3rd Week without food!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by dr del

Hi,


Well he still looks ok so there's no need to panic just yet :)

When did he last shed?

Does he always come out at the same time - and is that the time you have chosen to offer him the food?

Is this live rodents?

As for the knocking over the plants then yeah they can be destructive little nuggets when they feel like it :D


dr del

---

He shed just over 4 weeks ago.
Most of the time you find him out right around the same time but not always.
On feed night I wait until I see him sticking his head out of his hide and remove his hide and plants on that side , wait longer for him to decide to move a little bit and then feed. He usually takes it right out of my husbands hand but there have been times we have had to drop the rat in.
He feeds live.
Last night we found him hanging from the loop of elastic that I use to lift the plexi off the top of the cage. He had made his way to the top and looped in it to get himself closer to the top!

My girls consistantly don't eat from early October to February, maybe once or twice all winter, even with proper temps. I got them switched to pre killed ths summer, but before that I would put the rodent in a small cardboard box inside the cage to allow them control over the contact, and an out if they got intimidated. They ate every 7-10 days, spring thru fall, without fail like that. We are trying the first feedings with the new ones today, so we'll see how that goes.

Man....that's a pretty snake!!!


He doesn't look anywhere near "too skinny" or anything. He looks very healthy, so a few missed meals aren't going to hurt him, even if he loses a few grams of weight.

He looks too young for a seasonal fast, so the two things you need to look for are: Environmental issues....and how much he's had to eat so far.

What size prey items has he been eating up til he started refusing? If he was eating relatively large rats, he may just be "catching up" from the "feast."

And/OR it could be environmental. Maybe he'd prefer if you didn't remove the hides and "furniture" from his home. They're ambush predators by nature, so he might feel more secure if everything is the same and he can ambush the rat from a hide. Besides that...look around for any possible "stressors." Is there a bright white light shining directly into the cage? Is there a TV or stereo speaker nearby that might be causing vibrations? Sometimes it can be something little that we would scarcely notice, but it could be a big deal to your snake.

He has been eating a large/small rat. I thought maybe it was things around him also so i covered the backs and sides of the tank, there is no bright light over him.
I guess I will just leave him alone and wait another week and try. This time I will leave all of his "gear" in the tank.
Thanks to everyone for listening and responding to this "freaked out" mom:D

I'm betting the prey size is a bit too big to encourage consistent feeding. Kisasa only gets fuzzies and weanlings. The few times I've fed her something bigger (which she can easily eat) she ends up skipping meals afterwards.


Here's what I would try:
--Skip the next scheduled feeding...give him a chance to totally settle down and realize he's hungry again

Then:
--Leave the cage and furniture completely alone on feeding day
--Buy a fuzzy rat...or weanling at the most
--Pre-scent the room for about 30 minutes before offering the rat. (Put it in a small, ventilated cage/box and right next to the snake's tank)
--With as little disturbance as possible, drop the rat into the tank.

And I'll bet ya you see a snake ready and anxious to hunt.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by JLC

I'm betting the prey size is a bit too big to encourage consistent feeding. Kisasa only gets fuzzies and weanlings. The few times I've fed her something bigger (which she can easily eat) she ends up skipping meals afterwards.


Here's what I would try:
--Skip the next scheduled feeding...give him a chance to totally settle down and realize he's hungry again

Then:
--Leave the cage and furniture completely alone on feeding day
--Buy a fuzzy rat...or weanling at the most
--Pre-scent the room for about 30 minutes before offering the rat. (Put it in a small, ventilated cage/box and right next to the snake's tank)
--With as little disturbance as possible, drop the rat into the tank.

And I'll bet ya you see a snake ready and anxious to hunt.

---

Judy thanks so much for the great advice! I will follow your advice and let you know how things go. Oh, and thanks for saying how pretty Zeke is:D

How long have you had him ? Is this the first fall you have owned him?

I am no expert so I am only speaking from exper. w/ my bp who is 3yo and has been fasting the last two yrs during the winter. When mine starts to move about at night and go back and forth along the front of the cage and climbing up trying to escape thru the top it usually means he is about to fast and is thinking about the ladies.
I have tried everything including upping the temps and maintaining them that way year round, leaving a light on this year to make him think the days are still long ( will see if that helps ).

He looks ok from the pics and bp's can go up to a year w/o food if they are healthy etc. I would do as Judy suggested and try and keep temps on the 82-84- 92-94 range and keep that and your humidity stable and just wait a couple weeks and try again.
I know I pre-scent the cage and if within a few moments if Ozzy doesn't not poke his head out and go into his Cobra stance he isn't interested.

Good Luck !

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jotay

How long have you had him ? Is this the first fall you have owned him?

I am no expert so I am only speaking from exper. w/ my bp who is 3yo and has been fasting the last two yrs during the winter. When mine starts to move about at night and go back and forth along the front of the cage and climbing up trying to escape thru the top it usually means he is about to fast and is thinking about the ladies.
I have tried everything including upping the temps and maintaining them that way year round, leaving a light on this year to make him think the days are still long ( will see if that helps ).

He looks ok from the pics and bp's can go up to a year w/o food if they are healthy etc. I would do as Judy suggested and try and keep temps on the 82-84- 92-94 range and keep that and your humidity stable and just wait a couple weeks and try again.
I know I pre-scent the cage and if within a few moments if Ozzy doesn't not poke his head out and go into his Cobra stance he isn't interested.

Good Luck !

---

Have had Zeke for almost 5 mths, so yes this is our first fall together. I always pre-scent. I try to follow the care sheets to a t! Thanks for all your info and I will keep everyone posted. I am going to wait 2 weeks and try again! Wish us luck:)

UPDATE: Zeke ate tonight:fest: It was just one little rat fuzzie, but I am so happy:carrot:

That's great!! I'm glad he's eating for you again!

LGL