African House Snake Advise Needed Please... ;(

[Lore]

Ok, those of you that have an African House Snake... Trevor, Joe, Dean, whoever else...

I've had my pair since early November, They certianly seem to take their time growing, of course they are quite small to start off with, my issue is this, my male is tiny, maybe as tiny as the day I got him still (however he's shed, so who knows...) But he has now gone on his 4th refusal.

His feeding has never been consistant, since being here he's had 7 refusals total and 5 successful feeds.

I was feeding him in a deli, it was fine at first, then after several refusals, Trevor suggested try feeding him on something in his enclosure. It worked... for 2 feeds, now he's not eating again. I've offered washed pink, brained pink, scented pink & live pink just this last feed.

I got nothin... is there anything I'm missing here that I can do to kick start this guy?

I decided I'm not going to get into breeding these lovlies, that I'm going to soley focus on Corns, thus the Female who has been a STRONG feeder since day 1 is going to Michelle (Devilznight).

I would like to keep working with this Male and if I can get him feeding consistantly for 2-3 months with no issues, I would like to give him to Michelle for free to go with the female she is getting from me.

But I wonder if this guy can get any smaller :eek1: I'm really concerned.

Hit me up with ideas or suggestions... maybe I'm missing something, I've done lots of thinking on this guy and I'm just stumped

As inspiration... here's the little guy...

Gryphon - Male African House Snake

 

[Roy Munson]

Too bad you're not sticking with them, but you've gotta do what you've gotta do.

At least he doesn't look to be at risk of imminent starvation. My pair are both eating two pinks per meal, and they've even started earning the house snake rep as vicious feeders (lightning-fast strikes and constriction). I don't bring this up to make you feel worse, but to offer an excuse for my inability to be of much assistance. Mine have always eaten in their enclosures, as most of my hatchlings (of all species) do while they are still on paper towel substrate. They prefer the prey to be offered at the opening to a snug hide, and they drag the pinks in and eat them in privacy.

I guess if I were you, I'd start doing some of the things that we do for non-feeding corns and kings. I know you've done some of these things already. Their prey is pretty diverse in the wild, so I'd try lizard-scenting, wet-corn-shed wrapping, and maybe pinks (or pink parts) of other rodents. At least he's been eating, if sporadically. I've definitely had picky hatchlings of other species (I've got a few now, in fact), and most of them have grown out of it. But it's very frustrating, I know. Hang in there.

Sorry I couldn't be much help, Lore. :awcrap:

 

[Fenderplayer108]

Lore, I am sorry to hear of your non-feeder struggle. The best thing to do is just do not give up. A few years ago there was a study done by a african house snake breeder to see what they will willingly accept. Here is some of the results, I suggest trying any of these that you can get ahold of...

She accepted the following:

* Domesticated mice (Mus sp.)
* Domesticated Rats (Rattus sp.)
* Grasshopper Mice (Onychomys sp.)
* Pocket Mice (Chaetodipus and Perognathus sp.)
* Kangaroo Rats (Dipodomys sp.)
* Cotton Rats (Sigmodon sp.)
* Wood Rats (Neotoma sp.)
* Bullfrogs (Rana catesbiana)
* Spiny Lizards (Sceloporus poinsetti)
* Free-tailed Bats (Tadarida brasiliensis)
* Pallid Bats (Antrozous pallidus)
* House Sparrows (Passer domesticus)

Good Luck Lore!

Ryan McCullough

 

[lefty_mussolini]

Hmm... I'm really surprised he is acting like a butt for you. Usually after they get going, they don't stop. And I remember that I picked out a pair for you that had been feeding great. I'm sorry to hear that he has been giving you so many problems.

I'd keep trying the washed pinks in his home for a bit. Also, if you haven't already been doing this, try to not handle him on the day he is going to eat, and feed at night. Hopefully, he'll hit that point where he wants to eat everything, and he'll never look back.

 

[Lore]

Hmm... I'm really surprised he is acting like a butt for you. Usually after they get going, they don't stop. And I remember that I picked out a pair for you that had been feeding great. I'm sorry to hear that he has been giving you so many problems.

I'd keep trying the washed pinks in his home for a bit. Also, if you haven't already been doing this, try to not handle him on the day he is going to eat, and feed at night. Hopefully, he'll hit that point where he wants to eat everything, and he'll never look back.

Hmmm... I DO do my feedings in the afternoon while my kids nap, it works for all of my other snakes, but he may be abit more sophisticated :grin01: I will try that in a few days, I'll leave him alone and just slip a pink in on a piece of card board for him at night.

Indeed he was a veratious eater when he got here, so I have no doubt that he wasn't a good feeder before he left the Trevor Kingdom, hatchlings are weird like that, some are meant to be boogars... they just dont show it right away LOL!

I ceritanly won't give up on him, that's for sure.