Not eaten in 5 months

[Gilmore]

Last night I put my 7 year old BP on my bed and put a live hamster in there too. The BP constricted it right away and killed. I left the room to give him privacy, but when I came in the room 30 minutes later the hamster was uneaten end the snake had gone far away from it. He has no interest in eating what I offer him. I tried hamsters, gerbils, and mice live and dead, but nothing happens. He has not eaten since I got him in september, except for a small hamster he ate in late october.


Previous owner fed him BIG live hamsters every 3 weeks and never had any problems. The snake is quite big so he isn´t lying about that. He has shed twice since i got him, and it was a perfect shed both times. I don´t know whats wrong with him. All husbandry are correct, I gave him plenty of time to adapt. Mabye he will never recover after moving to a new place. Sad

Still he looks great, sheds well and is fairly active at nights. But I think 5 months not eating is too much.

Thanks

[rabernet]

Perhaps he doesn't feel safe eating on your bed????? How about trying to feed him in his enclosure and not handling him until he eats?

[Adam_Wysocki]

Constricting and then not eating is a sign of stressed or sick snake.

-adam

[PrincessErica]

Eww! What if something happened and the hamster "oozed" during the coil? Then it'd be all over your bed. Yikes.

I'd definitely try feeding in the enclosure. Unless your snake is particularly aggressive, it probably would suit you and her both a lot better to be feeding in the enclosure. I like to feed my guy (who's being shy about eating right now too) when he's inside one of his hides, so he feels confident and feels like he's got the "hunting" advantage. I feed F/T, so I'll just do the mousey dance all over in front of the hide, stick the mouse inside the hide like "Hey, what's this?! A burrow hole?!" and more often than not, get a strike.

Less stress, less mess. JMO!

[Coyotemoon]

I feed Shikara in a separate enclosure. I put him in the 10gal and do the zombie dance for him. When he strikes I use my tounges and grap the rats tail and pull slightly to simmulate stuggling. Shiki grips the rat real tight at that point. I then put the lid on the tank and drape a towel over it with a small area uncovered so I can check on him without removing it. I sit across the room and glance over at him every 10-20 minutes. He seems to do okay with that. I don't feed him in his tank because at first he was thought my hand was dinner when I'd open his tank to change his water.

[recycling goddess]

i have done all of dexter's feedings in his enclosure and will continue. so far he hasn't refused a meal.

i remove the extra hides but leave the ones he's in... and put the mouse in... and dexter stalks the mouse and then when it gets close enough, he ambushes it!

as for striking at my hand... i go in and change his water and fuss with his bedding etc daily... so he's used to my hand being there.

it was suggested (here) that i always stroke his side before picking him up... so i've made that his routine and he seems to respond to it. cause otherwise he just stays in his ball... but when i stroke him, he comes out of his ball waiting for me to pick him up

hth,
aleesha

[Gilmore]

Previous owner always fed him on the bed, and never in the enclosure and never had problems. I always try to feed in the enclosure, this was the first time I tried on the outside, at least I got some responce from the BP, usually he runs away from the hamster rather than kill it.

[wild4reptilz]

When I first got maxi BP he was undernourished, and horribly timid, he went 2 months with no interest in eating, Then I got separate 10 gal tank with dark cloth ,,,,thawed his frozen mouse which this time I picked a smaller one and within seconds he had got it....THe rest has been easy we always go to the quiet tank...throw in the thaw,,,and away he goes...He's not a big eater though. So sometimes he's just not interested I remove him try agian another day....It may be the hampsters frighten him he may have had a bad experience that the previous owner is not willing to mention, or does not realize....try smaller,,,,in dark secluded tank for his privacy...watch under the corner of covering to see he's okay. EM