Eating..

[zackw419]

My 08 carpet has started to refuse f/t rats I give her. She has eaten nothing but rats since I bought her. Which was about 3 months ago, She has not gone without food for long, its only been about 2 weeks. But im wondering what some triggers are that I could use to get her to eat?

I know feeding live is an option, the only live rats at the pet shop, right now, that are small enough for her to eat are pinkies. My worry would be getting the pinky, have her not eat it, and have it die of malnutrition. I dont want it to die that way.

Mabye its too soon for me to be worried but i just dont understand why shes not eating.

Just some background info:
she's always been wierd about eating in general. Everytime I feed her i will show it to her and she will follow it with her head flicking her tongue but she never has at something as offered. She never has taken food out of my hand. She will only eat it if i put i leave it in her cage and give her privacy. When i have fed her live she has killed the prey and left it. I had to re-introduce it to her to get her to eat it.

I don't know if that info means anything to anyone I just thought I would share it.

Feedback is appreciated

[Patrick Long]

My IJ female will NOT strike at food....AT ALL. She will follow it for ten minutes with her tongue going 100 mph.

So now she doesnt even eat it if you leave it in there?

[Chuck]

Ya none of that sounds out of the ordinary to me. How often are you feeding and how big in relation to its size? Sometime when you feed to much to often the animal will go off feeding. That said it sounds like you have yourself a less aggressive feeder. Whatever you do don't freak out and start feeding it mice. I would just give it a little time.


Chuck

[zackw419]

My IJ female will NOT strike at food....AT ALL. She will follow it for ten minutes with her tongue going 100 mph.

So now she doesnt even eat it if you leave it in there?

Mine will do the same! Its very odd. When I have food in my hand I feel like a cobra charmer. Her head will follow the rat wherever I tangle it, while she's flicking her tongue, but she wont strike at it. She has only struck at live prey that I only fed her once, and then she left it and I re-introduced it to her and she ate it. Is it a carpet thing?

Correct. She does not eat when I leave it in there. Its weird though. She stays in her hide most of but when i put food in her cage she comes out and is all of a sudden crawling around. So now shes coming out when I put food in, but not eating it.

[zackw419]

Ya none of that sounds out of the ordinary to me. How often are you feeding and how big in relation to its size? Sometime when you feed to much to often the animal will go off feeding. That said it sounds like you have yourself a less aggressive feeder. Whatever you do don't freak out and start feeding it mice. I would just give it a little time.


Chuck

I feed her fairly large meals and feed her every 5 days. I read on ACreptiles carpets can take meals two times their size. I've been feeding her XS rats which aren't quite 2 times her size but they leave a pretty big lump in her belly.

[Chuck]

I feed her fairly large meals and feed her every 5 days. I read on ACreptiles carpets can take meals two times their size. I've been feeding her XS rats which aren't quite 2 times her size but they leave a pretty big lump in her belly.

ya I would try feeding a little smaller and move to 7 days. See how that works, it may not make any difference, but that is were I would start. I would stay under 1 1/2 times the largest part of the body.


Chuck

[DavidG]

I have to agree with Chuck. It's all matter of opinion. I feel it should be a slight lump visible. Carpets are a skinny snake as babies so over and under feeding is quite common. These guys have a super fast metabolism, but feeding large meals every 5 days is really pushing. 5 days is fine for one eating small meals but once the rat starts to get fur I'd go to 7-10 days. carpets are pretty prone to obesity, and just like in humans, it's unhealthy. I think it would be pretty rare for a snake to find a meal every 5-7 days in the wild. They have nutrition built up for quite some time. A 2 week fast is nothing to worry about.

[zackw419]

Alright wow, Very helpful information. Thank you.

Im going to move to every 7 days rather than a smaller meal every 5 days. I will still find the smallest meals possible when they are available. Consistently small meals around here would mean jumbo mice and I don't want to get tangled in all that.


So she's probably just sick of being fed so frequently?


-Zack

[mainbutter]

My only information I can provide is my experience with my '08 coastal that I've had for.. 2 months now? I forget the exact date i got her but it seems like it's been longer than that.. I guess end of may perhaps.

Anyhoo, my girl is an AGGRESSIVE feeder. She basically bolts as fast as she can to the top of her cage if I start to open it at night.. Hardly gives me a moment to put the feeder in the cage(with tongs) before she has struck and wrapped. I have never seen such a strong feeding reaction.. she is up there with the most aggressive feeding boas and retics.

Interestingly, when I first got her she seemed to be a picky eater. Granted she was still new at the time, but I don't think that was an issue. What WAS an issue was that for the first couple feedings, I offered during the day. The first feeding took 5 mins of zombie dancing to get her to strike, and she flat out refused her second feeding, but that evening I thought to myself "well I know she refused, but she's out of her hide now and cruising so I guess I'll offer again". BAM, strike and coil.

Ever since then, I have never even bothered trying to offer during the day, because she just feeds so well being fed at night.

[zackw419]

I feed all my snakes at night, except for my SIGB.