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Snake hiding in hard-to-reach spot, but needs feeding!

L

lishe

New member
Hi all

Hope this can be here and not in feeding problems.

my little one has currently curled himself up good and proper in his hide, which I can't reach properly into to pull him out. He's not stuck in there, he can move freely, but basically to get him out of the hide will take some effort. I can see why he likes it, it's really dark and narrow in there.

I would leave him in there and trust him to take care of himself, but I think he needs to eat. The schedule thus far-

1 March - fed at petstore
8 March - I brought him home, gave him time to adjust - he had travelled a lot and was very stressed, so I let him have a week.
16 March - He rejected one pinky - I put him in the tub with the pinky, he licked it a little bit but didn't take it despite being left in there for an hour. I put the tub in his tank overnight and he didn't want it either.

I'm trying to feed him again tonight, but I'll need to force him out and he won't be happy anyway. What do you guys think I should do?
 
Can you see if he's going into shed? His refusal and hiding could mean he's laid up ready to shed
 
I didn't notice his eyes go blue, but for that week that I was letting him be, I didn't do much other than change his water and mist him up - he was under his bush most of the time, what I would do is kinda rustle it a little and check that he was moving before leaving him be. I can see parts of him rather well, but he's my first snake, so I'm not sure what I should be looking for other than his eyes. (which are not blue right now, he peeked out at me when I tapped on the hide to check on him.)
 
Certain morphs are notoriously difficult to "read" when getting ready to shed...what is yours? Im guessing hes a youngster? Its possible the brown paper bag trick may be just the ticket.
 
lishe said:
I didn't notice his eyes go blue, but for that week that I was letting him be, I didn't do much other than change his water and mist him up - he was under his bush most of the time, what I would do is kinda rustle it a little and check that he was moving before leaving him be. I can see parts of him rather well, but he's my first snake, so I'm not sure what I should be looking for other than his eyes. (which are not blue right now, he peeked out at me when I tapped on the hide to check on him.)
Click to expand...
You've probably at least seen part of him each day? Did you notice his skin go dull and then clear again? When snakes go into shed it's like a greyish wash that dulls their colours, as well as the eyes going milky and blue. Then it clears for a day or so before they actually shed their skin. If so, probably best leave him and he'll come out to surprise you with nice new scales!
If not, having a hide that you can't get him out of is the first thing to sort out. I'd take the hide out and set it in a tub, with a water bowl the other side of the tub and a towel over the top, and wait to see if he comes out to drink, then remove that hide. (What sort of hide is it?)Or try a nice hot pinky the other side of the tub to see if that will lure him out.
 
He is a normal, and yes a youngster, but not THAT young! Petstore gauges him at about 6 mths.

Diamondlil: Yes, I did see part of him. Argh, I hate to say a definite yes that he did go a little dull, but I do think that potentially he was a little duller than my "memory" of what he is. My snake is rather new to me, I'm afraid. :(

How long is safe for me to leave him before I MUST feed him? If he is really going into shed I'm happy to leave him be for awhile, but there has to be a limit before I need to put the other plan into action to coax him out!

The hide is an aquarium decoration (http://www.walmart.com/ip/20510519?...1=g&wl2=&wl3=21486607510&wl4=&wl5=pla&veh=sem). There is a large hole in the bottom right column as you can see - what you can't see is that there are openings on the other rock column as well, so I can see into it. Snake is currently laying inside the castle, across the "bridge". I can see and touch him through both openings, and through the windows, but can't exactly pull him out easily (I would probably have to gently nudge him from one side of the hide until he emerges from the other side, but I'd imagine that he would be pissed!)
 
He may have not eaten because he was going blue. I'd wait 10 days or so since the refusal before trying to force him out. My babies typically skip one or sometimes two meals during the blue phase, fed at a five day interval.
 
I would get rid of the castle or at least plug all of the holes if you want to use it for decoration. You need hides that you can readily get your snake out of. I have used the half logs from PetSmart, they love the toilet and paper towel tubes, half coconuts, bamboo tubes etc. He probably comes out at night when you are in bed and the house is dark. You might have to get up and check a few times to catch him out. When my anery is blue and he is in the clear stage, his belly is still very cloudy and I can always tell when he is getting ready to shed.
 
Hi Kaypar, now that this has happened, I probably will plug the holes and the bridge part when I can. He does have two toilet roll tube hides in the enclosure, together with a huge bush across the back. He's most often in the bush and I have never seen him elsewhere. Basically last night was the first time he's even used something else as a hide other than the bush. I'll try to get up tonight and sneak up on him!
 
So for tonight, I've just placed the entire hide on its side into a paper bag together with a warm pinky. Top of paper bag is held down with one paperclip in the middle with one paper clip so it's secure but not too secure. The whole paper bag is in the tank now, and I'll leave it overnight. Hopefully he will eat tonight.

Thank you everyone for your suggestions so far.
 
Just undid the bag this morning - the pinky is not where I left it, so hopefully it's sitting in his tummy!! (he's back in his hide, same spot, so hopefully it's not that he hid it behind him, haha)

Thanks everyone for your suggestions!!
 
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