problems eating

so my older snake does not seem to like to eat i bought her about two months ago. but i put her in a separate container with a heating pad underneath and a hide spot this seemed to help, but this past feeding she ended up never eating the rat after almost an hour i do feed her a few hours after nightfall. the only real thing i can think of is that there is a chance the rats are a little too big where i live there is only one place that sell mice or rats within an hour and it's petco their mice and rats vary so much in size from week to week i can't really control exactly the size of rats she eats. does anyone have suggestions of how to make her more likely to eat or should i try switching to frozen? i know the person i bought her from has fed her live her whole life.

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Originally Posted by rivunel

so my older snake does not seem to like to eat i bought her about two months ago. but i put her in a separate container with a heating pad underneath and a hide spot this seemed to help, but this past feeding she ended up never eating the rat after almost an hour i do feed her a few hours after nightfall. the only real thing i can think of is that there is a chance the rats are a little too big where i live there is only one place that sell mice or rats within an hour and it's petco their mice and rats vary so much in size from week to week i can't really control exactly the size of rats she eats. does anyone have suggestions of how to make her more likely to eat or should i try switching to frozen? i know the person i bought her from has fed her live her whole life.

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Id start with feeding in her actual enclosure, alot of snakes get stressed out when they are moved and will cause them not to eat. Time of day shouldnt matter. It definitely wouldnt hurt to try to switch to F/T because its generally cheaper and more convenient. As far as prey size consistency, Ive heard of people getting them from various websites (unfortunately I do not know any) but im sure you can google it. until then keep trying a little bit longer without making any significant changed to what shes used to and then try a size down in prey before doing anything more drastic.

EDIT: How long has it been since shes eaten last??

i had heard if you feed them in their own cage they're more likely to bite you because they associate the opening of the cage with food is it less likely for them to bite me than i have been told? i'm not so much worried about getting bit as i am about the snake getting hurt if it bites me..

I agree with the first post. But if you are feeding small rats which Im sure you are being that it is pepco you can always feed 2 adult mice if need be. Do you have a weight on your snake?

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Originally Posted by VEXER19

I agree with the first post. But if you are feeding small rats which Im sure you are being that it is pepco you can always feed 2 adult mice if need be. Do you have a weight on your snake?

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i won't have problems trying to switch her to mice from rats?

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Originally Posted by rivunel

i had heard if you feed them in their own cage they're more likely to bite you because they associate the opening of the cage with food is it less likely for them to bite me than i have been told? i'm not so much worried about getting bit as i am about the snake getting hurt if it bites me..

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I used to believe the same thing, but I still fed in the enclosure, to this day (although its only been about two months) I will basically test the theory and i put my hand in the tank on feeding day and take her out, and she doesnt even hiss or strike or anything. As long as you are confident when you go in (and i use hand sanitizer before putting my hand in for extra safety for me and her) you shouldn't have problems. just dont handle a mouse and try to handle right after without cleaning, your hand is to big to be viewed as prey and will be viewed as a threat more or less (hence why some people get struck because their snakes are more defensive)

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Originally Posted by rivunel

i won't have problems trying to switch her to mice from rats?

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Every snake is different but you wont know if you dont try. You never know what was your BPs diet before? Some snakes have sex, color, type of feed preferences. So you never know until you try. The whole live vs f/t will probably be the hard part but it depends on your snake again. I feed live unfortunately cause my girl is wastful but today she got bit. Didnt break the skin cause she wraps the head quick thank god. But struck a little high and has a nice very small red mark and little edema. So that is why f/t is the prefered method. So I say try 1 live adult mouse to not change too much at once and if your BP will eat mice then switch to f/t until its willing/able to take rats. Just remember that mice are actually more likely to bite your snake then a rat. Those things are nuts. So just monitor the feeding as you should always do IMO with live feeds.

mice are more likely to bite than rats? my smaller snakes eats two mice a week although within a couple of seconds of putting the mouse into the cage for him he already has it constricted

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Originally Posted by rivunel

mice are more likely to bite than rats? my smaller snakes eats two mice a week although within a couple of seconds of putting the mouse into the cage for him he already has it constricted

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I thought it was different at first, cause rats are bigger so bigger bite right? But after talking to veteran snake owners they said that a mouse is more likely to fight back then a rat. Also a rat has more to constrict then mice whose heads are always right next to your BP ready to bite out of instinct. Snake can constrict a rat from a much safter distance then mice until the get bigger but the bigger the snake the harder it is to bite.

Some things I've heard
paper bag trick
braining
thawing over the enclosure using a hair dryer
thawing in warm chicken stock
also try a Gerbil cause it's closer to their natural food source in Africa
I tried a Gerbil once and he hit that sucker so hard like that's what he was waiting for.

Good luck and keep us updated on what works for you

P.S. I've heard of BP not eating for up to a year with no problems so don't sweat it.:gj:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rivunel

so my older snake does not seem to like to eat i bought her about two months ago. but i put her in a separate container with a heating pad underneath and a hide spot this seemed to help, but this past feeding she ended up never eating the rat after almost an hour i do feed her a few hours after nightfall. the only real thing i can think of is that there is a chance the rats are a little too big where i live there is only one place that sell mice or rats within an hour and it's petco their mice and rats vary so much in size from week to week i can't really control exactly the size of rats she eats. does anyone have suggestions of how to make her more likely to eat or should i try switching to frozen? i know the person i bought her from has fed her live her whole life.

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Feed her in her cage - ditch the separate container.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rivunel

i had heard if you feed them in their own cage they're more likely to bite you because they associate the opening of the cage with food is it less likely for them to bite me than i have been told? i'm not so much worried about getting bit as i am about the snake getting hurt if it bites me..

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I'd like to find out that person who started the old "if you feed them in their own cage they'll be more prone to bite you" rumour and give them a wedgie.

It's BS.

Feed your snake in it's cage. If you feed it frozen thawed, you won't have to worry about what is more prone to biting.

Instead of trying a bunch of exotic tricks that will probably result in only stressing your animal out, thaw out the prey item and dangle it in front of your snake. If it doesn't take it, simply lay it close to the animal and walk away.

Start there. If your snake is still not eating, then you can try some other techniques - but first try the simplest, less stressful method.

Yup, listen to Skiploder. Good advice right there. :gj: