my baby won't eat.

[JovianHalo13]

Got my baby on friday, and was told it was supposed to be fed again on saturday. I tried saturday moring...nothing. Saturday afternoon...nothing. Late saturday night...(thought maybe it prefered to eat at night)...nothing.
Now it's sunday afternoon and i'm going to try again. For each time i've tried before i've taken it out of its cage and put it in a different enclosure to eat as that was recommended. But always it'll look at it or smell it and turn away. A couple times it just seemed to sit and stare at it but did nothing. Then went and curled up in the corner and stayed there...? Should i try to just feed it while it's still in its cage? I was told i may have trouble feeding it the first time because it may be stressed from the move and having a new person feeding it and so on. Does anyone have any ideas on how to get it to eat?

 

[alan]

I was told i may have trouble feeding it the first time because it may be stressed from the move and having a new person feeding it and so on.

All recomendations I've seen are to leave your new snake alone for at about a week so it can get used to it's new territory.

Does anyone have any ideas on how to get it to eat?

Read the sticky at the top of this forum for ideas. I've never had a small snake, I think I'd be worried about the food too, they just seem so tiny.

 

[Weebonilass]

By offering it multiple times you are putting a great deal of stress on the poor thing. Leave it alone for a week, let it get use to it's new surroundings and then offer it food again. It should eat, but there is no way you can "MAKE" anything eat. The last thing you want to do is cause it to regurge and start a pattern with that. As Alan, so kindly pointed out, read the stickys and it'll tell you a lot of things.

 

[JovianHalo13]

thanks.

sorry, thanks for the info.

 

[patm1313]

Yes, as stated leave it alone for a week or so. If you haven't done so already, put the snake's housing (tank, tub, etc.) in a low traffic area (ie. a guest room, place in bedroom that is least traveled, etc.) so that the snake is even less stressed. Keep a close eye on your husbandry, that will also help. The whole name of the game with a new snake is trying to provide the lowest amount of stress that you can so that it can acclimate to it's new surroundings and be comfortable to do things such as eat.

 

[Nanci]

So, what I would do is put the baby in a viv with lots of hiding places with vines with deep aspen for burrowing and leave it STRICTLY alone till Friday or Saturday. Then I would put the snake in a feeding container, (with air holes, like a small Gladware or the deli cup the snake came in) with the VERY HOT pink, with a couple slits cut in the pink's back, in the evening, in a dimly lit room, and see if she takes it. No hovering! Check in 30 minutes. If she hasn't eaten, re-heat the pink to very hot, put her back in the feeding container, cover it with a dishtowel or T-shirt so she can't see out. Check in one hour. If she still hasn't eaten, either leave her as is overnight, or put her in a paper lunch bag, with the top folded, with the pink, and put the bag and snake back in her viv overnight. Good luck! Then she needs to be left alone, no handling, for two to three days to digest. If you handle her, she may regurge, and you really, really don't want to go there. If she does not eat at all, try again, same thing, four days later. It is very bad to keep offering food multiple times a day or days in a row.