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how do I get my diamondback to eat
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Anonymous post on October 9, 2004
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Ive had a diamondback for about a month now and it still wont eat. Its about 2 feet long and is wild caught. what can I do to get him to eat.
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RE: how do I get my diamondback to eat
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by HotHerper1 on October 10, 2004
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First things first, how much venomous experience do you have? A Diamondback be it Eastern or Western, or even the Red are not for beginner's. If you've never owned a venomous snake before I would highly suggest you either find someone in your area who knows these animals, or you return it to its location. If returning it to where you got it would put it in close proxcimity with humans releasing it to the wild would not be an option, as moving a diamondback more than a couple Kilometer's from its "homerange" can also be a death sentance for a Rattler.
Now if you have a few years of working with venomous snake's under your belt you should have by now dealt with atleast one hard feeder and have tried some of the obvious, changing temp, humidity, providing a hide box (VERY important for most rattlers) are you attempting to feed live or pre-killed prey? Usually one or more of those will be the cause of a snake not eating. what is the physical condition of the snake, does it eyes look as though they are about to blue out, or possibly just came out of bluephase? Is the snake big and healthy? What are the day/night time temps where the snake was found? it is October and some parts of their ranges have already gotten cool enough for them to go off food for the winter. The seemingly weirdest change that ever effected my snakes was the color of the food. Being that its an understanding that snakes are basically blind. But I had a yearling C. v oreganus that for a long time would only eat black colored prey items. At first it sounded insane to me for obvious reasons, then a friend at the San Diego Zoo told me that its actualy common in some wild caught snakes.
Try a few of those, and see if any of them work for you. If the snake is a plump snake, and the local weather for the snake has started to turn to fall conditions the snake may have already gone into fasting for the year. The only other condition is that you just brought this snake into captivity and it may still be aclimating. Give the snake plenty of room, the larger the enclosure you can give it the better. It will help the snake feel more "at home" having a little room to investigate. And lastly, don't bother the snake much, they don't care much for human interaction and stress easily. Keep the snake somewhere that is rarely used by people, hopefully you will be the only person in your house that is near the snake. Endangering your fellow inhabitants will do very little to help our profession/passion. Any other questions, feel free to get in touch with me either through yahoo or msn listed below. As always be safe and happy herping.
yahoo: mikeydenton@yahoo.com
msn/hotmail: hotherper@hotmail.com
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RE: how do I get my diamondback to eat
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Anonymous post on October 10, 2004
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i might not be an expert like some of you and i don t come on here very often , but what i do know is that snakes that are wild caught have parasites or have somthing wrong with them , i don t know why people go out nab them from the wild then complain that its got parasites or somthing , if its wild caught thats what you should expect. its bound to have problems if it don t eat. just release it back.
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RE: how do I get my diamondback to eat
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by Snake17 on October 10, 2004
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loooool. Most of the snakes every one keeps are wild caught, be it exotic or indegeunos. The reason for which some animals may have parasite problems is because it`s combined with stress. parasites in the wild doesn`t kill animals but in captivity it does. ALso, if the cage is not properly cleaned the parasites will reproduce and be a hazard.
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RE: how do I get my diamondback to eat
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Anonymous post on October 10, 2004
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Im sorry. Its an eastern(adamenteus) Ive had several years with working with venomous snakes. I read alot about eastern diamondbacks before obtaining one. I have had some tough eaters in the past and have let them go back to there home after about 2 weeks. The problem with letting the diamondback go is that I live about 8 hours interstate time from its home.
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RE: how do I get my diamondback to eat
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by Snake17 on October 10, 2004
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look. My advice is to be patient. I had a viper not eat for 2 months after i caught it. Now it`s a vicious eater. Rattlers have no problems with fasting from what I know. Good luck.
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RE: how do I get my diamondback to eat
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by HotHerper1 on October 10, 2004
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Now knowing that its an EDB, try a hamster, or appropriately sized rabbit. that should do the trick. if not be patient like the other person said, Rattlers can go a while without eating. provided he still looks fairly healthy, don't stress too much. Rattlers are hardy animals, and some are more picky and stubborn than others. If I were back in the US I'd offer to come help you out, but since I'm stuck in Germany till Dec 2006 you are on yer own till then. I'm sure the snake will come around in a week or two. keep us posted. I'm still new here, but from what I've seen there are plenty of tricks that I don't know yet, and someone else here will... and sometimes its one tiny thing that works. Don't give up, the snake will adjust and eat. be safe and as always happy herping
michael
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RE: how do I get my diamondback to eat
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by Frawgg on October 12, 2004
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I would surmise that your newly cought rattlesnake is stressed out from being apprehended. That is the main reason why he won't feed. Be patient. Make sure that his environmental conditions are properly met (i.e, temp, homidity, water). Newly acquired wild caught specimens don't respond well to human "traffic". Place the cage in an area where the snake won't be disturbed. In time (hopefully) the snake will calm down and will respond to his new surroundings. This may take time however. ALWAYS provide fresh water at all times since snakes can survive an incredibly long time on just water alone. Try varied feeding techniques. If he still doesn't feed, it is best to release him in the area that you acquired him. BE SAFE and happy herping.
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