this site until you have registered, and then logged in after your registration has been approved.

    Registration is FREE, so please register so you can participate instead of remaining a lurker....

    Please be certain that the location field is correctly filled out when you register. All registrations that appear to be bogus will be rejected. Which means that if your location field does NOT match the actual location of your registration IP address, then your registration will be rejected.

    Sorry about the strictness of this requirement, but it is necessary to block spammers and scammers at the door as much as possible.

feeding new babies... lavenders

chausies

chausies

New member
I received my shipment of babies from Serpenco less than a week ago, and I know that it is too soon to become concerned about the ones that are not yet eating. What I am wondering about is:

1) I don't know when these snakes hatched, so I don't know the total time that it has been for them not eating. How long should I wait before I should be concerned that they are not eating?

2) I have heard that certain varieties are pickier eaters than others. I had a pair of bloodreds in this shipment so I was, of course, most concerned about whether these would eat for me without special treatment. The bloodreds have already eaten, however, and one of them has eaten twice already. The amel motley has also eaten her first meal as of last night. The lavenders have not eaten. I thought that it was odd for both lavenders to refuse food, but these snakes are more hyper/nervous than the others. Are lavenders naturally more nervous snakes? These guys practically fly out of the boxes everytime I open them up, and they strike at me. The bloodreds and amel motley are docile compared to the lavenders. Is there a better way to feed snakes that are like this? I have tried leaving the food with them undisturbed for hours at a time. I have tried live as well as f/t. I have tried "teasing" them with f/t.

thanks, charlene
 
You probably just need to give them a little more time. Unless they are just bound and determined not to eat for you, they may just need a bit more time to adjust to being in a new place. I just got 7 hatchlings from Rich, gotta love the 50% sale, and the hypo lav ate just as readily as any of the others. I'm not sure if you are trying at a certain time of day, but with my problem feeders I've found that later is better. I have a ball that will take a mouse off tongs, a couple hours after dark. If I try and feed her too early she won't have anything to do with it. Good luck with them.
 
Since Rich is trying to ship the 50% off hatchlings ASAP, more than likely, the lavenders were the last to hatch out before shipping. I'd just give them a little more time before you start to panic.
 
lavenders

yeah, I tried all hours. I have left pinks with the snakes for hours late at night to all night with all lights off and no disturbance. This is when the second bloodred ate, but still no go for the lavs. If they are younger then that would explain some hesitance. They do seem to be calming down a little, they just show absolutely no interest in the pinks (and since I have heard that some baby snakes prefer anoles or other food sources, I wanted to be prepared if lavenders were one of those.) I would not want to wait too long to discover that is what they want/need. Where would you get anoles anyway, if needed. I mean, the wild ones may have parasites. Do you just freeze them and feed thawed or is there a healthy source for live anoles?

charlene
 
It's been a few weeks now...did the babies ever eat? If they did, what finally worked?

Are lavenders naturally more nervous snakes? These guys practically fly out of the boxes everytime I open them up, and they strike at me.
Click to expand...

I'm having exactly the same experience with my new lavender. He's never tried to strike, but he goes into full panic mode at the slightest movement or touch. The first time I opened his deli cup, he shot out like one of those snake-in-a-can toys and nearly gave me a heart attack.
 
baby lavs

yes, they have FINALLY eaten :crazy02:

What worked for them was anole scented f/t pinkies. I had to catch an anole and freeze it (to kill parasites as well) and do the most horrible thing to scent the baby mice to get these snakes to eat. They would not even eat "brained" f/t pinkies. They would not eat live pinkies. They would not eat when I held them or when I left them alone. They would not eat in the morning, after noon, or late at night. They would not eat anything until I offered them their nasty little treat of lizard scented prey, then they gobbled it up.

I do have a new non-feeder though. I bought a gorgeous little maimi female at the daytona show and she will not eat a thing, not even the lizard scented pinkies. I don't know what to do about her. I hope that she eats soon... I was told that she ate at least twice before I bought her, and she shed once since she has been here, but she just wants to burrow in aspen shavings and hide and ignore any attempts to feed her. :sobstory:

charlene
 
ahh been there with the anole scent, my sisters snake was the same way, however she has an Amel. And the lizard maker did not work. It had to be anole scent.

Glad to see you got them eating :)

not sure about the non feeder. give it time and see
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top