JCP not eating

Hi all,

I have a 6ft JCP that's 4 years old. I got him in August, and he has never had a great feeding response in my care. He used to take f/t large rats though. Well I made the mistake of giving him two mice, and after that he never took a rat voluntarily. I once managed to put a rat into his mouth when swallowing a rat, but after doing this again he just stopped swallowing halfway thru. I've tried scenting with mice and chicken broth. No, I've never offered him a live rat.
It's been about three months since he took his last rat, and as of lately he doesn't even take mice anymore, but I'm blaming winter for this.

His cage is 3x2x2ft, has an RHP, temps: 90F basking spot, 83-86 warm side, 78-82 cool side.

I hope he's going to start eating again in the spring...

Btw, I never weighed him before but two weeks ago he was about 4400 grams... I'm going to weigh him more to see if he's losing any weight.

Anybody got advice on what to do?

Well, the first bit of advice that I can give is if you have a carpet that is already eating rats, do not feed them mice. JCP's are bad about this and the only one worse is IJ's.
Second, I would drop down your basking spot to around 84F and let the cool side get down to the low 70's. At 4 years old, he is ready for breeding and has already cued into the signs. Leave his temps down for about 5 or six weeks and then raise them. Give him about a week and then offer a f/t small rat. If he doesn't eat, give him two more weeks and then try again.

Yeah I know JCPs are picky eaters and the only reason I gave him mice is because the previous owner had done this w/o effects...
I'm not planning on breeding Monty yet, but you think I should cool down anyway? For how long? Night drop too?

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Originally Posted by DutchHerp

Yeah I know JCPs are picky eaters and the only reason I gave him mice is because the previous owner had done this w/o effects...
I'm not planning on breeding Monty yet, but you think I should cool down anyway? For how long? Night drop too?

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Even if you are not planning on breeding him, a cool down and night drop will work to get "his programming" back. In other words, you will have a better chance of getting him on rats after the warm up.

I'll get the temps down, but then I have a problem with the probe placement... see

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...robe+placement

I just set the temps on my Herpstat so the basking spot will be 84-85 during the day.

He may just be taking a break from feeding. 4400 grams is huge for a male jungle. When I bred them 15 years ago, I starting breeding males at around 400-500 grams.

I would say it's more winter cycling than anything....but as mentioned, never feed mice to a jungle that is feeding on rats. They suck at switching back and sometimes never do. Good luck.

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Originally Posted by Brandon Osborne

He may just be taking a break from feeding.

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That would explain his bad feeding response and his refusal of taking mice.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Brandon Osborne

I would say it's more winter cycling than anything....but as mentioned, never feed mice to a jungle that is feeding on rats. They suck at switching back and sometimes never do. Good luck.

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I'm hoping he will switch back as the previous owner fed mice w/o Monty not taking rats again.

i can't see a 10lbs male jungle being that picky when it comes to food. ;)

i'm sure once breeding season's over he will resume feeding and be in better shape for it.

When I weighed him I had to get a on a "human scale", if you will. The other scale I have only went up to 2000 grams so 4400 is a rough estimate.
He's over 6ft and the widest part of his body is a little more than 2".

Does that sound right?

Should I stop handling him during this cooling period?
He often likes to get out of the cage; I just open up the cage and he starts exploring my room.

i don't see any reason to not handle him...
as far as size goes, let me put it this way;
i have a 5000g female that is 9.5 feet long and as big around as a baseball.

you should post up some pics of your jungle too, we like pictures...

He's probably as big as a baseball around...

Here are some! :gj:

Size reference... that hook is 30"

http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l2...4/DSC_1571.jpg

http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l2...4/DSC_2017.jpg

http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l2...4/DSC_2012.jpg

And just some more pics :cool:

http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l2...4/DSC_2059.jpg

http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l2...4/DSC_2049.jpg

http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l2...4/DSC_2039.jpg

http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l2...4/DSC_1575.jpg

http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l2...4/DSC_1581.jpg

http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l2...4/DSC_1582.jpg

http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l2...4/DSC_1590.jpg

http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l2...4/DSC_1681.jpg

http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l2...4/DSC_2024.jpg

real nice jungle man... looks real healthy size-wise too.

Thanks man.
These pics are a little dated, but there's no visual size difference.
Does he look like he could weigh 4400g?
If he weighs this much it obviously means he can go a looong time w/o food w/o ill effect.
Andrew Hare told me 6 months should be fine. It's only been three months, so I can't wait for spring to arrive so hopefully he'll eat!

I started cooling him down.

Day time:

Basking spot - 83-85
Warm side - 77-80
Cool side - 73-75

Night time:

Basking spot - 80-82
Warm side - 75-77
Cool side - 70-73

Does that sound alright? :confused:

That sounds alright.

I'll warm him up again when temperatures in my house consistently stay in the lower 70s (tstat in house is at 75).

Then after two-three weeks I'll offer him a rat.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed... :please:

Hey guys I was just wondering, should I offer him frozen or live when I start feeding him in spring?

Maybe live would result in a better feeding response, but if he wouldn't want to eat it could also cause a hazardous situation...

input?

i feed f/t all the time... once you have a snake that eats f/t you usually don't want to feed live unless absolutely necessary.

that's my opinion.

Don't sweat this at all. Adult carpets will eat when they're ready. You look to have a great, healthy looking jungle !

...and he's probably a mouser from here on out....if you want him to eat, offer mice...you'll most likely be banging your head against the wall trying to switch him back over to rats. ...I've got adult carpets that only eat mice, so be it, no biggie...

Shea Peterson
www.petersonreptiles.com

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Originally Posted by shea

Don't sweat this at all. Adult carpets will eat when they're ready. You look to have a great, healthy looking jungle !

...and he's probably a mouser from here on out....if you want him to eat, offer mice...you'll most likely be banging your head against the wall trying to switch him back over to rats. ...I've got adult carpets that only eat mice, so be it, no biggie...

Shea Peterson
www.petersonreptiles.com

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How big are these carpets of yours? How many mice do you feed them per sitting?

Andrew Hare told me I should keep trying because he's heard of success stories.

Hey Matt,
That female I posted just a bit about you commented on hasn't fed in about 2 months. I dont expect her to feed for a couple more months. She does this every winter...she will go off feed for a few months. All but one of my carpets are off feed at the moment...I was worried the first year, but it's pretty routine now. As long as he is proper weight which it sounds he is, dont worry. It's seasonal. :salute:

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Originally Posted by Jerhart

Hey Matt,
That female I posted just a bit about you commented on hasn't fed in about 2 months. I dont expect her to feed for a couple more months. She does this every winter...she will go off feed for a few months. All but one of my carpets are off feed at the moment...I was worried the first year, but it's pretty routine now. As long as he is proper weight which it sounds he is, dont worry. It's seasonal. :salute:

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I figured this already, but have you ever had a carpet go off-rat?

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Originally Posted by DutchHerp

I figured this already, but have you ever had a carpet go off-rat?

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Not off rat....I would wait to winter is complety over before you say she is off rat....he could just be off-feed for the season as you have figured. It's hard to say an animal has gone 'off-rat" if they are "off-feed" at the present time. ;)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jerhart

Not off rat....I would wait to winter is complety over before you say she is off rat....he could just be off-feed for the season as you have figured. It's hard to say an animal has gone 'off-rat" if they are "off-feed" at the present time. ;)

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Yeah you're right.

When I start warming him up again I'll offer him a nice small rat. If he doesn't take it the first time, should I scent one with mice the next week?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DutchHerp

Yeah you're right.

When I start warming him up again I'll offer him a nice small rat. If he doesn't take it the first time, should I scent one with mice the next week?

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You dont want go back to mice... I would give the rat a few shots too...if he refuses the rat after few weeks of trying I would sent the rat with the mouse if anything. :salute:

I have read some more pages and have now bumped up the heat during the day to about 86-88 basking spot and no heat at all at night.

The room will probably get down to 67 during the coolest nights.

Input appreciated.