New to this

[lozzer]

Its most likely to do with being kept humid to late but yer leave him a few days and spray him a couple of times and he should be fine.

[John Pilling]

As the little 1 has shed, stop spraying. As for checking him, i personally would only check him once a day, say about 7-8pm and just change his water and have a look to make see he's ok (put a finger in to let him know your their, he's only young and will soon get used to your scent).

[Shrimply]

£104!for a hoggy!jesus i can get them for £40

Yeah its expensive but they all sell.

It is now, but i no longer have it

Shame, hope it eats soon.

(except for lightening's first shed, he didnt shed fully an it ended up me having to put a 6 foot boa in the bath to get the shed off)

You definitely would get £200 off you've been framed for that, Now theres a way to fund your next snake. ;D

he is in plastic tank that the reptile shop sold me for baby snakes. It is about 15 inches long by 6 wide. It has a heat mat placed under one half and has a layer of newspaper then a thin layer of bark spread over. It has a cork hide placed across the center of the tank so that half is on the warm side and half on the cool side. I do not have the thermometer in there, tho i do have one. the shopsaid i shouldn't need it in as the heat mat would be ok. He has a small water bowl on the cool side

This is exactly the set-up i was sold trust me it is useless. Hot side too hot, cold side to cold. The best thing to do is buy his next viv with a light fitting and place the tank in there. Next thing is buy a thermostat and fit the probe inside the box (No easy task). Check out my photos in the gallery labeled pics. For more detailed pics ask after he has sorted himself out.

Well chuffed for you that he has shed , hope he manges to feed soon.

[lozzer]

Ooops sorry i thought the shed was still stuck on lol.

[Vicki]

The set up sounds good, although if he isnt eating in a few weeks you may want to put him in something a bit smaller, i find the smaller the better. Oh and put that thermomiter in to make sure temps are ok.

I would also remove the wood chips for now to eliminate the risk of him digesting any when he eats.

ALWAYS off the pinkie in the evening. Like lee said in an earlier post, he may still be full from the egg yolk so not eating isnt really a big issue at the moment, some of mine took a few weeks before they started eating and then ate every 5 days without a care in the world. Just keep offering a pinkie every 2-4 days. If he still hasnt eaten after 2 weeks let us know and we can give you a few tricks that may help. So for now just pop the pinke under his hide and leave it for at least 3 hrs without even checking him (NO PEEKING AT ALL) as it really does put them off.

As far as lifting the bark up, its ok but is better if you dont (once you get this little one eating you can look until your heart is content ) If you leave him in a room alone then go in about 8-9pm i can almost guarantee he will be out and about!! The little hatchlings are so noesy

[Vicki]

Here is a picture of my rack so you get an idea of what my hatchling set ups look like. These are all in boxes 12x6x4, although the next lot of hatchlings (not in pic) are in 6x4x2 and I have found the feeding response much better and the snakes also seem less snappy.

All the heat mats are connected to a thermostat and the probe is placed in the center box on the center shelf (the empty one).

All have a water bowl big enough to soak in, a kitchen roll tube as a hide and kitchen roll substrate.

[Vicki]

Ahh, didnt notice those... if you look on the middle shelf in the first pic (on the left) those are the boxes the new hatchlings are in. They are about 70p for 5 from wilkinsons (or free if you order an indian take away). I just put lots of little holes in.

[Shrimply]

In a normal room I found the temps impossible to keep warm enough. Maybe it is just my house but whereas Vicki's room is probably kept warm mine wasn't. Also the difference between Vicki's sandwich boxes and what i think Molly has got is the amount of ventilation on the top. All the heat just escapes.

Take the temps and if they are fine no worries otherwise you may need to fork out on some extra equipment.

[John Pilling]

Shrimpley, do you have a mesh lid?

[Shrimply]

No. I am talking about the hatchling housing. What i would call a Geo box. I presume that is what molly is talking about as i was sold the exact same thing. Like Granite's home that i posted in the photo gallery.

[molly]

Yes shrimply, the set up is pretty much the same as in your pic. i will put the thermometer in to check on things.
vicki, we're leaving him alone.
it was recommended that he doesn't eat in his tank. you obviously don't agree??

[John Pilling]

At this age molly, well any age if theirs only 1 corn, you can feed in the viv. I feed all mine in a seperate feed box tho (habbit now), but for a young hatchling who hasn't eaten yet, the viv is the perfect place.

[Shrimply]

There is a lot of debate about feeding/not feeding in a viv but in my opinion it is less stressful on the snakes feeding in the viv. This however is not possible if more than one animal is kept together. A lot of people say that the snake is more likely to bite you feeding in the viv but I believe that snakes are not stupid unless you smell of food they are not interested.

It is really your choice as both ways are fine depending on your situation.

sorry forgot to say that you do not have a choice at the moment, feeding in his home is definetly the best option.

[Vicki]

molly said:

it was recommended that he doesn't eat in his tank. you obviously don't agree??

I disagree strongly at this stage. The only reason you would not feed in the viv is if you have more than one snake in there IMO. If you are removing him from the viv to feed now, and he has never fed before then I think you have a major challenge on your hand. Like I said, remove the chips for now and just have him on kitchen roll, at feeding time just put the pinkie in and then leave him.

Who told you not to feed in the viv? And was this person aware that he had never fed before? A lot of people will feed out the viv just incase they digest substrate, but this is not always possible. You cannot put food on chips incase the ingest them, but with mine (the ones in the large vivs) I just put the mouse on some newspaper, and the ones that are housed together get fed one in the viv and one out, this alternated with each feed.

Anyway, dont stress too much at the moment (i know its hard not to). If you follow the advice from people on here im sure he will feed for you soon.

[lee]

i 100% agree with the above post and try keeping handling to a minimum until its starts to feed as this could be another reason for it not feeding and put it in a place thats quiet

[molly]

substrate removed from under hide. just on newspaper. have put a pinky in and left him. he's hardly being handled at all. didn't even lift the hide yesterday, so never saw him once. tonight, he was only handled to move him off the substrate. he was very lively tonight and when i put him down, was wiggling all around the viv. will look in the morning and remove pinky if uneaten.

[Shrimply]

Please don't disturb the snake again but for next time i much prefer kitchen roll it is softer and warmer (although i don't suppose the snake would care) and it is easier to fit in.

[molly]

pinky not eaten

[Shrimply]

Oh what a shame. Hope it eats soon and don't give up hope yet with this forum behind you anything is possible ;D

[Vicki]

Aww Just pop another in in 3 days and see what happens. Once he has refused for about 2 weeks you can start different methods like braining (well actually you could try this next time, just put a little slit on the pinkies neck to release the scent and make sure the pinkie is warm), scenting, teasing etc. We will all help you out with this when the time comes Some of mine went for about 6 weeks before they started to eat, but once they started eating they were fine.