Feeding opinions

Hi everyone,

New user here, first topic, glad there's a group here to talk to.

I recently purchased my first Honduran milk snake at a reptile show. He's not a year yet and just recently went through a shed about a week ago.

He's a very timid eater and it's been 2 weeks since his last feed on a pair of FT pinkies, with a normal bowel movement. Just wondering if anyone else experienced this? How did you handle it? I'm trying to get him familiar with handling but have stopped handling in hopes of him eating.

I'm new to the small snake scene, I had a Columbian red tail boa who readily accepted anything as a meal so this is just strange to me.

I would keep handling to a minimum until he's settled in and eating well. He's not going to grow up into a huge snake where you'll want to handle him to work past his defensiveness while he's a baby, so just let him be for a few weeks until he settles and feeds regularly.

Originally Posted by bcr229

I would keep handling to a minimum until he's settled in and eating well. He's not going to grow up into a huge snake where you'll want to handle him to work past his defensiveness while he's a baby, so just let him be for a few weeks until he settles and feeds regularly.

Thanks for the reply, I haven't handled him since he went blue for shed. Most of the articles I'm reading are saying milk snakes readily take food. After two weeks and shedding I figured he would be starving. He will just be a waiting game I suppose.

Little milk snakes, even captive bred specimens, can be irregular feeders. My advice is to continue offering f/t mice. Try leaving them in overnight; some milks are shy and prefer to eat at night. As time goes on, it should eat more aggressively and reliably.
I agree with bcr229 about handling. There is no benefit to young milk snakes in handling them- they are nervous when they are young, and handling only stresses them further.
Patience.

I'm no expert but I have 3 Honduran Milksnakes as well and my Snow would probably not eat if I didn't use a feeding tub. I use a small container about 8 inches in diameter and place it in his viv, then I place him into the container, lastly I put a pinkie in there. I keep the container open so he can freely leave after feeding and I can pull the container out without disturbing him.

Sorry I never wrapped this up, he's doing great. I started feeding using tongs and he's been happily eating f/t fuzzies since June. Thank you all for the advice.


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