Jerome finally ate!!!

Norm66 · 01-25-12, 07:55 AM

Woohoo! I'm so happy right now.

As some of you know, my JCP Jerome hasn't eaten since the first week of November before we brought him home. I've tried every piece of advice and even gone off reservation and tried a live mouse at one point. The husbandry is spot-on (after some tweaking and advice from several people here) and I'd resigned myself to waiting til Spring.

We'd fallen into a routine of offering him a rat pup and when he refused feeding it to Mario, my boa. Every third time I'd try leaving a fuzzy (we have a large bag of them) overnight for him and throwing it away in the morning. But last night he ate the fuzzy! Woohoo!

Now I know a fuzzy isn't really a proper sized meal for him (he's about 30" long) and he should be eating much larger prey items but what the heck, after 70+ days without eating I'm ecstatic he took anything at all.

Now I just hope he continues to feed.

CK SandBoas · 01-25-12, 07:59 AM

Awesome news Norm!!! It's a starting point to work from, at least, and you can work his prey size up as he eats on a regular basis

Swany · 01-25-12, 08:04 AM

Superb big guy, fingers crossed he keeps it up :-D

Lankyrob · 01-25-12, 08:11 AM

Cool - hopefully now he has the idea he will carry on with larger prey!

Norm66 · 01-25-12, 09:42 AM

Thanks everyone. I'm still pretty stoked that he ate. Here's hoping it's the beginning of a growing habit.

alessia55 · 01-25-12, 09:49 AM

Nice!!! Awesome!!!

Awesome news! Bet it feels great. You can move him up in prey size once he starts eating regularly now. I'll keep my fingers crossed that he eats for you again next week

UwabamiReptiles · 01-25-12, 10:13 AM

Congrats! Its always a great feeling when they eat for you after a strike.

DragonsEye · 01-25-12, 10:41 AM

Congrats! Even though we all know most snakes can go quite a ong time without eatng, still can drive one to be a nervous wreck when they go on a fast.

Norm66 · 01-25-12, 10:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DragonsEye

Congrats! Even though we all know most snakes can go quite a ong time without eatng, still can drive one to be a nervous wreck when they go on a fast.

Yes, especially when the fast starts when you bring him home. It was probably much more stressful on me than it ever was on him.

shaunyboy · 01-25-12, 10:53 AM

thats great news norm

i had a hatchling that didn't eat for 10 months,so i know the relief when their feeding kicks in mate

i would repeat EXACTLY what you did until its ate 4 to 6 feeds,only then would i try larger prey

i would just be playing safe for my own peace of mind

cheers shaun

Norm66 · 01-25-12, 12:02 PM

Thanks Shaun, would repeating EXACTLY what I did before include offering a rat pup first?

shaunyboy · 01-25-12, 12:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Norm66

Thanks Shaun, would repeating EXACTLY what I did before include offering a rat pup first?

i'd just do exactly what you did with the fuzzy mate

you left it overnight and he took it yes ?

if so i'd quietly and quickly lay the fuzzy in at bedtime,giving him the nice dark night to sneak over and eat it

cheers shaun

Norm66 · 01-25-12, 12:32 PM

That's what I thought. I'll do what you say. Thanks.

**millertime89** · 01-25-12, 03:59 PM

woot! Congrats bud! Glad to hear he finally took one. Fuzzy rat right?

Becky Goings · 01-25-12, 04:09 PM

Kyle, yes, it was a rat fuzzy. I was sooooo excited when I checked his enclosure this morning. I even did a happy dance when I told my boss at work (he and his wife like snakes too).