can anyone help me with my tree snake?

Rough Green Tree Snake

He's still not eating...

I've been posting on a snake forum. They corrected my set-up & told me to feed him wild bugs from my garden. Most people said 'good luck, you're gonna need it' & informed me it's really difficult to get them established. Since then they haven't responded. I think they're frustrated at the noob who chose a difficult snake to start out with. The out-look doesn't look hopeful.

This is my latest post, if you are able to give me any pointers I'd much appreciate it. He is sub-adult & the rep centre could not confirm if he is CB or WC when I asked them, as the reptile manager was not in. Thanks in advance.

"I'm still 99% sure my tree snake is not eating. I've followed advise here by offering wild caught spiders and woodlice. I've followed the pet shop's advice by offering heavily dusted crickets and wax worms. Neither have worked Details of my set-up are below. Is there anything more I can do? I don't want to watch him starve but I guess any kind of vet treatment or force-feeding would probably kill him with stress. He is now in a very low traffic room and I have been popping in ocassionally to mist and, well, check he's still alive. I'm at a loss...

Cage: Extra-tall exoterra- with 3 sides covered with cardboard

Lighting: Arcardia 2% full-spectrum tube, UVB 5.0 reptiglo tube, 60W basking bulb

Plants: 3 fake plants hung around the sides of the cage, various fake vines, 1 live ficus.

Substrate: coconut husk, soil-like texture. spagnum moss

Hides: Various tropical seed-husks (the box says Nature's Treasures)

Food: 10 small wolf spiders, 3 woodlice (the most I could find), a few crickets (dusted with plain calcium), a small bowl with 5 wax worms, small locusts. (I've been advised to offer a lot, but not too much)

Temperature: 31-32C under basking lamp.

Watering: heavy misting 2-3 times daily. Water bowl present."

Have they been checked for parasites? You may have to force feed, even "bug parts" would give him some nutrition and be easier to get into him than a full bug.

Do you have a kitchen scale or anything you can monitor his weight with? It may appear he's not eating, but if he's not losing weight..

I'm not sure if force-feeding will help to be honest because they're so sensitive to stress. Handling to weigh and force feed could cause more harm than good. I'll phone the rep centre again tomorrow & see if someone can tell me if WC or CB.

would it be worth treating him as though he does have parasites? Or would giving him treatment for parasites he might not have cause more problems?

I dont have any experience with this snake but know it is a touchy snake. If i were you, i would start off by getting a small enclosure and put lots of foliage in it. Set it up to where you cant see the snake for the life of you. Put a water dish at one side and on the opposite side set up a basking bulb with temps around the mid 80's. I wouldnt offer feeders for a 3-4 days. When you do offer feeders only offer just a few and make sure they are correct size.

Hope this helps you.

From my experience with those, if they are wild caught, the best thing to try is a moth and then even a blue bottle fly. But most of the time they wont touch crickets. Try a moth also i think if it is wild then look into its surroundings and see what a common insect is in the area.

Ok thanks. I'll try to catch a moth, although my last moth trap failed miserably! I'm considering buying a blue bottle culture for Neelix, I haven't seen any wild ones around for a couple of weeks now.

As many people I consulted warned me would happen, I lost my little rough green tree snake today.

I've learned some valuable lessons from this- do not assume all animals in pet shops are CB (I'm against WC so was mortified when I found this guy was WC) and care sheets do not provide sufficient information.

This snake was extremely stressed and none of the measures I tried worked for him

I will not be purchasing another snake.

I'm sorry you lost him

I'm so sorry you lost him Lys. I'm going to repeat what you'd say to a new chameleon keeper and urge you not to give up on snakes completely. I lost 3 WC chameleons and was sure I'd never do it right, but getting a healthy CB reptile counts for a helluva lot.

Thanks guys

I thought about getting a different snake, a friend offered me a baby corn, but I'm not sure I'm ready to deal with feeding them mice & rats, & it was painful watching this completely harmless little snake die.

The cage & equipment I now have spare would house another cham, so I'm considering that route.

I am so sorry to hear that you lost your little snake! It is awful watching an innocent animal die and not being able to do anything to help. I lost my first cham the same way when an irresponsible breeder sold me a too young baby. He got too stressed and starved himself to death. As hard as it is, please don't let this turn you against other snakes. A good breeder makes a world of difference. I just got my new cham from a good breeder and he is an eating machine. It isn't always so hard! Hang in there. You did all that you could to help him.