Back on feeding...

Allison if you know anyone that breeds rats ask for a really nice chubby fuzzy/crawler rat...say about 8 days old. I've found them to be pretty hard to resist for a lot of snakes. They move just enough to attract interest but can't scurry off. I'd pop one in with the snake, close the closet and leave them completely alone together overnight (no peeking). The fuzzy rat cannot possibly hurt your snake and hopefully will interest it enough to get it to eat. If your snake takes this fuzzy/crawler then offer it another the next week, then one a few days older the week after and so on, very slowly upping the prey as the snake becomes more and more interested in eating. The fuzzies aren't enough to actually give them enough calories but they seem to kick start the digestion again and bring on a feeding response.

Saoirse our female WC adult rescue has always fasted over the winter. We simply cannot break her of this no matter how stable her husbandry is. She however is of good body weight now and loses almost nothing over the winter so it's not a huge concern with her. We got her started last spring and will likely do so this spring by offering 8 or 9 day old rat fuzzy/crawlers then slowly getting her back to her regular small rats over a number of weeks.

Best of luck sweetie. Keep us up-to-date on how things go for this lovely snake.

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Originally Posted by frankykeno

Allison if you know anyone that breeds rats ask for a really nice chubby fuzzy/crawler rat...say about 8 days old. I've found them to be pretty hard to resist for a lot of snakes. They move just enough to attract interest but can't scurry off. I'd pop one in with the snake, close the closet and leave them completely alone together overnight (no peeking). The fuzzy rat cannot possibly hurt your snake and hopefully will interest it enough to get it to eat. If your snake takes this fuzzy/crawler then offer it another the next week, then one a few days older the week after and so on, very slowly upping the prey as the snake becomes more and more interested in eating. The fuzzies aren't enough to actually give them enough calories but they seem to kick start the digestion again and bring on a feeding response.

Saoirse our female WC adult rescue has always fasted over the winter. We simply cannot break her of this no matter how stable her husbandry is. She however is of good body weight now and loses almost nothing over the winter so it's not a huge concern with her. We got her started last spring and will likely do so this spring by offering 8 or 9 day old rat fuzzy/crawlers then slowly getting her back to her regular small rats over a number of weeks.

Best of luck sweetie. Keep us up-to-date on how things go for this lovely snake.

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Good stuff! i hope this helps for your allison! Good luck! we're pulling for ya!

Thanks Joanna. The good news is that the rat trio I have right now, one of the moms has a litter that is about 10 days old. I'll throw one of them in with him tonight and leave him be.

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Originally Posted by lillyorchid

Thanks Joanna. The good news is that the rat trio I have right now, one of the moms has a litter that is about 10 days old. I'll throw one of them in with him tonight and leave him be.

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Good! hopefully he takes...........maybe put like a little bedding from the rats in the corner of his tub like an hour before hand, maybe he'll catch the scent and be very willing to strike! Good luck!

One thing you might want to try Allison is putting a few crawlers and a bit of stinky litter into a container with tons of vent holes. Put the whole deal on lid on the warm side of his enclosure a couple of hours before you intend to feed. Close the door and leave them in there in the dark (another trick we did with Saoirse to get her to eat at first). It makes sense to me that a snake that's designed to hunt in a dark, warm, enclosed space would key up to the sound of movement in the dark and the smell of live prey moving around nearby. When we did this with Saoirse we would often find her peering intently upward, tongue flicking like mad at the smells and sounds above her. Also, and I know this sounds a bit stupid, but we fed her in the dark, at night with absolutely no sounds allowed. Just a quick sneek in to place the container, two hours later a very quick and quiet opening of her tub to place the feeder and then we basically snuck off. Seemed to help her to disturb her as little as possible (when she was finally on larger prey we monitored the live feeds with a black t-shirt over a flashlight).

Awesome! I'll do this and let you know tomorrow how it goes.
*crosses fingers*

Crossing all my crossable bits for you and your snake hon!

Just went and checked on him and the rat pup was still there and alive. I did everything as you said Joanna from sticking a few and dirty bedding in a small aired container in there to present, then quietly placing one of the pups in there and leaving him alone in complete darkness over night.

Blah.
Next idea / tip in line please!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by lillyorchid

Just went and checked on him and the rat pup was still there and alive. I did everything as you said Joanna from sticking a few and dirty bedding in a small aired container in there to present, then quietly placing one of the pups in there and leaving him alone in complete darkness over night.

Blah.
Next idea / tip in line please!

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:soapbx: geeesh! he's giving you a run for your money allison! i thought for sure what Jo suggested would work!

Tyree in most cases what people have told me to do for him, would have worked with a lot of picky eaters. This guy has been a horrible eater since I first got him last year. He just doesn't ever want to eat. Now it seems as though he'd rather just starve himself to death then even attempt to make a move to eat. He'd rather just stalk and harass the rat or mouse and have fun with it.