14 months since this guy ate....

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Originally Posted by rabernet

It's an antibiotic, and it also sometimes acts as an appetite stimulant.

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Yup, my vet looked in her "exotic animal medicine" book and it listed dosages for Flagyl and mentioned that it often acts as an appetite stimulant. She gave my snake 1cc (100mg) by mouth via a syringe with a small feeding tube attached. The snake didn't really care for the procedure but he held it down.

Now I figure I'll wait till this weekend and offer him an ASF again. The vet and I decided that if that didn't work we would try another dose next week.

From one of your earlier posts I noticed you didn't leave the ASF in with the snake for very long. I would leave it in for several hours or even all night occasionally checking to make sure the ASF isn't getting "hungry" if you know what I mean. I have some snakes that take hours to eat but always do. ALso if you are worried about it try leaving a dead mouse in over night That works for a few of mine. Seems that they prefer the smell of dead rotting flesh. (well not literally rotting)

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Originally Posted by Bleepr

I'm sorry, but the day when a 30 gram mouse can take down a 400 gram snake with a few nibbles, let me know.

As I said, at no point did I feel like his life was in danger from the mouse, and it was call for drastic measures. I have not fed live since, and he is finally eatting more then 1 mouse a week. It was, and still is an uphill battle after 7 months without food, and hes still half the size he should be at his age.

But, this is not about me, this is about Wax's snake. I'm sorry we've been getting so off topic.

At any rate, hes not eatting anything, live, f/t, or p/k? Have you noticed him drinking? and which tub is he located in? Its a strange question, but if its getting cool in your house and hes a lower tub, his temps (and humidity, for that matter) can be off. I'm not expert though, just a thought.

On top of the flagyl, you could ask for a dose of b-vitamins, that should increase his appetite.

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The mouse with this snake was only in with it for a few hours...don't underestimate a 30 gram mouse....

http://bellsouthpwp.net/j/b/jbuncc/d...ed%20live1.JPG

im suprised ppl will still say to leave a mouse in with out any supervision for long periods of time. a mouse or a rat can chew thru all kinds of stuff and can gnaw thru a snake in no time. as for ur non eating snake, i have a female who went for a year, then she laid 6 good eggs with no slugs, keep trying... she went back on feed after i found she would take a frozen thawed if i tucked it in with her in her hide and left it over night.... FROZEN THAWED... not live, do not leave live rats in the cage overnight with ur snake and please do not listen to the people who think its ok.... its not. i also breed asf rats and it works the same with pre killing them and leaving it in her hide.

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Originally Posted by Luke Martin

The mouse with this snake was only in with it for a few hours...don't underestimate a 30 gram mouse....

http://bellsouthpwp.net/j/b/jbuncc/d...ed%20live1.JPG

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No, the mouse with that snake was in for a few DAYS with no food and water provided - so of course it's going to eat the only thing available to it. This picture has been mis-used so many times to warn people against live feeding WITHOUT giving the proper background.

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Originally Posted by irishanaconda

im suprised ppl will still say to leave a mouse in with out any supervision for long periods of time. a mouse or a rat can chew thru all kinds of stuff and can gnaw thru a snake in no time. as for ur non eating snake, i have a female who went for a year, then she laid 6 good eggs with no slugs, keep trying... she went back on feed after i found she would take a frozen thawed if i tucked it in with her in her hide and left it over night.... FROZEN THAWED... not live, do not leave live rats in the cage overnight with ur snake and please do not listen to the people who think its ok.... its not. i also breed asf rats and it works the same with pre killing them and leaving it in her hide.

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I agree with not leaving rats or mice in overnight - especially with no food or water available to them. But a rat or mouse isn't going to just randomly decide "oh - I think I'll go gnaw on you for a bit", it's just not how they behave, especially a well fed, well hydrated rodent.

The longest that I personally leave prey in with my animals is 30 minutes, any longer than that, I feel that the snake is more stressed by the prey's presence than not.

yep id agree, 30 min should be plenty. if u want to leave a rat in for a long time id suggest putting in a dead rat, some will actually take it that way

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Originally Posted by wax32

I'm hoping Flagyl will work for him like everyone seems to think it will. :D And I'm also hoping my vet isn't chicken of snakes. I don't think she will be, she seems pretty together in the 7 years I've been going there with my mammals. :D

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What in the (insert word here) are you doing going to this Vet? Look at the list and find a good Qualified VET next time!!!!!!!!

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Originally Posted by wax32

Yup, my vet looked in her "exotic animal medicine" book and it listed dosages for Flagyl and mentioned that it often acts as an appetite stimulant. She gave my snake 1cc (100mg) by mouth via a syringe with a small feeding tube attached. The snake didn't really care for the procedure but he held it down.

Now I figure I'll wait till this weekend and offer him an ASF again. The vet and I decided that if that didn't work we would try another dose next week.

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This is why you should have never gone to her. A "Qualified Vet" would already know about Flagyl. At least she didn't do anything crazy with your snake.

What you need to do now is put a hide in with your snake and feed it at night. Just leave some rodent food in with a well fed healthy small rodent and leave it alone. If the rodent is fed well, and you do what Big Gunns says...you CAN leave it in overnight. The risk is minimal. You should wait about a week for the Flagyl to work.

You MUST WAIT A WEEK BEFORE YOU TRY AND FEED IT!!!!!!!! It looks like you are, but this is critical. Don't mess with the snake at all during this time.

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Originally Posted by irishanaconda

im suprised ppl will still say to leave a mouse in with out any supervision for long periods of time. a mouse or a rat can chew thru all kinds of stuff and can gnaw thru a snake in no time. as for ur non eating snake, i have a female who went for a year, then she laid 6 good eggs with no slugs, keep trying... she went back on feed after i found she would take a frozen thawed if i tucked it in with her in her hide and left it over night.... FROZEN THAWED... not live, do not leave live rats in the cage overnight with ur snake and please do not listen to the people who think its ok.... its not. i also breed asf rats and it works the same with pre killing them and leaving it in her hide.

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Every single large breeder in the bizz that feeds live rodents leaves them in overnight..... all the time. Of course there is some risk, but if the rodent is well fed, and it's only one night, you should be fine. You must get your rodents from someone who sells feeders though. All rodents are not created equal. Some are evil, mean, chewing machines, and can hurt your snake or cage.

Flagyl really hasn't been shown to stimulate appetite in trials. It's actually an irritant in the digestive system and tends to put animals off feed. What it does is kill protozoa. Undiagnosed protozoal infections can certainly be a cause of anorexia in reptiles.
So, people give flagyl, the animal starts eating, and they believe the flagyl gave them back their appetite. Not exactly what's happening.
This is why it doesn't always work, of course. You might as well add in some panacur and do a total parasite clearing, while you're at it. It's hard on the snake to use these worming meds, but if it works, it's because the snake actually had parasites.

Or, assist-feed the snake, obtain a fecal sample, and have the vet do a proper fecal float check to determine if anything's going on. This would be better for the animal than shotgunning it with worming meds. If it has, say, tapeworm--that requires a different medication. So does coccidia. Panacur kills worms, and flagyl kills protoza. So, that's 4 different types of meds (at least). It would be best to use only what's needed.

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Originally Posted by WingedWolfPsion

Flagyl really hasn't been shown to stimulate appetite in trials. It's actually an irritant in the digestive system and tends to put animals off feed. What it does is kill protozoa. Undiagnosed protozoal infections can certainly be a cause of anorexia in reptiles.
So, people give flagyl, the animal starts eating, and they believe the flagyl gave them back their appetite. Not exactly what's happening.
This is why it doesn't always work, of course. You might as well add in some panacur and do a total parasite clearing, while you're at it. It's hard on the snake to use these worming meds, but if it works, it's because the snake actually had parasites.

Or, assist-feed the snake, obtain a fecal sample, and have the vet do a proper fecal float check to determine if anything's going on. This would be better for the animal than shotgunning it with worming meds. If it has, say, tapeworm--that requires a different medication. So does coccidia. Panacur kills worms, and flagyl kills protoza. So, that's 4 different types of meds (at least). It would be best to use only what's needed.

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There is some truth in what you say(getting a fecal)....BUT. Big Gunns will tell you that 9 out of ten times Flagyl will get the animal eating again. It will however possibly put an animal "off feed", if it was eating good to begin with. It's weird, because it has the opposite effect a lot of the time when animals are good feeders. Flagyl has saved the life of many of Big Gunns snakes. It's usually the male that was breeding himself to death and wouldn't eat.

It is true that in all cases like this it's best to do a fecal...BUT...Big Gunns experience tells him that 99 outta 100 times Flagyl will help this snake. It was bought from Baily, so it's not like it's a wild caught adult that's gonna be loaded with parasites.