Hello, everyone.
I got ~3 month gtp baby, which was feeding on live pinkies, from local reputable breeder.
It has been 4 weeks he is not eating at my house. I keep him in foggy-transparent pvc 20x20x16cm enclosure with several removable branches, 2 walls with regulated heat pads attached to maintain 28°C with gradient, humidity >70.
I started with offering live pinky at late night. After no interest i tried agressive feeding, i was teasing, provoking, poking him from all sides, GTP was not showing any agression or strikes at all, he was just slowly changing his position or hiding head. The he started to slowly moving in enclosure, like investigating other walls or reaching out of boundaries, while i was continue poking, without paying any attenton to a feeder.
Same was with frozen pinky, and pinkies wiped with chicken skin\feathers. No aggression, no striking, and leaving feeder laying over night didnt help too.
So by the end of 4th week i applyed some assisted feeding with frozen pinkies. He always refused to keep the whole mouse, he was removing it from mouth.
So i tried head only. And it is like he has no instinct and\or doesnt really want to swallow while the head is inserted. He started travelling in enclosure with that head stuck in his mouth, unable to throw it out, so i left him in his enclosure and completely turned dimmed lights off.
After some time i returned and saw that he pushed head through, so it was not blocking his mouth any more, but like the swallowing itself was going on reeeeeeally slow. Then he settled down on a branch comfy and that was it.
It is not my first snake, but it is first GTP. So i am at this stage now where he is not eating on itself and i also cannot feed him a whole pinky even with assist…
Please, advice how am i supposed to move forward now? What i need to try?
I’m so sorry that you’re experiencing challenges with your new snake. I don’t work with GTPs, so my advice can only be general.
Have you been in contact with the breeder? If not, that’s the first order of business. If the animal was feeding for them, they will likely have some good advice on what to do. Follow the breeder’s recommendations.
Generally speaking, as far as snakes who have relocated to a new home, they shouldn’t be offered food nor disturbed at all for a week or so. There can be exceptions for will established and well socialized animals, but GTP hatchlings are not usually handled regularly and should be left alone to acclimate. If they don’t feel secure, they’re not going to eat. You’ve detailed a lot of feeding attempts, including assist feeding, within four weeks. It sounds like way too much. Btw, assist feeding is only rarely necessary for one who is actually a non-feeder (has never fed, not who isn’t eating at the moment), or who is having major physical challenges. It’s not indicated for a baby who isn’t feeding in a new place but who is otherwise healthy and not losing condition. That’s especially so with delicate arboreal species like GTP. They’re easily injured by rough handling, and assist feeding is aggressive from their viewpoint.
Try not to worry too much, make sure the environment is good and water is clean, and leave the baby alone to acclimate for a week before offering again. At that point, I’d try and replicate whatever was being done for feeding it in its former home. Hopefully the breeder will have some good advice for you. Also hopefully someone who works with GTPs will come along with more specific tips.
Thank you very much, appreciate your time and effort!
Let me add some more details.
I was not feeding him at least 5 days after he moved to my place, and after that i have been trying to tease him with food for 3 weeks, and all this time i was asking previous breeder here and there, i was just instructed to make him irritated and aggressive to food, and i was warned that he been eating Live previously - both of which i tried with no result.
And only after 3 weeks of no reaction to food, i asked breeder what to do, and then i have been advised to assist feed, so it was not my idea.
I also was adviced against trying to feed with geckos, lizards or frogs prey - and i didnt. But i could have tried scenting mouse with those, if i had them.
And breeder doesnt have any other info for me, other than I should try tease with frozen/live and assist-feed whole mouse after refusal.
I am super sure his enclosure is fine in terms of comfy size, branches, temp and humidity. I do not touch him at all, but i can look through single clear wall at him here and there and my room-to-room route is past his habitat whatsoever
So after your insight, i am trying to figure out, should he be left well alone for a straight 7 days perhaps and then propose him a Live
I would say yes. Again, I don’t work with this species but giving him time to decompress and feel safe. Perhaps then he’ll feed. If not, I’d leave him strictly alone for 7 more days and try again. A healthy snake can go a long time without food before it causes real problems. Since this one was confirmed to be established and feeding when you got him, he’ll eat again even if it takes time.
@capablanca I second everything that @caryl advised. I don’t own a GTP but in terms of eating this guy really should be no different than any other baby that’s re acclimating to a new home.
It sounds like you are stressing this baby with all of your feeding attempts. I am not being critical of you in any way because I have been guilty of that myself. I would wait 7 days from your last attempt and then offer him what he was eating for the breeder. Whatever he was eating before he will eat again. When he feels safe enough to eat.
I have seen baby GTPs housed in small but tall sterilite tubs with perches when they are starting out btw. If your temps and humidity are on point he may not be eating because he feels unprotected. You can try putting him in a smaller setup temporarily or maybe you can drape a towel or covering of some sort over 3 sides of his enclosure to kinda close him in.
It makes me wonder why the breeder suggested assist feeding. I definitely would forget that idea. If you have a scale you can weigh him AFTER your next feeding attempt. If he doesn’t eat for you then you can cover the 3 sides. If he still doesn’t eat after another week then I would try the smaller tub…. Ask the breeder what size tub he was kept in too
I don’t keep GTPs either, and it is very likely worth seeking out advice from a community that’s very experienced with them, since there are stark differences between species – even closely related ones, sometimes – in these sorts of matters. I also personally have a negative view of assist feeding, but I don’t keep this species and I get the impression that assist feeding can be an important part of the process for them. It is amazing for me to take on a new species and learn how very different they are from what I thought was the norm for all similar herps.
That said, many herp species can be challenged by changes in their environment and routine, so when anyone who gets an animal from me that gets reluctant to feed, the first thing I do is to get the keeper to provide housing and care that is ideally identical to what the animal was used to: enclosure size/dimensions/construction, heat source (heat pads may not be an adequate substitute if the snake was used to an RHP, and heat pads used in a rack work differently – less well – than those used on a freestanding tub, just to note a couple examples), substrate, etc.
Another hang up that’s not uncommon in a wide range of rodent feeding snakes is the taste/smell/appearance of the feeder item – a snake could have been clued in to the scent of a particular rodent bedding, for example. If the breeder is local to you, you should be able to get a live feeder from them and offer that (I’d make sure the enclosure is considered first).
Now it could be (though I really doubt it) that GTPs don’t ever care about their enclosure details or taste/small/exact presentation of their food, but that would be something a very experienced breeder would be best able to confirm or deny.
Thank you very much! I suppose this really is a strong position.
All the best to you.
Well, maybe he is not really interested on helping me after he sold this baby, like it is not his problem anymore.
For all the rest, thank you, i will wait 7 days then try live pinky. The fun part of your message about being guilty of overfeeding
For the enclosure i am 100% sure it good enough and protected, but i may also add some coverage everywhere he can see me.
All the best to you!
We really do wish you the best. We don’t wish to sound critical, just to make recommendation which might help in the future. You’re here because you care about your animal. We are here for the same reason.
This it’s so frustrating. This is the only thing you’ve said which makes me angry. Responsible breeders are interested in helping the animals (and their people) thrive in their new homes. Certainly getting a new animal to feed well is part of that. People are busy, and it’s reasonable to allow a reasonable time for reply, but a useful reply should come. If you purchase the animal through MorphMarket, you might try reaching out to MorphMarket Support.
We really do wish you well. Please let us know how it goes.
Thank you very much for the post. So i plan to keep away from assisting for a while. For the rest i made sure to reproduce the habitat previous keeper had.
Thank you very much for your passion and caring! I wish you well in return.
He was more or less helpful. Like answering me in once in 2 days consistently, and he told everything he could i guess, but that just didnt work out, and no new informationf coming from him, like he just doesnt know what else to do.
Anyways, i think i am able to somehow figure this out and You helped a lot also
