Of course, the feeding woes have struck

[Jazi]

Quetzal has been worrying me a bit lately. He makes a small popping sound when he breathes right before he goes into shed. I've always figured that was just the skin getting loose in his nose as it stops once he's pulled it all off a few days later. But recently he's started to give me feeding problems, making me into a liar when I was bragging about his being an aggressive eater.

Last time he was fed (18th), he got a bit of substrate (cocohusk) stuck in his mouth, looked like it was getting stuck in the part where his tongue comes out, and he started flailing and yawning and rubbing his face on everything trying to remove it. I eventually had to hold his mouth open and pull it out that way, when I got it he sat in his warm hide and digested it properly, no regurge.

I tried to feed him this week (25th, dull but not blue) and he poked the mouse with his nose and then went back in his hide. Put it (frozen/thawed) in the other one over night and found him the next morning curled up (not constricting) and sleeping around it like it was his friend. Which of course ticked me off a bit, so I removed it since he was obviously not going to eat it and tried again in a few days (28th, eyes just cleared). Refused, so I brained it and left it in his warm hide and came back this morning to him sleeping on top of it like it was just a bumpy piece of substrate. Again removed it as it stank after being left on the heating pad while brained all night.

So today I figured I'd inspect him to see if I could tell if he was sick. He's in shed, but he's eaten for me before when completely blind so it doesn't make sense for him to suddenly decide not to eat. His belly's fine, there are a couple old marks from the previous burns that have healed and are just waiting to be peeled off, and his skin is getting crunchy which tells me he's going to slip out of it any day now. But while I was giving him a look over, I was about to try to look in his mouth when he gave me a nice big yawn and I got a peek in his mouth. It was shorter than the ones he does to reset his jaw after eating, his mouth looks good and is clear of mucus but there is a little bit of a darker reddish pink where the piece of substrate was. He started popping when he got dull and has since stopped, which has been another indicator that he's about to loose his shed.

And of course, since the first question is always "how's your husbandry", hot spot is 88-92, recently bumped it up to 90-94 in case he's sick and needs a boost to his immune system before he eats, resulting ambient is 80-82, cold spot is 75-77. Humidity is currently at 60-70% for his shed, usually kept at a gradient of 45-55%. He's 4 hides that he uses regularly (one at each end, two in the middle) plus another 2 that he'll poke into from time to time but doesn't use. Last meal was 14% of his body weight. Weight from then was 265g, he's currently 270g but hasn't pooped as he waits to do that until after shed.


So... is he traumatized from the stress of his last feeding? Since popping and not eating are early signs of an RI, if he doesn't feed this coming Monday, should I take him to the vet just in case? Or is he just being a butthead and he'll come around eventually? I'm about halfway done with the bag of mice from rodentpro, should I just find some rats about the same size and wiggle those at him to see if he's decided mice are gross?

[Slim]

He's in shed, but he's eaten for me before when completely blind so it doesn't make sense for him to suddenly decide not to eat.

Past performance is not an indicator of future actions. He is in shed.

A couple of observations:
- Take a breathe and remove the missiles from high alert.
- He's in shed, he's entitled to act a little off.
- Your snake not eating during a shed is not a feeding woe...actually, it's normal.
- Leave him alone until he's done with the shed, then offer food.
- Not every squeek, pop and wheeze is the onset of an RI. Some keepers worry them selves to death about RI's, but to be honest, with proper husbandry (which you seem to have), RIs are pretty uncommon.

[RestlessRobie]

My pied girl was a garbage disposal for a long time and recently (last shed) she refused to eat from the time her belly went pink till she completely shed. She did the same thing belly wnet pink last week and didnt eat. She id now deep in shed and just cleared her eyes I fed everyone else last night she didnt even come out of her hide to smell. As for poping noises I hear them everytime any of my snakes go itno shed so I would not worry about anthing until your has completed shed then he should be very hungry so feed away. After my last $70 for a great check up I would not take my snake in for just noises look for mucus in the mouth or a second indicator of RI. As was stated RI scares everyone and I think we tend to jump to it must be RI for every little noise.

[Jazi]

RIs might scare everyone, but IBD scares me the most. For the first month I had him I was constantly checking over IBD symptoms to make sure he wasn't exhibiting any xD;

Thanks Slim and Robie, just the confidence booster I needed. I must look silly running around like a headless chicken over just one skipped feeding, but to a new owner like me anything off the mark is terrifying. I'll just leave him be for the rest of the week and then see if he feels like eating on Monday. He should be well out of shed by then if his past two are anything to go off of. Initial appointment here at the only vet that handles snakes in town is $65, tests and meds are more, but hey, if I'm willing to spend $500 on a hamster, then anything my snake needs, I'll gladly pay for.

And Slim... I like my missiles on high alert Keeps me on my toes!

[RestlessRobie]

[QUOTE=Jazi; I must look silly running around like a headless chicken over just one skipped feeding, but to a new owner like me anything off the mark is terrifying.[/QUOTE]

You should have seen my the first time my Little normal guy went off feed for nearly 3 months

[Jazi]

OMG, I think I would stress myself out so much that my head would explode. It's hard enough thinking about him only eating once a week... too used to mammals and their daily feeding requirements.

He's shedding now, poked his head out of his hide when I came home from work and he's already pulled his head out of it... looks like he's wearing a hoodie or a cap

[Jazi]

He got it off in one piece, ate one of his mice (21g) but not the other (16g), but hey, 21g of food is better than nothing and it's almost 10%, so I'm alright with that one. Thanks a bunch guys

[RestlessRobie]

Glad he ate for you I hate hunger strikes