A little help please

[alexrls]

as i have mentioned waaayyy to many times in the last couple of months, Monty is still not feeding. he has struck once or twice at a prey item but im not sure if they were even feeding strikes.

soooo since im gonna try feeding again tomorow night i was wondering if y'all could give me some input and those little tricks u do for an unwilling feeder.

the prey item of choice thats on the menu for tomorw nite is a small/ medium rat. he was eating rats pretty steadily from around this June last year till November when he went off but hes a lot thinner now and i was maybe thinkin of downsizing to a mouse. or a rat pup (although it can be hard to find rat pups in my area). I have tried to feed this particular rat to Monty several times. I wonder if that matters.

mostly i worry about stressing him though so i dont handle Monty as much as i want to and im reluctant to change his feeding habit because of stress but then again he hasnt had feeding habits for 7 odd months now.

What do u think?

[jknudson]

Try feeding a little smaller prey than normal. Otherwise, use Adam's method of adding some crumpled newsprint in the cage to make Monty feel more secure, might give him some interest to eat.

I hope he starts up soon again for you. Good luck Alex

[ddbjdealer]

adding some crumpled newsprint in the cage to make Monty feel more secure, might give him some interest to eat.

And if nothing else, it'll give him something to read while he ponders eating.

[JamesMX39]

I assume that since you have tried feeding him that rat before, that you are feeding him live prey.

Try getting a different rat, maybe?

Give the rat (live or otherwise) a dip in some chicken broth prior to putting him in. I've heard of this helping with f/t prey, but really, I don't see why this wouldn't work with live too. You would probably have one pissed off rat though.

[frankykeno]

I assume that since you have tried feeding him that rat before, that you are feeding him live prey.

Try getting a different rat, maybe?

Give the rat (live or otherwise) a dip in some chicken broth prior to putting him in. I've heard of this helping with f/t prey, but really, I don't see why this wouldn't work with live too. You would probably have one pissed off rat though.

No way would I dip a live animal in broth. For starters if it was "pissed off" it's not going to be a rat you want to put in live with your snake. Secondly it's likely going to inhale broth and if it's not eaten immediately it's going to get sick, die and you've wasted a rat (also let's remember to be humane to our prey creatures, our snakes owe them a lot). If it's a f/t prey then the chicken broth idea might work, I've read about it though can't honestly say I've seen anyone on BPNet mention it working all that well.

[kavmon]

have you double/triple checked all your husbandry? is the snake in a large setup? have you had a fecal checked by a vet?



vaughn

[alexrls]

FIRST OFF:
the feed was a failure and the rat almost bit Monty and i had a pissed off snake in the same cage as a pissed off (but chicken broth free ) {i mean really, a live animal dipped into my chicken soup? please. } rat.
but it all worked out OK.
SOOO thats all until next week.
and im getting a mouse or a rat pup next week (probably the former)

AS FOR THE TANK
the set up is large (the T3 from Animal Plastics) but i have 4 hides in it, a large water dish a and a little bush thingy. so the floor space is pretty much covered .

the humidity is low (20% I know i know "BAD ALEX, BAD!!!") , ive been working on that, but the temps are almost bang on all day (late afternoon for some reason the temps drop almost 2 degrees)

hes got a day nite cycle and is a quite part of the house.

he sarted fasting when i was still using reptibark but at some point i switched to outdoor carpet. could that be it?

AND LASTLY
What would a fecal do for this eatin thing. i mean if i stopped eating then putting a swab up my butt would probably not help! Just kidding
seriously though, could it be some sort of internal parasite or whatever thats keeping him from eating?

THANKS FOR UR INPUT Y'ALL.

PS: SORRY ABOUT THE RETARDEDNESS OF THIS POST ITS REALLY BEEN A LONG DAY> IF ITS NOT COHERENT LET ME KNOW.....IKNOW WHAT I MEANT

[jknudson]

What would a fecal do for this eatin thing. i mean if i stopped eating then putting a swab up my butt would probably not help! Just kidding
seriously though, could it be some sort of internal parasite or whatever thats keeping him from eating?

Winner winner chicken dinner! Parasites is what they need to check for.

[elevatethis]

How often are you handling him? Last thread we saw like this was the one that went on for 3 pages banging questions back and fourth and then BAM she mentioned she was taking it to jazz dance class twice a week. Excessive handling can kill their appetite.

[alexrls]

extemely minimaly. like maybe once a week like if a rat pooped in the cage and and im changing the bedding. ya know.


and its been like that basically since November.

no jazz classes for me.....only monster truck hauls (JK)