Oh wow, she’s a stunner!
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Thank you! I love her so much 
I was looking for a rosy boa, since I’ve heard they are nice. But the rosy boa I met bit me and latched on like a mofo (pic for the laughs).
I held a few other snakes who were nice, but then I met Scarlet and I’ve been hopelessly in love ever since.
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Oh gosh!! Yeah it would seem that Rosies are like 99% absolute sweethearts… and then there’s always SOME GUY who tries to eat everything they can bite.
House snakes are likewise rumored only to bite if they think you are a rodent. Mine’s never so much as hissed.
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They warned me she was bitey. 
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How long is it typical for a juvenile House Snake to go off food around/before shedding?
Yes, mine is refusing food AGAIN, and it’s been several weeks. He thinks he’s a wriggly Ball Python it seems.
Edit: Husbandry Notes:
he’s on coco chips and sphagnum that help keep up the humidity around 50-60%, cool side 70-72, warm side 88-89ish during the day and 79-80 at night (in case he wants to be warm at night since my house is 68-70 at night)
I have just added yet more clutter, which he came out to investigate, then he had some water and went back into his seedpod; the one on the Cool side which he usually favors during the day. He also uses the middle of the space and the tube hide there.
At nights I have seen him use the warm side hide. Some light comes through the fake leaves there. I have a rather low UVB light there that adds a bit of warmth for the daylight cycle. He acts like most nocturnal animals in hot places- He moves to be cool in the day warm in the night. He’s alert and curious, drinking water I think, but I haven’t seen him go into Blue. Last time he shed that was a pretty visible state for him.
So just now the plan is to leave him alone entirely for 5-6 days, then see where he’s at and if he’ll take a brained pinky like he did a few times for me in May.
…I got him at the start of April, he ate 3 times in May and not at ALL in june. The little punk.
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Sorry to hear your little guy is off food again. I’ll preface all this by saying that I’m not especially well-versed in the needs or behaviours of house snakes, so take what I say with a large pinch of salt. I feel like him being in shed is not the most likely explanation for him going off food, since he’s been off food for nearly a month and most small/young snakes aren’t in shed for that long (also because you’re not seeing any visible signs of him actually being in shed).
If he seems to be avoiding the warm end during the day, that could mean that it’s warmer than what he prefers. You could try lowering it a little (like a degree or two) and seeing if that helps, although once again, I’m not sure if that’s the reason for his current fast.
Are you handling him a lot? If so, you might try not handling him for 24-48 hours before offering food. Some snakes’ appetites don’t seem to be affected by handling, but some are more sensitive.
What time of day do you usually offer him meals? Since he’s nocturnal, it’s probably best to do it at dusk or after dark, but you can try tweaking the time a bit and seeing if that makes a difference. If you’ve tried feeding him around dusk, maybe try feeding him later at night. Or if you’ve tried later at night, maybe try feeding him closer to dusk.
I know that in the past you had success putting him in a small dark container with a brained pinkie. Is that how you’ve been feeding him since he’s been refusing? If he’s been refusing food in his enclosure, he may still need to be fed in the dark deli. If he’s been refusing in the deli, you could try opening up more of the pinkie’s skull, and/or you could try cutting open a different part of the pinkie’s body (some people have more luck with an abdominal incision).
I’m honestly just kind of spitballing here. Often it can take some trial and error to figure out how to get slightly stubborn snakes to eat, but maybe someone with more species-specific experience will have some better ideas.
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Thanks for the reply!
Yeah I always feed him at night, and I may take down his hot side temp a bit and see if he likes that.
He’s eaten drop-fed once for me but I do agree he probably still needs the deli. I might try scoring the pinkie a bit to make it more tempting.
Hopefully being left alone entirely until friday or saturday will help him to chill, and he’ll be feeling more like eating. I do think it’s the temps changing a bit that might be annoying him- I have been trying to adjust things so that my having the AC on at the level I need for my health doesn’t cause him problems. I have to keep a very cold house in order to not overheat because of a Chronic Illness.
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Annnnnd he refused deli feeding with a brained pinky in the exact way he previously ate them. This child. I swear.
Alright he seems to be adjusted to his current temps and smaller setup- trying small live silkworms and live pinkie as our next steps. This boy better not make me assist feed him, he is so dang small but I could if I absolutely have to. Come on you punk, eat. You cannot photosynthesize for nourishment, you’re nocturnal.
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The Saga of Sangfroid the Shoelace updates!
Live pinkie worked!
I decided to go for it, since his health is okay but won’t be if he doesn’t start regular feedings,
and he tongueflicked maybe once and then lunged, and dragged it into his tube to eat it.
I cannot express my relief. We’ll let him feed Live for a little while, and get some vitamin dusted pinkies into him so he can grow, then in a few months I can try switching him to F/T.
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Yaaay, so glad he took the live pinkie! I know it’s frustrating and worrying when a snake isn’t eating, especially when they’re so young and tiny. I agree that getting him eating reliably on live pinkies before trying f/t again is probably the way to go. Get him well-established and routinized, let him put on some size, and then you can worry about getting him to take f/t.
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My feelings exactly!
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He’s been eating pinkies!! So having given him time to digest his latest meal, guess who now gets handling sessions? THIS BOY!
(although now I look at his tail it’s almost possible he might be a She? Can anoyone post Vent/Sexing pics of known male and female House Snakes?)
I gotta show off- now that I am able to have him out I got some new pics. He’s so much more energetic and curious now that he’s on regular food. (See, you noodle, I told you it’d feel better to eat food)
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Saga of Sangfroid the Shoelace:
Current Struggle: switching him to F/T. So far the only time he’s taken it F/T (since starting on live) was with scenting via an adult mouse. I wonder if I could take some feet and tails and such off the frozen mice I have and make “Mouse Juice” for Scenting… Yes I know it sounds gross but I’ve done weirder things for pets before.
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Here is a picture of my sweet little Marmalade. He was wrapped around a water bowl (actually underneath it)
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Sweet boy! It’s amazing how much they vary in color from fired to quiet. This one has very pretty face stripes.
Does yours do the thing where, when you interrupt them while hiding, they look at you like they’ve just been caught out by a teacher and forced to speak in front of the class? “Oh Shoot!”
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Lol! Kinda like a deer in the headlights look! Marmalade is supposed to be a Cape African House Snake? I got him from LLL Reptile quite a while ago. You can tell he is a sporadic eater because he is still fairly small.
But he eats great now that he is in bio active cage……
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If I never got into western hogs I would probably end up breeding house snakes.
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One more little tidbit. Marmalade is my second house snake. The first one I bought was so tiny I had to look for day old frozen pinks to feed it. I was afraid he would not be able to eat it because the pink looked way bigger. But he grabbed it from tongs, did the coil thing and slammed it down. He was a chow hound and I don’t think he ever missed a meal, grabbing and coiling like mad! He would even coil around my fingers till they hurt sometimes.
I ended up giving him to a friend and bought the one I have now, thinking another great eater! Lol. Wrong! But that’s fine. I love the one I have now!
I remember when I got the first one, I read somewhere that baby house snakes need a warm moist hide so I made one out of a small plastic container and kept it full of very warm very damp sphagnum moss. He stayed in it most of the time and even poked his head out to and went right back in. He finally did not need it anymore.
But Marmalade was like “meh” think I will pass! Lol!
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I have a western hoggie too. He was a sporadic eater as well until I switched him to a bio active enclosure a few weeks ago and now he is slamming his meals. The feeding response difference is pretty amazing actually……
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