How long should new snakes be left alone?

[Madame_Mel]

So I received my baby checkered in the mail and put him in his new home Tuesday morning. How long should I leave him alone before I can handle him/try to feed? Is there anything I can do to make him feel more secure? He has a few hides but spends all of his time under his water dish and only comes out when the lights are off.

[Mommy2many]

Try acclimating him now. You can try with food or gentle handling. A lamp may coax him out to bask. He will get curious about you and sneak a few peeks when you are not looking. Good luck!

[ProXimuS]

Didn't you say yours was an albino(I think I read that in another post...)? If so, he may be sensitive to the light.

[snake man]

3 days i would say.

[Madame_Mel]

yes he is an albino checkered, he definitely prefers the red basking bulb over the bright one.

[Mommy2many]

Be prepared with the correct lamp. He will still sneak peeks at you...

[setfree]

Some people make it day at night with their albinos. red bulb during the day, bright one at night. So that during the day they are out so you can see them. I would go ahead and try to feed it and hold it for just a minute or 2 at first. congrats!

P.S. I hope this makes sense!:rolleyes:

[Solarib]

Try little bits of worms - they should eat every couple of days. Don't handle for long periods

[Madame_Mel]

little dude is totally uninterested in the worm bits! he will smell them and then go back into hiding.

[guidofatherof5]

little dude is totally uninterested in the worm bits! he will smell them and then go back into hiding.

Are these night crawler chunks or earthworms? Whichever, try the opposite.

[Invisible Snake]

Try leaving the worm bits on a shallow dish/lid with a little bit of water over night in the enclosure. Sometimes babies are too scared to eat when they don't feel safe. Also contact the person you purchased him from and ask what has he been eating and if he was a consistent eater.

[Madame_Mel]

so the seller said all baby snakes got pinky mice every monday...but Ive chopped up, worms, fish, pinky mice and he wont eat anything. I feel like Ive tried everything but live fish at this point...

[Invisible Snake]

Have you tried leaving the food in over night?

[Madame_Mel]

yes each time in a small lid, with a little bit of water overnight. He will smell it, not eat it then go back to his branch or coconut.

[Invisible Snake]

I guess you're gonna have to try live guppies, hope he starts eating soon.

[snake man]

Good luck, they will start easting.

[EasternGirl]

Make sure that bright light is not a UV bulb...those are dangerous for albinos. My albinos are all different in terms of the light they prefer...but they all tend to hide during the day and come out at night. Some albinos like some light...which is fine as long as it isn't UV...and some don't like light and prefer red or black night bulbs. My checkered albino and my Iowa snow just hide all the time in general...they rarely come out. It's just how they are. I give them plenty of hides and plants...they seem to love to climb up in hanging plants...and I keep it nice and dark for them most of the time. During the colder months, I give them a red bulb to bask under. Also...make sure the water dish that he is hiding under isn't heavy enough to pin him down and hurt him. Good luck!

[Madame_Mel]

I put in a hanging plant, which he absolutely loves and is always hanging out so he doesn't hide under the water dish anymore. put some live fish in there for him so we'll see how that goes. And I believe his bright light is incandescent.

[ConcinusMan]

yes he is an albino checkered, he definitely prefers the red basking bulb over the bright one.

Be careful. I wouldn't even use the bright bulb at all and definitely stay away from UV. That means sunlight and reptile basking bulbs. The red ones or ceramic heat emitters are fine. Albinos have no melanin, therefore no protection against UV. They will sunburn and there's a risk of blindness and cancer.

Sounds like your albino checkered is acting pretty normal.


so the seller said all baby snakes got pinky mice every monday...but Ive chopped up, worms, fish, pinky mice and he wont eat anything. I feel like Ive tried everything but live fish at this point...

Give him time. It's a bit early to start worrying about him eating as long as he looks like he has a healthy body mass and isn't "wasting away". Don't offer too often. If he wont eat, wait several days before you try again.

When you thaw pinkies, thaw them in a sealed bag, in warm water. Don't place the pinky directly in water. It washes off the smell. Also, try "braining" the pinky.

[Madame_Mel]

So I got rid of the bright lamp, let him be for a few days, and then put a minnow in his water bowl about three hours ago.. went back to check and the minnow is gone. So either the fish pulled a Houdini or the little guy ate something!

[snake man]

Congatz I am very happy for you.

[Invisible Snake]

That's great news that he finally started eating! Stubborn little brat, lol jk :p

[ConcinusMan]

So I got rid of the bright lamp, let him be for a few days, and then put a minnow in his water bowl about three hours ago.. went back to check and the minnow is gone. So either the fish pulled a Houdini or the little guy ate something!

That's great but you really need to verify if he ate it or not. Perhaps give him a few more and see if a bulge appears in his belly. Also, you gotta be careful about just putting food in and walking away. You don't want substrate sticking to it and getting swallowed.;)

[Madame_Mel]

That's great but you really need to verify if he ate it or not. Perhaps give him a few more and see if a bulge appears in his belly. Also, you gotta be careful about just putting food in and walking away. You don't want substrate sticking to it and getting swallowed.;)

since my post, I've witnessed him swallowing multiple minnows, I give him 2 or 3 every 2 or 3 days in his water bowl, so I'm guessing the risk of substrate being swallowed is small? Tonight I am going to offer him fish scented pinky mouse parts and see if he will take those since he has been doing well and gobbling these minnows up

[guidofatherof5]

Best to get them off the minnows as soon as possible.

[ProXimuS]

I give him 2 or 3 every 2 or 3 days in his water bowl, so I'm guessing the risk of substrate being swallowed is small?

I thought that too, because mine eats out of his water bowl too, until it did happen. Sometimes, they will drag their food out and across the substrate. You can try moving him to a container just for feeding, with no substrate(maybe just paper towels). Or(what I do) you can line the cage with paper towels for feeding time, but with this you still need to make sure you monitor just in case.

[Madame_Mel]

yea, I'm not too comfortable knowing the risks but can't get him eating anything else and can't find feeder guppies anywhere in my area. Definitely don't want to feed him guppies from my personal community tank...

[Madame_Mel]

I thought that too, because mine eats out of his water bowl too, until it did happen. Sometimes, they will drag their food out and across the substrate. You can try moving him to a container just for feeding, with no substrate(maybe just paper towels). Or(what I do) you can line the cage with paper towels for feeding time, but with this you still need to make sure you monitor just in case.

thanks for the advice I will try paper towels next time. It's hard to monitor these things when he refuses to eat with me in the room. or so it seems?

[ProXimuS]

He'll get used to it. Just takes some time;) I think it was maybe a monthish until mine would eat in front of me.

[guidofatherof5]

yea, I'm not too comfortable knowing the risks but can't get him eating anything else and can't find feeder guppies anywhere in my area. Definitely don't want to feed him guppies from my personal community tank...

Smashed minnow could be used to scent worms and pinkies.

[Madame_Mel]

so i chopped the scented pinky into fours, put it on a plastic lid and 5 min later went in to check....he is in the process of swallowing it but am afraid a few tiny pieces of substrate are stuck to it....happy that he took the pinky piece but not happy there is some wood stuck to it

[Invisible Snake]

You can try cutting a pinky in half (lengthwise), I do this while they're still frozen with an old pair of scissors, and after it thaws I take a dead minnow and rub it (hard) against the 2 pinky halves and voila, fish scented pinkies! :D

[Madame_Mel]

he spit it the mouse part out! maybe it was too big?

[chris-uk]

he spit it the mouse part out! maybe it was too big?

Quite possibly. For my baby snakes I usually cut the pinky into smaller pieces for the snakes that don't tong feed. I start by cutting off all the legs (normally taking off a bit of flesh from the body with each one), then the tail (again, taking some flesh with the tail to bulk it up). Then I take off the head, and either keep it whole, or for smaller babies I'll cut it lengthways. Then the body gets cut in half lengthways, if I can pick out the liver I take it out to feed separately (lots of nutrition in the liver), and I'll cut each half in half lengthways again to give a quartered body. Cut it while it's frozen... you'd make a hell of a mess if you did this with a thawed pinky. :)
With a pinky cut this small it's not so intimidating for little scrubs to swallow, and as I know they are eating I'll increase the size of the pieces.

[EasternGirl]

There is something about albino checkereds and hanging plants I tell you! Mine just loves them too. As far as the bright light goes...like I said before, I think it depends on the snake. As long as you don't have a UV light on them...I don't think there is anything wrong with regular light bulbs. Chris...don't you have LED lights on your albino? Little Joe is in with the eastern babies and Bella and they have a regular 40 watt bulb on during the day. It doesn't seem to bother Little Joe...he just keeps to the other side of the tank or under a hide most of the time. Possum seems to like a bit of light. He only comes out if I take the towel off the end of the tank and let the light from the lamp on the desk next to his tank shine in a little.

[Invisible Snake]

Another possibility for him spiiting it out could be because the pinky parts weren't heavily scented enough with the minnow.

[chris-uk]

Chris...don't you have LED lights on your albino?

Yes, I use LED lighting for all my vivs. With the price of electricity now the LEDs are saving me a fortune, shame I can't get solar powered heat mats...

[ConcinusMan]

You can power anything with the right panel and in the case of the heat mats; an inverter. I recently used a solar panel to charge a 12 volt battery, then an inverter hooked to the battery ran several AC devices. You can do what you said, but it will likely require batteries, not just the solar panel.


Yes, I use LED lighting for all my vivs. With the price of electricity now the LEDs are saving me a fortune, shame I can't get solar powered heat mats...

[Stefan-A]

Yes, I use LED lighting for all my vivs. With the price of electricity now the LEDs are saving me a fortune, shame I can't get solar powered heat mats...
Solar power? In the UK?

[Invisible Snake]

You can power anything with the right panel and in the case of the heat mats; an inverter. I recently used a solar panel to charge a 12 volt battery, then an inverter hooked to the battery ran several AC devices. You can do what you said, but it will likely require batteries, not just the solar panel.

MacGyver over here lol ^

[ConcinusMan]

Hardly. I got most of the info I needed to do this, from youtube. The equipment is widely available and not very expensive.

[Madame_Mel]

so it took a couple weeks and several wasted pinkies, but I successfully got him to eat 1/4 of a scented pinky... small victories.

[guidofatherof5]

That is good to hear.