Calling all Burm/Dwarf Burm owners...Help!

[Jim_Fear]

Evening people! I'm having some issues getting a young dwarf x burm to eat and I have a feeling its down to his conditions. I've had him for a month & a week now and he ALWAYS turns his nose up at food, as soon as the viv is open he's more interested in getting out and its really starting to stress me out!

So far I've tried mice, rats, in the viv, out the viv, cool, warm, hot, left overnight with a cover over the rub, in a medium faunarium in a pillow case and scenting the food. He was fed on rats before I got him and I was assured he had eaten fine, all his siblings are eating ok too from what I know. He was at 105g for a few weeks and has now started losing weight and you can see this on him, he was down to 95g as of last weekend and appears to be weaker than when i got him. He is around about 70cm and has grown a little since arriving.

He was in a RUB with heat mats up until recently, warm end at 88°F and cool end at 80°F, the stat doesn't provide a night time drop so I wasn't giving him one. Humidity was at ~60%. Digital thermometer for warm end and digital hygrometer for humidity, cool end was with an analogue thermometer (checked with digital to make sure it was accurate). He had two hides, a large water bowl and some plastic plants and was on kitchen roll...Never uses the hides and is always sitting on (not under) the plants in full view but as soon as anyone came near he would start trying to escape.

I've recently moved him to a 30x15x15 viv thinking it was the size of the rub previously, it got an infrared bulb, same hides/water bowl/plants and a resin bark hide on orchid bark. Warm end is at about 88°F again, cool end is 80°F but thanks to the orchid bark the humidity has shot right up and fluctuates between 80-90%.

I know that the humidity is too high but even before it got that high he wasn't eating so I dont know how its affecting him. I read that ceramics cause the air to dry out so I'll try and get one during the week if this is confirmed, I'm already in the process of adding two more vents to the viv, there is one central at the moment and i've drilled a bunch of holes where the other two will be to aid air flow but this hasn't made a spot of difference so I've currently taped some of those bags of silica balls to the ceiling of the viv to try and aid lowering the humidity whilst I wait for the two other vents to arrive (as far as I'm aware this is only toxic if ingested).

I haven't seen him poo yet but I've found a few bits of solid urea in the rubs/viv.

Can anyone give me any heads up on what else could be wrong with him? The care sheets floating around on the internet are all over the place with various different temperatures and humidity ratings so if anyone could provide me with their info I'd be very much appreciated.

I've already got in mind a few things to try but I'd like to see some suggestions from succesful keepers before I start trying things out. I'm worrying I'll wake up one day and find him dead in the viv which upsets me

Also I've checked him over and I cannot see any traces of mites on him, the orchid bark was also microwaved prior to placing in the viv.

[matty73]

I am not jumping to conclusions, but have you thought about live feeding, it sometimes triggers the instinct in burms...Just an idea i don't feed my snakes live, Also gerbils and hamsters are good for none feeders, Hope this helps, Matty

[edmundblackadder]

Hi mate, i had a Burm years ago and got her at 6 months old.
She never fed for 6 weeks or so and i was advised to try live.
She done that straight away and never missed a feed for the
8 years i had her and was 16+ ft.

[Jim_Fear]

I have, however I don't know what I'd do with it if he decided to not to eat and judging how he's been I'd expect him to completely ignore it. I thought it was royals that were suppsoed to be a pain in the arse, not burms!

[Jim_Fear]

Originally Posted by edmundblackadder

Hi mate, i had a Burm years ago and got her at 6 months old.
She never fed for 6 weeks or so and i was advised to try live.
She done that straight away and never missed a feed for the
8 years i had her and was 16+ ft.

But did you always have to feed live after that?

[matty73]

Originally Posted by Jim_Fear

I have, however I don't know what I'd do with it if he decided to not to eat and judging how he's been I'd expect him to completely ignore it. I thought it was royals that were suppsoed to be a pain in the arse, not burms!

Try live(obviously stay and watch so nothing goes wrong) If he denies live... then i would get some advice from your vet... hope this helps, Matty

[edmundblackadder]

No mate, she went straight back on defrost.

[Jim_Fear]

Luckily there's a Pets at Home at the end of my road, I guess I'll have to pop in there and select a victim tomorrow. I've contemplated asking CPR to baby sit it so to speak so I guess I'll keep that in mind if live feeding fails.

Can anyone make suggestions on the humidity though? Despite there being no condensation on the glass and no dampness on the walls the hygrometer is suggesting its 95% humidity in there!

Where abouts do people place the sensors for their hygrometers?

[steve200]

alrite mate when i got my she was just the same, my mate advised me to "brain it" what they said to do was defrost it as normal then heat it up with a hairdryer as normal, then pour boiling water over the mice's head for a few seconds. let it cool down for a minute then try and feed.

i thought he was taking the mick but i tried and she struck within seconds.

might be worth a shot.

[thetong6969]

well ive got dwarf burms both were snapp in rub
but fine i hook them out
1 will eat anything even tho small has ha 4 mice in a row
the male however seems more r eluctant to eat as much he`s coming up for shed byt both will take a weener rat
have to say tho he is the one more reluctant to feed as he wants to come out to play a lot lol hes tame as they come
last time he didnt eat i tried a rat pup was huge but hairless and he loved it so ive kept both on rats of various sizes
hope this helps
sometimes he strikes othertimes its left in and he takes it end of dont disturb him much even the main breeder for europe and uk doesnt handle them but says at 2ft plus they tame out