baby burm not eating

Just got a female double albino green het burmese, have only ever kept wild-caught kingsnakes and gopher snakes, have only ever fed live prey, breeder says she's eaten 5x, rat pups and rat crawlers, my pet supplier has to order the rats so I have mice pinkies and juvies, have never fed f/t food before, thawed some pinkies and she struck at one twice then ignored it, runs away from it if I show it to her, should I try a mouse with fur? How long can she go without eating? Is it because I've only had her for two days? She looks hungry to me, but she hasn't gone near her water, either. She is easy to handle and hasn't offered to bite me or run away from me, but would feel better if I could get her to eat. I assume she is hungry because she did strike, why won't she eat?

A healthy snake can go several months without eating without any kind of hardship. She's probably only striking at the pinkie cause she's scared. I wouldn't be worried yet as it's entirly possible she's still adjusting to her new home since you've only had her for 2 days. I'd leave her alone for a few more days to get used to her surroundings then offer her an adult sized mouse. You want something that's about as big around as she is. Good luck with your new burm.

Originally Posted by Boidmom

Just got a female double albino green het burmese, have only ever kept wild-caught kingsnakes and gopher snakes, have only ever fed live prey, breeder says she's eaten 5x, rat pups and rat crawlers, my pet supplier has to order the rats so I have mice pinkies and juvies, have never fed f/t food before, thawed some pinkies and she struck at one twice then ignored it, runs away from it if I show it to her, should I try a mouse with fur? How long can she go without eating? Is it because I've only had her for two days? She looks hungry to me, but she hasn't gone near her water, either. She is easy to handle and hasn't offered to bite me or run away from me, but would feel better if I could get her to eat. I assume she is hungry because she did strike, why won't she eat?

Baby burmese, in my experience, are very temperature dependent. If they are a few degrees low, they often don't eat. Check your temps to make sure they are appropriate to the species (I usually kept them with a gradient from 80-90). Also, even newly hatched burms are not likely to feed on pinkies (esp f/t). Since she has fed 5X, my guess you would be better off with small adult mice. Sometimes, as with any snake, they can be picky about what prey they will take...esp as babies - if she was feeding on rats, she may not be interested in mice. Was she feeding on live or f/t rats?

Her temp is a steady 86 in daytime with 92 on the hot end, 78-80 at night, she was eating f/t rat crawlers, breeder said she might be ready to move to pups (?) I was able to get some adult f/t mice but am going to wait a little bit yet to offer food again. You're probably right, she acted more afraid of the mouse than anything else, when I brought it back to her she jerked away and curled herself up. She has discovered her hide and is spending a lot of time in there, maybe she is just feeling insecure? I don't see any signs of illness and she is very active when I take her out to handle, doesn't try to bite or escape (mostly she works her way onto my lap or under my sleeve and goes to sleep, or whatever they do). I tend to worry too much...lol. Thanks.