My royal

[lozzer]

Hey guys as probobly most of you know i got a royal hatchling a few weeks back but i wanted to wait until i got pics of it to post on the forum.I gave it 2 weeks to settle in and then i fed it but it didn't eat(small mouse defrosted then heated up)and now hasn't ate for another 2 weeks as i been on holiday for the week and my mum tryed to feed it but still wouldn't and i just tryed now but it won't still.It will strike in self defense and then curl back into its hide and exhale's as loud as it possilbly can.

Any tips guys?

[Amber]

What does it's cage look like?

Armand only eats if I leave the food outside his hide overnight.

the smaller the cage you can get, and still be able to fit 2 hides and a waterbowl in, the better for shy baby bps (I think). You feed with tongs and make the food move?

EDIT - Is he in a high traffic area of the house, if so move him to a quieter place. try to stay away from him as much as possible.

Is he captive bred? Was he eating before you got him, and if so what was he eating?

[John Pilling]

Everything Amber said, and whatever Dave & Lee has to offer (pythons arn't my strongest point).

[Dave]

try feeding in its viv in the dark

my usual tricks are putting the mouse in a seethrough box then tap the box (inside the viv) on the back so the snake will be intrigued by whats in the box (also remember that there heat sensitive an will see the heat from your hand!) basically the snake will go for the heat on your hand an find the mouse! all this is done at the risk of getting bit though so be warned! only other thing if you dont wanna do that is leave it in the viv over night with the snake!
usually if kiera dont eat i will make it look alive (in the dark) by dancing it around with a glove on, the snake will take this but its even more risky an the chances are you may well get bitten!

[lozzer]

Its cf and it fed on f/t fine in the shop but it was its first f/t as they were feeding it fresh killed and live illegaly before starting to feed it fresh killed.I did make the mouse move and ive already left the mouse in the viv overnight before and i thought it had ate it but it really had been pushed off the top of the hide where i couldn't see it.And ive tryed braining the lot.

This is the starter kit i bought for it until when i got at the shop the lady had a go at me and said that glass is stressful for them.


And this is the viv hes in now but theres no asphen in it just coconut bark and i have 2 hides and a tube for it to hide in.

[lozzer]

ooops the photos didn't come out
Heres the glass one

And the one hes in instead

[lozzer]

Why arn't the pics being displayed?

[John Pilling]

Don't know Lozzer, mine came though last week using photobucket.com.

[lozzer]

I did use photobucket and copied the img thingy then pasted it.

[Amber]

Ahhhhhhh well maybe try making linking to it, instead of posting pics? i dunno, mine was working fine.

When leaving it overnight, how close do you put it to the hide he is in? My baby bp only just fits into her hides, one of them is lifted of the ground when she goes in it, so it is a little too small, but they prefer tight hides.

I hear peopel keeping bps in racks have less trouble getting baby bps to feed, maybe try making his cage darker?

Good luck anyway, and unless he is thin, he will be fine for months yet, so don't worry too much. Until they start loosing weight, I try not to worry too much.

EDIT - Dave, has that box thing ever worked with non eating snakes? Usually I see, if they aren't eating, they aren't very willing to leave their hides.

[Dave]

it works great aslong as its dark and in "natural hunting conditions" i.e its dark and naturally how it would be in the wild
it worked well when kiera didnt eat, hope this is of some help

[Amber]

You could try dipping the food's head in hot/boiling water? If Amber ever decided to stop eating, I may just try that, or I could try it anyway, as if she doesn't strike fast enough as it is...

Also, how are you defrosting the food? I was reading through something, that pointed out some ways of defrosting are better than others, leaving in hot water could remove a lot of scent. It also says defrosting on a "candle warming hotpad" gets great feeding responses, but I'm not sure what they are, so maybe try defrosting on a heatpad?

[lozzer]

I defrost my royals food in a sealed plastic bag and then the bag is put in very hot water to defrost so no scent is lost.All its hides are nice and tiht for it and he keeps on coming out looking for food.

[lozzer]

I tryed again tonight and he struck at it as he usualy does but didn't eat it i made is walk around(the mouse)and still didnt eat it even when i tocuhed the snakes body but it just rolled into a ball and finally i decided to brain the mouse and leave it in the viv overnight.

[Amber]

My bps don't usually like the food touching them much, they seem to like watching the mouse from a distance (not too much of a distance )

Maybe try heating the food up more, and give him a week before bothering to try to feed him again. Whenever I look at Armand I feel kinda sorry for him, thinking how stressful the first weeks of life are for CF bps

Good luck!

[lozzer]

Nope he didn't eat again.The mouse was really warm too.

[lee]

ok...
do you keep it in a glass cage as you can stress some from coming down from the top as a predator such as a bird would and have 3 sides been covered as the amount of view being exposed can stress your royal python,try blocking out 3 sides of the cage with dark card

what are you using as a heat source and could you say your cool and warm and substrate temperatures and is it thermostatically controlled as heatmats exposed to glass can reach alarming levels(100f +) and if you are using a light bulb,what colour as might be too bright for your little one, a good heat source for royals are ceramic heaters as these give out heat but no light and all lighting must be guarded to stop accidents happening.

have you tried rat pups with the royal as some are more willing to take something without fur and the rat is better for boids than mice,natural thaw the mouse until it is dry to the touch and submerge the body in hot water for 10-15 seconds and dry it and try waving it in front of the snake as might strike feed.

my experience with CFs is very limited and you never know wheter your royal is it or not as theres no visual signs of the differences between a captive bred and a captive farmed except for feeding records but some petshops don't even keep them with CBs and its very rare for shops to carry exclusively CB whatever they tell you unless they are morphs(petshops DO lie as i know from my first ever experience with royals) and both my adults were bought at shops as CFs and was a pain to get feeding and this was before i had a computer so i didn't have a forum like this or the information i know today and both feed well now..just about perserverance mate..if i doesn't eat leave it until the next feed

you seem to have the hides sorted and one more thing nothing other than kitchen towel for small snakes,it may look good in bark but safety first with snakes as they could swallow substrate even if you put down a few sheets as royals don't read books

the methods you use to get troublesome corns feeding does actually work with royals like braining,rubbing chicks or rats onto the mouse,pre killed and dark spaces as suggested by dave or put it in a pillowcase with a food item and leave it over night or in a dark opaque box,the enclosed space calms the snake down as in the wild they inhabit rodent burrows which are warm and dark
hopefully you get it feeding before you have to resort to extreme measures such as assist/force feeding etc

lee

[lozzer]

Its in a 2 foot wooden viv and its heated by a heat mat and controlled by a thermostat and the temp is around 90f

[Vicki]

Ok. Royals dont like big spaces (even more so than corns). Really you should just about be able to fit in 2 hides and a water bowl, like this...


I feed mine on f/t rat pups. At first i warmed them in water then a quick blast with the hairdryer, dangled them with tongs and he ate right away. You may want to try this but also cut a small slit behind the brain to release a little more scent.

Royals, especially CF are prone to feeding probs so dont worry too much at the moment. CF go through a lot of stress in the breeding and transporting which is why they are often more difficult than CB. Although mine is CF and ive had no probs so far.

[lozzer]

I know,but his viv is full of hides and i might just try rat pups.