Another feeding / eating question

[euronewbie]

I have a 3 year old BP that has been a fantastic eater, every week like clockwork he/she (not sure of the sex) ate a live rat no problem. Then he just stopped eating, March 3rd was the last time he ate, nothing has changed in the setup. Just shed a week ago, complete shed, has been extremely friendly. Stays in his hide during the day, out and about every night. When a rat is placed in with him he comes out to check it out, then for lack of better words cuddles up with it I have attempted to feed every 2 weeks since he stopped eating I have tried covering the enclosure, left the rat in for 24 hours and nothing??
Any suggestions?

[llovelace]

They sometimes go feed, especially during mating season, at 3 yrs old it could just be in mating mode. As long as you husbandry is spot on, continue offering food.

Welcome to BP.net , read through the husbandry forums tons of info there

[Royal_Python]

I have a 3 year old BP that has been a fantastic eater, every week like clockwork he/she (not sure of the sex) ate a live rat no problem. Then he just stopped eating, March 3rd was the last time he ate, nothing has changed in the setup. Just shed a week ago, complete shed, has been extremely friendly. Stays in his hide during the day, out and about every night. When a rat is placed in with him he comes out to check it out, then for lack of better words cuddles up with it I have attempted to feed every 2 weeks since he stopped eating I have tried covering the enclosure, left the rat in for 24 hours and nothing??
Any suggestions?

I'm sure you know this, but never leave live prey in the enclosure with your snake; ive seen some nasty pictures of irreparable damage done. Im assuming you left dead prey in there, at which point the prey might become too cold to simulate live prey. Other than that, it seems that an eating strike is quite normal; however, I dont think anyone likes it when their snake stops eating. Try cutting into the brain cavity of the prey to expose brain matter, I heard about this and it seems to work to get the snake's senses in feeding mode. What are other opinions on this technique?

[euronewbie]

I'm sure you know this, but never leave live prey in the enclosure with your snake; ive seen some nasty pictures of irreparable damage done. Im assuming you left dead prey in there, at which point the prey might become too cold to simulate live prey. Other than that, it seems that an eating strike is quite normal; however, I dont think anyone likes it when their snake stops eating. Try cutting into the brain cavity of the prey to expose brain matter, I heard about this and it seems to work to get the snake's senses in feeding mode. What are other opinions on this technique?

Yes I have heard of this technique, but have not tried it yet. I may try in 10 days when it hits the 2 week mark again. Thanks.

[euronewbie]

They sometimes go feed, especially during mating season, at 3 yrs old it could just be in mating mode. As long as you husbandry is spot on, continue offering food.

Welcome to BP.net , read through the husbandry forums tons of info there

Thanks for the welcome, a few people have mentioned that it could be in mating mode, how long does mating time go on for if that is the case?

[llovelace]

It could go on for a little longer, don't worry though it will start eating again, some go off feed for months during breeding season, while some are sporadic feeders, while others never miss a meal.

[OtterGoRun]

It couldn't hurt to try splitting the prey open a little and see how it goes (I am also assuming you aren't leaving live in there). Just make sure you clean well afterward so you aren't leaving any rotting flesh in there to fester.

[euronewbie]

Still hasn't eaten will be trying again tomorrow. You can tell when I put the rat in there it has some immediate interest, appears its about to strike. Then nothing, next thing you know he is shying away from the rat so we take it back out

[RetiredJedi]

Any luck getting him to eat?

[L.West]

Let us know if you were ever successful with getting him to restart eating.

I've experienced this with two of my bp's. I've had one go for 10 months without eating - it was awful but he didn't seem to lose much weight.

What I ended up doing was switching up the prey from rat to mouse/ from live to f/t. He finally ended up eating but he would only eat very tiny live mice - so I gave him like four in a row - I am still doing this - whatever it takes to get him to eat.

Its funny to have an 1800 gram male eating these little tiny mice - but hey - whatever works.