Success stories?

I see all of these posts of people that are having problems getting their snake to eat. I see a lot of these and I am in the middle of this struggle right now myself. What I don't see are the stories of people that went through this problem and now the snake is eating well. Surely some of these stories exist. If so post the success stories so us new people trying to work through this problem can be encouraged and energized. Thanks, Dean

My favorite from my collection. Male banana. Set up in 6 qt. Eats 2nd day in my care. Refuses food for 4 months. No more than 200 grams. Move to 28 qt rack for 1 week and back on feed. Weirdest thing my balls have done

I actually purchase/ rescued a lesser female off of Craigslist that I was looking to add to my collection for breeding and when I got her she was very under weight (930g) at almost 2 yrs old and had not had a meal for a month prior to me getting her and she was a very sketchy snake. After working with her for 2 months and still no eating found out she is a mouser and will only eat large mice. So now she has a nice clean tub of her own in my rack and gets handles everyday and eats regularly and is a lover now!


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Oh and my son loved her so much he decided to name her Sunshine! And he can even hold her now!


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Took me 8 months too get my bp on f/t. Had to pre kill many many many mice before he switched. :( But hey he's eating great now!:P

My favorite story about eating success comes from my rescued 6-foot female normal... I had her for about a year with no problems, she hadn't gone on feeding strikes before and was in good health. I also never bred her, nor did I so much as let her near another snake. Well for a couple of months she just randomly stopped eating. Wouldn't lose weight, wasn't acting weird in any other way. I first tried every type of prey variation: live, f/t, pre-killed, rats, mice, different sizes, even different colors.

2 things changed everything: a black live gerbil I put in her tank with her. She snapped it up within seconds. Turns out gerbils are their preferred food in the wild.

The other thing? SHE LAID EGGS They were all slugs, but nonetheless you can imagine my surprise when I walked in and saw these large white orbs all over her tank. After that, she has eaten once a week without issue ever since. :) F/T rats too, of all things!

See, there is hope. Keep the success stories coming.

Thanks Terminal your absolutely right. Not only does it encourage people having feeding problems like me, it Also gives us insight on how to fix the problem. I will checking this post often, please keep the stories coming!

I also don't think a post like this should ever be buried at the bottom of the list. There will always be stories to tell and always be bp owners new and old that are struggling and can come back to this anytime they need encouragement and ideas. That's Just my 2 cents.

I bought a little cinnamon lesser baby at an expo on Oct 3 last year. Around 125 grams. He ate after 2 weeks. Then he didn't take his next meal for another 2-3 weeks. I think I got him to eat 4 times. He wasn't losing weight but he wasn't gaining either. Then he went on a 6-week eating strike for winter. I guess babies aren't supposed to do that but he didn't believe it! Then he ate. . .and again the next week, and the next, and now he's slamming anything I offer him and begging every time I walk by his tank. I'm feeding him every 5 days now, and he's up to 320 grams!

I had a normal male that went about 7 months without eating when I got him. He was an adult, but I was still worried. Eventually he ate, but it was still hit and miss for a few years. The past year he's actually been my best feeder. If one of the other snakes doesn't eat, he gets their leftovers.

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I've had many animals refuse at some point to feed, even when previously before they have great feeders over the years. I usually check, double check, and triple check husbandry. Sometimes I change their environment...either increase or decrease humidity...move to a bigger tub/smaller tub... change type of substrate etc...


Usually they would start feeding again shortly after..if not, I give the animal some time and try again. I've noticed that some of them have preferences and after you are able to determine what those preferences are, you should be good to go.

I've never had an animal starve itself to death, so all should go well once you cover all husbandry grounds.


Best regards !

I have recently got a cinnabee female. She is only small at under 300 grams. She has been assist fed by her previous owners for the last 6 months.

I have taken her from a RUB and moved her to a 18" viv.

Last night she actually fed with me after only have g her for a week. Strike fed as well on a large rat pup which, although small prey for her size, is a great indicator that she is willing to feed yayyy xx

I suggest reading Justins sticky on problem feeders. The vast majority of these posts are new owners that don't realize simple things that they should change in their husbandry or even just their approach in offering the prey. It's not terrible, everyone had to learn at some point. I think back to my first bp "problem" eater and that even though I had her enclosure pretty good I was probably simply over handling her.

My female albino will lunge out of her tub to grab the thawed rat. She hits it like she hates it.

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Originally Posted by HannahLou

I suggest reading Justins sticky on problem feeders. The vast majority of these posts are new owners that don't realize simple things that they should change in their husbandry or even just their approach in offering the prey. It's not terrible, everyone had to learn at some point. I think back to my first bp "problem" eater and that even though I had her enclosure pretty good I was probably simply over handling her.

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This, X1,000. What finally did it for me was blow drying the mouse to warm it up a bit. Now I just thaw it, put it in his tub and that's it.

Well some success stories..

Recently I bought a new mouse shipment and dark fur ones came, my BPs have alway ate white mice and rats so I thought that it may be hard to switch em over.

At first only a couple ate them, but now only a couple has yet to taken any. AND my oldest male who has been fasting since winter ate one also! :D

So everyone is eating and only two refuse that dark fur mice. I'll keep trying to feed em also.

My male bp goes off feed late fall to spring, occasionally taking feeders here and there. A little disconcerting, but ... when he's back on, he is back on.

Some people have told me they've had snakes refuse food for up to 18 months ! (probably not good if the snake is a hatchling)

My bp is now back on feed after taking only two rats since Nov. 5 of last year

Here are some things I've found that helped..

1) Get a Temp gun. Use it to check your warmed f/t feeders (assuming that's what it eats) so they're 98 - 102 degrees F

2) Scent the room with a blow-dryer to encourage a feeding response first

3) If the snake doesn't strike, or doesn't eat, leave the (f/t only!) feeders in the cage overnight

4) If the prey still isn't eaten, don't try again for at least 2-3 weeks

5) Move up or down in prey size.

6) Meditate, and mentally/telepathically ask the snake to eat beforehand (or pray if that's what you do). Have other people do it with you. Call me insane, call it coincidence, but this has worked for me. I swear.

7) Be diligent and confident in your husbandry - Do your job, and let the snake do theirs. Stay positive.

I'm not certain the OP was actually asking for advice on the 'how to' of getting a snake to end a food strike. I got the impression more of a personal anecdote type of posting? (I had snake X and it wouldn't eat for Y time until I did Z.) Of course, individuals having issues with their animals eating should go read the problem feeders sticky, I just took the OP as requesting we share our own experiences so someone in a similar situation can look at the thread and go 'Okay, I'm not the only one and there is hope; I know this because this many people posted that reading this sticky thread helped them and their snakes are eating now.'

Anyway.

I would have to call Buggsie a success/rescue story. (You can check her progress thread in my sig.) The biggest problem she faced was the lack of knowledge on the part of the people I got her from. They had her housed in a 2x1x1 terrarium - not large, but when uncluttered and provided with hides that were more suited for a snake 3-4x's her size I'm sure she found it terrifying. After months of refusing to eat, they took some advice on adjusting her environment and she ate a few times with them before being turned over to me. Now, she's gaining weight nicely, growing like a weed, and has yet to pass up anything I put in front of her.

Photo for comparison. She's now on day 71 and happily digesting yesterday's meal.

https://scontent-lax3-1.xx.fbcdn.net...94972153_o.jpg

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Originally Posted by Megg

I had a normal male that went about 7 months without eating when I got him. He was an adult, but I was still worried. Eventually he ate, but it was still hit and miss for a few years. The past year he's actually been my best feeder. If one of the other snakes doesn't eat, he gets their leftovers.

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Yes, leftovers :)
My leftover fatty is my clown male right now.

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3) If the snake doesn't strike, or doesn't eat, leave the (f/t only!) feeders in the cage overnight
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My snake refused again last night at 10:45 p.m. I left the f/t feeder in the tank overnight, but it was still there at 8:15 a.m. I checked again at 9:30 a.m. Gone.

I guess that's a success story. :imslow: