Females Not Eating - 3 Months

[Jay_Bunny]

I have two females that have not eaten since March. I know thats only 3 months and I should not be too worried, but the females are losing weight. Little by little. The smallest one thats not eating is Shane, and she is 763g now. Akina I didn't weigh this week and I can't find her last weigh in, but I do remember it was less than when she came to me.

I've been offering food once a week to these girls, sometimes skipping a week just to leave them alone. I also have a spider that has not eaten since the beginning of April.

So when do you say its time to do something about it? How long do you let your snakes go before you say its time to get something into my snake?

[muddoc]

ISo when do you say its time to do something about it? How long do you let your snakes go before you say its time to get something into my snake?

At least 12 months before I really get concerned. If they have eaten for you before, then they will eat again when they are ready (ASSUMING your husbandry is correct). I have a female Spider that hasn't eaten in 6 months, she is probably around 600 grams. Her sister will be laying eggs in about a week. Some of them eat better than others.

[lord jackel]

At least 12 months before I really get concerned. If they have eaten for you before, then they will eat again when they are ready (ASSUMING your husbandry is correct). I have a female Spider that hasn't eaten in 6 months, she is probably around 600 grams. Her sister will be laying eggs in about a week. Some of them eat better than others.

I agree with Tim...but I would cavot this with you mentioned they are losing weight. I have had a girl stop eating for about 13 months but in all that time she only lost 150 or so grams of weight so I never got worried (she was 2000 to start so not a big loss).

You need to monitor the weight loss (at least monthly) and make sure it isn't excessive. Weight loss can be a sign of something else being wrong...sickness, worms, ticks/mites, etc.

Also, double check all your husbandry to make sure that isn't the cause of them not eating.

Hope this helps

[Jay_Bunny]

I bought them from someone in March and they have never eaten with me. I have never had a problem feeder before so I'm not used to having an animal that won't eat.

[Freakie_frog]

I bought them from someone in March and they have never eaten with me. I have never had a problem feeder before so I'm not used to having an animal that won't eat.

No thats a different story..

You need to get back with the person that sold them to you and let them know whats going on

[Jay_Bunny]

I have. He is a trustworthy guy. When I sent him a message, he wrote back saying that sometimes snakes just don't want to eat and it might be a change in environment. I have another snake from him that eats like a champ. The only time he misses a meal is when he's in shed.

One observation though. When I went to offer food to the snakes yesterday, the bigger female, Akina, was in shed. Milky eyes and dull coloration, even though she hasn't eaten in 3 months. Is it normal for a snake to shed even when they are not eating?

[munding]

I have. He is a trustworthy guy. When I sent him a message, he wrote back saying that sometimes snakes just don't want to eat and it might be a change in environment. I have another snake from him that eats like a champ. The only time he misses a meal is when he's in shed.

One observation though. When I went to offer food to the snakes yesterday, the bigger female, Akina, was in shed. Milky eyes and dull coloration, even though she hasn't eaten in 3 months. Is it normal for a snake to shed even when they are not eating?

i have a pastel male that didnt eat for 8 weeks. he shed on the 6th week and then he didnt eat for another 2 weeks. i read on a thread here somewhere that a member had a bp who didnt eat for a number of months and has shed twice!

[JASBALLS]

How big are they? And what are you trying to feed them. If it where me I would contact the guy and get some replacements.. Never let it go this long after buying a new snake from someone. He owes you some new FEEDING animals!

[Jay_Bunny]

They are an '05 and an '06 if I'm not mistaken. I didn't get the weight on the big female yesterday since she was not in a good mood, I cleaned her cage and left her alone. The smaller of the two is 763g I believe.

He said he felt follicles in the bigger female before he sold her to me but he did not include her in his breeding program this year. He assured me they were eating before they came to me.

I have been trying rats up until yesterday. The only thing we could get was mice because the petstore's supplier had not shown up that day with rats. Shane, the smaller of the two seemed interested, but she would just move away from it after a second of tasting the air. She does this with rats and mice alike, and we have tried only live since that is what they were on before they came to us.

[Jay_Bunny]

Here is the big female. We snapped a picture while we cleaned her tub.