Hunger Strike

So my Nagini is being a little brat and refusing everything I've presented her with for the past four weeks. All my numbers are spot on, and she hasn't been acting unusual, rather she spends all her time in the hide during the day and comes out cruising at night, just like usual.

I realize this is nothing to be concerned with given how long some people have their snakes fast for, but I was just wondering if anyone had any ideas to 'encourage' a snake to go back on feed short of assist feeds. I would love to see her eating again if only for my peace of mind.

Thanks!!

Normal bp behavior. How long have you had her? How old is she? What type of enclosure is she in? What are your husbandry numbers? Temps, humidity and ambient. How hot is the hot spot? Four weeks is not very long for a juvenile or adult but it is if she is a young bp or a hatchling. Check the hides, maybe you need a smaller , tighter hide for her. Make sure she has fresh water and a bowl to soak in. Switch your substrate to cypress mulch unless you already use it. Wait for her to adjust to the new substrate for 3 to 5 days. Don't try to feed her for at least that amount of time. Good luck. :colbert: :gj:

I agree it depends on the animals size. A small royal rarely goes off food unless there is some other issue. Adults often do. I find males often go off around the 1000 gm mark and will stay off for a month or more in my experience. Females do the same but usually heavier around 1400-1600gm but around the same time. There is little to do, they will start when they are ready to.

How old is this lady? The others are correct, it depends on how old/big she is, if this is a big issue or not.

She's about a year and a half at this point, weighs ~800 grams. Humidity hovers between 60-80, I fluctuate it with her shed cycle, hot side flexes between 88-90 and her cool side is 80-82. I upgraded her hide in December because she was starting to wear the old one like a hat, but she has eaten since I've done that. I swap out her water every other day and sanitize her waterdish once a week to prevent algae. I keep it on half sphagnum moss to help with humidity, and half paper towel.

Also I refer to her as a her because that's the pronoun I started using when I got him. Technically it is a male, but after months of using one pronoun, I found it difficult to swap after I had him sexed.

Thanks for the help and advice!

That is a little light for a fast but not too far off. Are you sure of the sex? What is the ambient air temp? does she spend time in both hides or just one? if it is just one which one?

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Originally Posted by kitedemon

That is a little light for a fast but not too far off. Are you sure of the sex? What is the ambient air temp? does she spend time in both hides or just one? if it is just one which one?

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Yeah I am. I had it probed by a local breeder who knew what he was doing so I didn't risk my inexperience on her. The ambient temp of the room hovers around 80 but it's hard to keep it up there during a canadian winter, so I do have some fluctuation with that, but nothing too extreme. And time is spread between both hides, although usually only changes hides at night so sometimes I catch her and sometimes I don't.

Sounds good. Try switching to 100% cypress mulch as your substrate and leave him on that for 1 week before trying to feed him again. Keep us posted. Good luck.:gj:

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Originally Posted by Albert Clark

Sounds good. Try switching to 100% cypress mulch as your substrate and leave him on that for 1 week before trying to feed him again. Keep us posted. Good luck.:gj:

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I know cypress is good for humidity, but I don't see it being a recommendation to fix a feeding issue.


How often do you deep clean the tank? Mine seems to go off food when she decides it is not perfectly clean. And if I don't deep clean after a shed.

http://jkrballstreetjournal.com/2014...-eating-again/

Justin Kobylka wrote an article. Try some of his tricks.