GTP won't eat

[Aubrey Sidwell]

My brother in law has a baby green tree python. It shed about a week ago. At this moment it is holding a dead pinkie mouse in a constricted curl about halfway down the length of the snake with just one wrap. It has been holding the dead mouse this way for 20 minutes. I don't know if it knows it's holding the mouse or if it thinks it's just wrapped around something to hold on to. It has eaten before the shed and I know the mouse isn't to big for it to eat. At this point I don't know what to do. Should I attempt to take it away and offer it again or wait until it either eats it or drops it in the water below. Anyone with GTP experience would be helpful.

 

[Rich65]

They can be shy, try to feed in low light and leave it alone. No movement or noise, if it has eaten before on its own it should eat again. I always fed at night in dim light and left em to do their thing!!

 

[Aubrey Sidwell]

I have the lights dimmed and it is very quiet in the room. So I guess I just wait and see if it had eaten the mouse later or if it dropped it.

 

[DrJ]

I'm going to guess that it probably ate. I have some GTP's and one of them will hold onto the mouse untill I leave the room for a few minutes. So, if I'm busy feeding everyone else for another 30 minutes, sometimes he'll wait...unless he feels like being impatient, in which he'll eat while I'm in the room. But, he usually waits untill I leave.

 

[Cjacques]

As a side note i would be extremely strict about feeding schedule with these guys. Personally would wait till I saw a bowel movement before each feeding. Over feeding any arboreal snake can lead to serious bowel problems down the road. More is less. They dont eat all that often in the wild.

 

[ChondroGirl]

We always feed our GTPs about an hour after "lights out". We feed the babies every week and the adults every two weeks. They usually poop after every third feeding. Some will go a few weeks without eating if stressed, like after changing cages or perches. They are prone to "stress out easily". They are all gentle and tolerate handling pretty well. Handling doesn't stress them, but cage changes definitely stress them.