Need some help.....

Hi Everyone,

Well, I've had my girl Bella for about 11 months now (she is about 1 1/2 years old). All the time I've had her she has always ate once a week - first it was mice and then eventually moved up to small rats. The only feeding she has ever refused was about three weeks ago when she was heavily into a shed cycle so I didn't worry about it - plus she went right back on feed the next week.

Well, this past weekend I purchased more rats - moved up to a (standard small size about 60/70 grams each) - last night was her first feeding with these new rats and she would not take it. She weighs about 700 grams empty so I am assuming that she should be able to handle a 70 gram rat???

What should I do - why do you think this is happening now?? Should I attempt to feed her again tonight but offer one of the smaller rats that she is used to or what??

I am worried about her. Everything in her enclosure is the good (92/82, humidity at 58%) she is in a Reptile Basics cage with an RHP for heat. I had her out on Tuesday night and she seemed fine.

Any helpful suggestions would be greatly appreciated. This is my first and only snake so I have not been thru anything like this before.

Thanks.

How long are you leaving the prey item in with her?

They will sometimes go on a hunger strike for months for reasons known only unto them. You don't need to worry so early.If you believe that there is no husbandry issue causing the refusals, you may just have to wait until it decides to eat and this may take much longer than is comfortable to you, but it likely will only refuse a couple of times and then start eating again. I have one snake that was raised on rats and suddenly wouldn't eat. After about 2 months I offered it live mice and he ate them. He won't eat rats anymore. I have no idea why.You could try offering a smaller rat that she is accustomed to.

Welcome to the world of balls...

Okay, maybe that doesn't sound right. Anyway, there is no cause for alarm though I do understand your despair. No need to worry, however.

It could be the rats themselves. Different colonies have different smells, be it from the substrate they are kept on, how dirty/clean their enclosures are, etc.

Sometimes our snakes just go off of feed - be it for breeding, shedding or any other reason that they don't want to tell us. I had a male boa go 19 months without eating, and then one day "Sure I'd like that, thanks".

Keep offering the food every couple days. Try the old size that she's used to and see if that is taken. You could always let her eat one of them, and then put the bigger size in her mouth as she's finishing up. It's not that hard, and not nearly as nerve wracking as putting an 8 pound rabbit into a Burmese python's mouth as he's finishing his chicken (the only food he takes).

Good luck and be patient,

Chris

Usually, she strikes the rat right away - but when she didn't react, I just left the rat in the enclosure with her all night - it was F/T. She never did eat it.

I was afraid maybe she thought it was too big - LOL!!

I wouldn't leave a live rat overnight unsupervised.The rat may start eating the rat. I never leave a live rat in more than a couple hours unless I a watching.Edit- I just noticed it was f/t.

I am thawing out one of her smaller rats that she is used to and will offer it tonight to see if she takes it. This hobby is getting a bit stressful for me - I hate when any of my pets won't eat.

I hope I didn't waste $30 on the larger rats if she decides she just won't eat them - ugh!!!!

I would personally wait a few days up to a week before offering another. Just my opinion.

That's part of the headache with f/t, and it is a reality that you will have to sometimes throw away the food.

If it goes on for much longer, you may need to seek a Live alternative. Start looking for some local mouse or rat breeders, or Petco sells feeders.

I've had some incredibly stubborn snakes when I was doing the f/t thing...and once I went back to Live, almost every feeding night is 100% successful. All but 1 is eating right now ( :please: eggs )

Okay, thanks for that suggestion. I guess I will just wait until next week and offer her another larger rat then and see what happens.

But, do you all think that a 70 gram rat is too big for a 700 gram snake. Her widest part of her body is larger than the girth of the rat.

Small rats are fine. You don't have to keep increasing the rat size as the snake gets bigger.

I usually look at RodentPro for reference.

http://www.rodentpro.com/images/size_r_small.jpg

their small rats are 45-84 grams, so you should be fine in that range.

As far as I know she has never been fed live prey - I don't think she would know what to do with it - LOL.

Don't doubt the predatory instincts of a snake.

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Originally Posted by L.West

As far as I know she has never been fed live prey - I don't think she would know what to do with it - LOL.

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trust me, she will know ;) :gj:

I just worry with introducing mites, diseases with feeding her live prey - I really hope I don't have to do that. You really think she would prefer live prey when she has never had live prey before???

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Originally Posted by L.West

I am thawing out one of her smaller rats that she is used to and will offer it tonight to see if she takes it. This hobby is getting a bit stressful for me - I hate when any of my pets won't eat.

I hope I didn't waste $30 on the larger rats if she decides she just won't eat them - ugh!!!!

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Just by a bigger snake! Lol. You can never have too many. :D

No Thanks about getting another snake - I worry too much about taking care of just one.

By the way, how do you all warm up your f/t prey??? I have been heating it up on a human heating pad and then offering it - what does everyone else do - maybe I am doing something wrong??

Thanks,

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Originally Posted by L.West

I just worry with introducing mites, diseases with feeding her live prey - I really hope I don't have to do that. You really think she would prefer live prey when she has never had live prey before???

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I understand you're worried - but I've always worried more about properly thawing the food, over my live food source. The pet store I go to has a pretty good reputation and history and I don't worry too much about it.

I don't know if she will prefer it over f/t. You have to try :)

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Originally Posted by L.West

By the way, how do you all warm up your f/t prey??? I have been heating it up on a human heating pad and then offering it - what does everyone else do - maybe I am doing something wrong??

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I thaw them for a few hours, and usually use a human heat pad set on the lowest possible setting.

I also have experimented around with putting them in a plastic bag in hot water.

Both methods work. It's just a matter of comfort for you.

Thanks Nate......if it does come down to me having to feed her live prey - I would only want to buy one rat each week - I don't want to have to keep live prey around the house....where would I find a place to buy one rat each week and how do I make sure they are a good healthy source for feeders???

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Originally Posted by L.West

Thanks Nate......if it does come down to me having to feed her live prey - I would only want to buy one rat each week - I don't want to have to keep live prey around the house....where would I find a place to buy one rat each week and how do I make sure they are a good healthy source for feeders???

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Well, finding a source is the hard part.

I would start by looking around on craigslist, or posting a "wanted" ad in your local area that you need some feeders once a week.

Most people will make you come get it - which is good, because then you have an opportunity to see how well kept their mice and rats are. a nice clean and well cared for place usually means well cared for animals too.

Feel free to ask them questions about how they breed, what they feed, etc.

So, pet stores are not a good option??? Since I will only need one small rat each week - I don't know if a breeder would want to bother with it.

Hopefully, she will eat next Wednesday and I won't have to worry about switching her to live prey - I much prefer the f/t.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by L.West

So, pet stores are not a good option??? Since I will only need one small rat each week - I don't know if a breeder would want to bother with it.

Hopefully, she will eat next Wednesday and I won't have to worry about switching her to live prey - I much prefer the f/t.

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No Pet stores are a great option. For a while, I was hitting up Petco and cleaning them out :D but i think they're over priced. I moved recently and a more decently price mom n pop pet store is about 20 minutes away, so I got there now.

Great - thanks for all your help.

L. West

Hi Everyone,

I need some advice on what to feed her tonight - should I offer her the small rats that she is used to or try to offer her one of the new rats (slightly larger) that she refused to eat last week.

I am not sure how to handle her feeding night - need some help here.

Thanks.

If I understand this correctly, she refused 1 feeding when she was in shed, then went back to eating, and now has refused 1 feeding when you bought the new rats. Is that correct?

I would not worry AT ALL about a BP that has refused 2 feedings. That is NOTHING to a snake, assuming it is otherwise healthy and acting normal. But I understand owners worry anyway sometimes.

It really is up to you which rat you offer. Some people would prefer to use up the smaller size. Others would go ahead and switch their snake to the bigger size, and from your description, it does sound like the bigger ones are the right size for her.

kc261 - thanks for your advice. You understood exactly what I have been thru. She ate consequtively for 10 months - never missed a feeding until during that one shed cycle and then ate like a trooper the following week. It was the next week after that - that I bought new rats and she refused.

Tonight is her feeding night again - I am soooo afraid that she won't eat again - I have thawed out both the smaller rats and the new bigger ones just don't know what to offer her.

If I offer her the larger one and she refuses it - is it too late to then offer her the smaller ones??? I just want her to eat.

Thanks again for your help.

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Originally Posted by L.West

If I offer her the larger one and she refuses it - is it too late to then offer her the smaller ones??? I just want her to eat.

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In my opinion, no, that would not be a problem. In fact, on occasion when I have a snake refuse, I go feed some of my other snakes, and then offer to that one again. Sometimes they still refuse, sometimes they strike it without hesitation the 2nd time around. It maybe just that they needed a little more time to get in to hunting mode, or maybe they are capable of having some sort of feeling of "darn it got away, I better be ready for the next one".

Just don't over do it. Offering food too apparently does stress them and is counterproductive. So if she refuses both of them, wait a week until you try again.

KC261 - I offered her the larger sized rat and once again she just sniffed it and wouldn't strike - so I heated up two of the smaller rats that she is used to and she took both of them.

Why do you think she won't take the larger one??? I mean, it is larger but certainly not too big for her - then again, maybe I am wrong and it is simply too big for her - who knows.

I am just glad that she ate. I will just have to keep her on the smaller rats if that is what she prefers but will offer her two each feeding instead of one.

Your thoughts.

Thanks.