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Southern Copperhead
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by olpace on September 22, 2007
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I have a wild caught Southern Copperhead which had 6 babies one month after I caught her. All seem healthy, have shed, and are drinking good, but won't eat. What gives?
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RE: Southern Copperhead
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by ChuckHurd on September 22, 2007
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in the wild, they start on lizards and fish. get some lizard scent and put it on the pinks. that fails, put them in a deli cup with 1/2 inch of water and a small stone just high enough for them to set out of the water and put a small fish in there and leave them in a warm dark room over night.
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RE: Southern Copperhead
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by olpace on September 22, 2007
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Chuck,
Thanks for the advice. I have even tried force-feeding the babies. I have although only tried frozen-thawed. I have not tried the live pinks yet. I will try and locate some lizard scent locally and see how that goes with live pinks. I have not tried feeding them in the habitat that I am keeping them in however. I have been just taking one out at a time and putting it in a separate container and teasing it until it bites the pink and then leaving it in the dark to see if it will eat. Should I be trying to feed them in the tank I keep them in?
Thanks in advance,
Brandon
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RE: Southern Copperhead
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by jared on September 23, 2007
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I isolate my baby copperheads and offer larger than usual prey Items as a first feed (babies typically can accomidate more per body mass than adults). Baby agkistrodon in general react with stronger feeding responses to animals with hair, thus I offer small fuzzies in the evenin and leave them overnight. I produced 6 osage babies about a month ago and all except 2 have fed on live fuzzies using this technique. Southerns tend to be pickier offspring than the western stuff, and if worst comes to worst, carolina anoles tend to get a decent response, as well as redback salamanders but I avoid feeding amphibs based on the high parasite loads and ability to transfet anything they have been living in to your snake (they absorb EVERYTHING in there skin including chemical runoffs). Good luck with them hope they pick up, just be patient, force feeding is always the last option.
Jared Watts
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RE: Southern Copperhead
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by ChuckHurd on September 23, 2007
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Yes, by all means, try to feed them in the same enclosure that you are housing them in. Snake, in general, need to feel comfortable and safe before they will feed. If you are moving them out of the only environment they have ever known, they will certainly be apprehensive about giving up there only means of defense long enough to feed. You want to house them individually and in a container that is not too large. You want it to only be couple inches high and for a baby copper, maybe 6 inches by 4 inches. put in about 1/2 inch of cypress mulch, so that the baby can burrow and feel like it is completely hidden. then offer the live mouse. if that fails, try the deli cup and fish trick.
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RE: Southern Copperhead
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by olpace on September 23, 2007
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Jared,
Thanks for the advice. It is hard to find live fuzzies around here that are not very big. Most are about 3 inches long etc.... To me that is a small mouse and not a fuzzy, but hey I guess everyone uses different terminology. I will try again to locate some small live fuzzies and if worst comes to worst I will try a green or (Carolina) Anole or the fish trick that Chuck was speaking of. I will stay in touch. I usually stay pretty busy during the week, but I will try and respond next weekend with an update.
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RE: Southern Copperhead
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by olpace on September 23, 2007
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Me moving the snakes probably has had a lot to do with them not eating. I have owned pythons, boas, etc.. in the past and I moved them into a different enclosure to feed them so that they wouldn't have such an attitude ( try to bite) every time you tried to get them out. These coppers are my first hot snakes. As on my profile I have my own Lawncare buisness and that it how I found the mother. She had a real temper when I first caught her. Even though the coppers are more of a heavy bodied snake I couldn't handle her with just a hook. She would crawl off or try and come up it. I had to use tongs. She has since become a lot more timid and I have never had any problems feeding her. I have been feeding her 2 mice a week. Is that too much. I also have some of the Nature's Reptile Vita-Spray that I use on the mother. The tank stays in the high 70's on the cool end and approximately low to mid 80's on the hot end. I do have a basking spot however. She uses this occasionally, but not as much as I would expect. I am using a med-zoo heating pad under the tank I think. I have a cave in there with some moss in it and she seems to like to burrow in this quite a bit. Also, I have been using indoor/outdoor carpet for the bedding. I noticed that cypress mulch was mentioned for the babies. Should I be using this for my adult snakes as well? I have some cypress mulch that I bought at a local home and garden place. Is this safe or do I need to special order some for pets?
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RE: Southern Copperhead
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by jared on September 23, 2007
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My adult copperheads vary on typically 10 to 14 day feeding protocols (2 to 3 mice ea) and keep them slightly on the thinner side to maintain a steady feeding response in the animal. I use UVB indoor plant lights to proivide a "hotspot" for my adults in the day allowing it to run about 10 hrs ea day. Otherwise heat stays ambient around 75 to 80 degrees (for all ssp of contortrix) and they tend to be breedable in there 3rd to 4th year (sometimes 2nd for males Born n raised in captivity). In my enclosures I keep breeding groups Ideally 2.3 agkistrodon adults per 70 to 80 Gallon custom. The cages are lined with Permitherin 10% spray, newspapered, and sprayed. I line the paper with a combination of Green and Orchid Moss (which can be picked up at your locale lowes or home depot) on the bottom. And pending the ssp (little varients in each enclosure) I stack rock and wood formation using slate and quartz rocks, driftwood, and certain synthetic plants (no vines, can also be purchased at home depot). A large watering dish and Peak for basking are provided (despite the fact my pictigaster dont cluster like the mokasen) as to simulate habitat. My thing is make the animal comfortable, wildlife in captivity stresses SUPER easy, caging and lighting tend to be the biggest reason I see snakes for treatment and it can easily be remedied. Provide shelter, and nice basking spot(not to hot though), and a nice water bowl and most aggies thrive (I said most). Hope it helps,
Jared
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