I've got a crazy snake.

I had seen a thread a while back where someone suggested feeding in a thoroughly cleaned tub for problem feeders. I looked but couldn't find the other thread that I saw this in. That advise seemed counter-productive to me but I have 1 nut-case snake that loves to refuse feed. She refused again today making week 6 of refusals. Since she is around the weight that I usually move them up in tub size. I moved her to a larger fully cleaned tub. This should have caused a bit of stress. Then I tried again to feed her but it was a small rat instead of weaned. I figured the larger prey would also stress her out but she nailed the small rat in a couple seconds and ate it.

To sum it up
Larger cage should cause stress
clean cage no longer smelling like home should cause stress
larger prey than ever taken should cause stress (especially after a refusal the same day)
Slight handling to move to new cage maybe a tiny bit of stress

And this crazy girl goes off of her fast.

I am beginning to think there may be something to trying the cleaned tub for problem feeders.

Whatever works, congratulations on her gobbling down her first meal in six weeks :gj: hopefully she will do a repeat performance next week best wishes always ;)

I agree, it all makes no sense to me either...totally counter-intuitive, so of COURSE it works!? :rofl: Good job! :gj:

IMO the key is: the right husbandry for the right snake! regardless of what seems correct on paper, your snake will tell you if it's right or not. [emoji3] that's why i think it's a good thing to be well-informed first (i.e. listening to the advice from others with more experience on what works) and then experiment to find what works for you as well as the snake.

my 0.1 Super Cinnamon (Coffee Bean) came to me as a 70g worm, and was moved into a bigger tub less than 48hrs after arriving; she ate that same night.

i deep clean my T8 for Yellow (1.0 2014 Albino) every spring to try and jump-start his eating. this year it actually worked! for 3 weeks LOL. but that's a lot for him; 3 weeks on feed in a row!

EDIT: Spaghetti (0.1 2016 Coral Glow) requires a silk leaf vine in her tub to feel more secure. when she was first moved into the rack she refused for a while and seemed restless. i put the vine in and she's been eating sort of regularly LOL.

it's about knowing the animals, but i swear by the clean enclosure trick. i'm glad it's getting more recognition recently; i can't believe it wasn't more well known!

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Originally Posted by tttaylorrr

but i swear by the clean enclosure trick. i'm glad it's getting more recognition recently; i can't believe it wasn't more well known!

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So that was you that made mention of it? I couldn't remember the thread title or who had suggested it so my search involved scrolling through most posts I saw this evening about problem feeders.

Thank you for offering an option whether it sounds like it will or wont work. It don't cost anything to try the suggestion and I just wanted to state that it worked for me. (As much as I wanted to think that it wouldn't)

I have kept many types of snakes on and off for 31 years and have never done this before to address that issue. It is true what was said that every snake is an individual and it seems that this one just wants hospital sanitation for her dining pleasure. I still say she is Nuts just for not acting like all the other Balls LOL

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Originally Posted by Bistem

So that was you that made mention of it? I couldn't remember the thread title or who had suggested it so my search involved scrolling through most posts I saw this evening about problem feeders.

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i think so lol: a newbie posted about their success with the technique, and while others seemed surprised i replied that i thought it was an old trick. if i wasn't on mobile id find and link the thread.

this is the beauty of forums: being open to ideas, learning and knowing best practice and being able to experiment with that knowledge and practice. this is such a simple tip and this forum has already seen 2 success stories (yours included) since that recent thread i mentioned.

it's awesome to keep reading such a simple yet lesser-known tip is having such success with keepers!!! [emoji3]

I had a long time non feeder suddenly reStart eating normally after a short soak !?!
Again you'd think a soak would have put her off feeding not the opposite .


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Ive had snakes in the past that wouldn’t eat. Mainly some dumerils and ball pythons. A guy told me about using shoe box for feeding smaller snakes and black plastic storage container for larger snakes. It’s always worked like a charm. Makes the animal feel secure I guess


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Well I’m very glad it worked out for you. It supposedly simulates environmental changes encountered while hunting. I’d be lying if I told you I’ve never tried it myself. It goes to show you that there are many things we could be doing as keepers that we might not always are aware of, because of all the “cut and paste advice” out there, vs people with decades of experience and willing to think on there own.

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Originally Posted by Sonny1318

because of all the “cut and paste advice” out there, vs people with decades of experience and willing to think on there own.

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I'm gonna take that as a compliment since I have been liking them and keeping them for 3 decades. There have been a few dry spells in that time frame where I didnt have any reptiles but I would NEVER think that there isnt something out there that could be a better way. I don't think that anyone and I mean anyone in this hobby knows it all and does everything perfect so unless it would put the snake's life in danger, I am always open to other ideas.

There are a few people in the hobby that I would venture to say know close to it all but I have even heard those exact people say in their own videos that they don't know it all.
Two of the ones I speak of would have to be
Brian Gundy and
Tom Crutchfield