Snake woes! A small rant and answer search

[Argentra]

*SIGH* Is anything going to go right for me anytime soon??

Not only are we having some touchy, time-bomb money problems, but the snakes are giving me extra woe! Nagini (normal female BP, @9mths) has not eaten in about 9 weeks and I have NO IDEA why. It could be so many things, and I don't know how I could narrow them down. She's only lost about 7 grams so far, so no huge deal, but I don't like not knowing why she won't eat.

On top of that, I had an upsetting morning giving back the CandyCane corn breeder female I'd gotten due to excessive nastiness. The breeder had to come out and pick her up, upsetting enough...and of course she didn't do any of the things she's been doing to me for the last month and a half! When he reached in to get her she was docile as a lamb! So now, he probably thinks I was giving her back, and making him have to put her in QT and have her off his breeding schedule, just to be difficult... He did give me my money back for her at least...

So, no breeding for me this season. Oh well, it's probably for the best. And at least my other snakes are doing well. The baby corn, who had regurged a fuzzy that was too big, has so far kept down her last two pinky meals. And the rescue pastel, SunSpot, is eating well and almost up to small adult mice.

Anyway... anyone know where I might get a nice female corn?? 1 year old or more, and preferably a snow, butter, amber, creamsicle, or especially a bloodred.

[Brimstone111888]

Definitely need more information to help with the feeding issue.

Size enclosure?

Heat? Humidity?

Traffic?

Diet prior to the end of eating?

Age/weight?

[Argentra]

Ah, sorry, of course. Here's the tale:

She's around 9 months old and weighed 324g on the 4th. That is a 6 gram loss from 2/12.
It started in mid December. I had moved her up to jumbo mice(live), and she took four before refusing. I thought she might be 'full', so I didn't worry. A few days after that refusal, I moved her into her big display cage...but the cage wouldn't hold temps or humidity right. Of course, I skipped a week feeding to leave her alone after the move. She was only in the big cage 12 days, with no food offered, when I set up a tub for her to have stable temps and humidity. Once again, she was left alone for a week before food was offered again. When it was, she refused it, but then ate an adult mouse the following week and the week after that.
She seemed like she was getting back into it, and only refused the third meal due to Blue. After four feedings, she refused the fifth I believe because the PK mouse was Mighty Mouse in disguise and wasn't dead! She hasn't eaten since then.
So to recap: 2 refusals, one skip from moving, 1 refusal, 2 feeds, 1 refusal from Blue, 1 feed, 5 refusals. I usually offer food once a week.
Also, I had been feeding her live mice until after the move to the tub, since she had started shying away from them. The two successful feedings before Blue were on PK mice and so I have offered PK since. I did offer the last mouse live first just to see and she shyed away again...and stayed away even after I had killed it and layed it in the box.

The room my snakes are in is the bedroom, so the traffic is near nill and it's nice and quiet. After refusing so much, and not cruising like she used to, in that tub... I have since moved her back to her old 20L tank. Her last refusal was only four days after being moved (I normally leave alone for a week, but she looked interested). Her temps are 84-85 cool, 90-92 warm, and 78-80 ambient. Humidity wavers between 50% and 60% depending on if I sprayed recently. I am now leaving her totally alone for the next week to see if she might think about eating.

I know that was long, but I'm into giving accurate info.

[Brimstone111888]

9 months old and only 324 grams is kind of small, but is explained with the picky eating.

4 jumbo mice is a lot in one sitting for a 300g snake, thats upwards of 100g of food. she could be catching up still from that if she has been eating every other or so week.

Maybe offer slightly smaller meals the next few feedings. I had an experience with my biggest female, where she didn't want a normal sized rat (45g), so I threw her a mouse and she snatched it up right away.

Also maybe try sizing downt he 20L with newspaper or even synthetic bush, you can buy at any pet store or even try a tub again.

[SatanicIntention]

I would honestly stop moving her around so much and just leave her be. Snakes that small shouldn't be refusing food, so it's very likely a husbandry or stress problem.

What size tub was she in? My 07 Spider male who is 425g is in a 6qt, and he even eats in shed. That small of snake I keep in a 6qt or a 15qt. I give a hide(upside down plastic plant saucers) and just a water dish. That's it. Temps are 94.5-95 on warm side and 83.5-84 on the cool side. I don't handle babies very often, maybe once a week or so, depending on if they need their tub cleaned or not.

How long are you pre-scenting? I pre-scent for a good 30 minutes to an hour, with the lights off, and by then the babies are about to leap out of their tubs at my face. Juvies usually get 1-2 medium adult mice depending on their size.

If you can, re-set her up in a small tub, 15qt or smaller,and cover her with a dark pillowcase or blanket. Offer her a live small/medium adult mouse after a week to week and a half, in the dark, and see how she does.

If she doesn't eat, then I would get a fecal done just to be sure.

[Argentra]

Hmm... Yes, I know she's been moved too much. I'm thinking of just waiting a full two weeks without bothering her at all just to let her settle and know she's safe.

And, just and FYI correction, it wasn't four jumbos at once...it was four in a row one a week. Technically they were somewhere between large adult and small jumbo.

When I first got her, at 2 months old, I placed her in that same 20L tank with plenty of green bush with her two hides and dish, just as she is now once more. She never refused a single meal, ate with gusto, explored her tank regularly once a night for a bit, and shed quite well. Only in December, when it started getting cold and a bit harder to keep temps up (thus the desire to put her in the display cage), did she start going off feed.
The tub she was in was 26x15x10" - slightly shorter in length and height and a bit wider than her tank. Tho the temps and humidity in that tub were spot on all winter, she hardly ever came out of her hides, not even to hunt the night before feeding as she did in the tank. Also, she never really has been handled more than once a week since I got her. Sometimes twice a week, but that was rare.

I pre-scent for at least 30 minutes with the only light coming from the moon bulbs. I hadn't pre-scented before she moved into that tub, but started in the hope that it would get her interest up. It worked great for the corns...
I will take the advice to offer smaller mice; maybe she's intimidated by the larger ones. And I have been considering getting a fecal done...now if only she would give some to be tested.