HELP!!

Hi everyone! New to FC!

I am probably at a beginning intermediate experience level reptile person. I have geckos, a beardie, ball pythons, Kenyans, a rosy,frogs and more recently....a juvie Columbian Rainbow and Brazilian (Zero and Carmen, respectively..). I am trying to keep humidity levels up on these two and believe their temps to be correct.
The Brazilian isn't eating or striking at all (I tube feed neonates with soft red rubber caths with Hills A/D-pedialyte solution to make the formula and have researched this...have 3 Petco adoptions: two Kenyans and a baby Children's python..doing well, due to my nursing experience!)...so I have tube fed the Brazilian. I hope to get her to start striking/feeding the f/t pinks/small fuzzies soon because she has eaten f/t before. No interest yet....
My Columbian is a little older and used to strike and eat f/t just fine. It's been a month though.....that he strikes and does not grasp the food, so he just backs off. I have tried feeding outside his cage in a box, in his cage (he likes to be in his hide), prefers morning (or he did before). Right now I have him in a paper bag in his enclosure. Struck 4 times, and seems very hungry. He can't seem to grasp the small fuzzie!!!! EEEEEEEK!
*BTW I have an aversion to feeding live, and cannot/won't do it. I will tube feed before I do that (Easy for me). Both these guys have eaten frozen before. Any suggestions?? The Columbian strikes...and misses every time now. Getting frustrated!!!

I have tried assist feeding the Columbian. Not so easy. Not like the tube feeding. I get past the jaws and lose the grasp of his head and then he spits it out.......?????????????????????????????????????

So, what exactly are the temperatures and humidity levels you have been keeping them at? There are some recommendations I would make to almost anyone with these problems, but without more detailed information it's difficult to say what might help.

First, make certain you aren't trying to feed them too often. Even if they're refusing, offering the food constantly may serve to agitate the snake and make them less likely to eat.

Also, some snakes prefer to eat at night, without an audience. I've only had to deal with this in Rubber Boas personally, but sometimes leaving the prey on the warm end overnight is all that is required.

Exactly what you are offering may influence success, too. Some of the babies I bought took rats without a problem and refused mice. Some wouldn't eat anything except mice. Some snakes are just finicky that way.

I would never recommend force-feeding a snake unless the situation is very dire. It stresses the snake a ton, they use lots of energy trying to fight you off, and sometimes they spit it back out anyway. It is also possible to injure the snake this way, even with great caution.

I've never heard of the formula thing with regard to snakes, so I can't really comment on that. Some home remedies I've read are really bad ideas, like rubbing your snake down with peroxide for mites. They are sensitive to things that we are not. But, again, I haven't ever heard of this one and so cannot really say anything about it other than that it sounds odd to use formula for an animal that is not a mammal.

Without more information about their setup, temperatures and humidity I can't really offer any additional insight. Best of luck.

80-90% humidity. Temps 78-82.

The neonates were declining and grossly underweight. Did some research and found the answer in other forums. I use a vet prescribed a/d formula. I figure this is better than the babies perishing. Otherwise they are healthy!!

Thanks...I will back off. I am such a "mama" when it comes to them, and I need to realize that they can survive a long time without eating.

I just wasn't sure why Zero can't grasp it. He sure is hungry! It distresses me that he doesn't grab it, then gives up so easily!!

Tyrel has given you great advice.

You said they were eating before but now are not, has anything changed in the room they are kept? As Tyrel asked, how often are you feeding them? How often are you 'offering' food? Tubing and force feeding should be last resorts.

A lot of times, when a snake strikes at anything, including a food item, but doesn't grasp it, it's not because they are hungry. They are striking to say 'hey get away from me, i'm a big meanie and I bite'.

Have you simply tried leaving the f/t in the cage overnight? My adult rainbow wouldn't always strike and coil, so if I'd leave the f/t feeder on the lid of a Rubbermaid* in his tank in front of the hide before going to bed and he'd (almost always) eat it at night alone. *used the lid to avoid substrate ingestion as I kept him on bark.

Good luck! I hope they start feeding for you again.

Hi Kimberly, I keep and breed Brazilians, and hopefully can help you out.

Your temps seem OK. Make sure, however, you are taking your readings at the base of the viv when the snake lives. A reading taken higher up may not be accurate. Also, make sure you are providing a gradient, so they can escape to a cooler area if needed.

Humidity should be 90%+ for babies. You're really close, but bump it up touch more. Make sure they have access to a moist moss hide, too.

All that said, this is highly unusual. Given proper conditions, baby rainbows are eating machines. You said they had eaten before, so it can't be a physical defect. Therefore, it must be environmental: *something* is stressing them. If not heat or humidity, it could be lack of privacy, another animal in the house (any cats?), too much foot traffic near them, vibration (live near a major street?), too much interaction with people...something.

BTW, tube feeding can be *highly* stressful to a snake, making them even less likely to eat in the future. It's an emergency procedure only, after all else has failed.

The acid test is really to wait a week of no handling or interaction, and then offer them their weakness. A baby rainbow's biggest temptation -- it's like offering a human kid the keys to the candy store -- is a live mouse hopper. I realize this is not your preference, but this is about their needs, not ours...and if anything will get them eating again, it is this. Offer the food at dusk, when rainbows are most active, and with all room lights out. Leave for 30 minutes, then come back and check (I've never had an issue with live mouse hoppers, even with babies...I'd never do this with, say, rats).

Good luck to you.