What to do while snake's not eating?

[franken_stein]

Hey folks, I hope someone can give me some advice about this. I have an adopted BP so I don't know his age, unfortunately, but he is about three feet(ish) long and eats small rats. I got him at the end of August and fed him once a week. He ate three weeks in a row for me, and then started to shed, so he stopped eating. That was weeks ago though. So now he has not eaten in about a month. I did, however, offer him a F/T rat every week and he's just always refused. I refroze the rats sometimes but after one refreezing I'd just throw them away... seems like such a waste. As long as he keeps behaving like this for God knows how long I feel like I'm going to be wasting a bunch of rats.

I know people say a month off feed isn't too bad, and not to worry, but is it wise to keep offering every week? Should I just not offer for another month or so, and then try again, or just keep stubbornly giving him food every week to see if he takes it? What do you guys usually do?

[Alexandra V]

Just keep trying, sometimes it's just that they don't feel like eating and you won't know unless you try to feed them. You could either try leaving a f/t rat in there overnight at the door of his hide, that sometimes gets them to eat.

Also, do you pre-scent before you feed? If you don't, it absolutely drives them mental! (Mine at least). Try bringing in a thawed f/t prey item and warming it up with a hairdryer, and do this near the snake's enclosure. Also, I find that with a lot of my feeders if I take them out of the fridge the night before and leave them in the fridge until I come home, then just warm them in a bit of water to make sure they're fully thawed, they'll bleed from the nose a bit, and that'll be extra exciting scent-wise for your snake.

As for balls being able to go for a month no problem, it really depends on the individual. A general rule is that if they're off feed you have to make sure they aren't losing weight. Once they start to lose weight, then you need to try a lot harder to get them to eat.

[franken_stein]

Yeahh, I do use a hair dryer! And EVERY TIME, he actually seems very interested! As soon as I start blow-drying the F/T rat with warm air, my snake C.J. pokes his head out of his hide and looks around, going, "Dinner? DINNER?" He did this before when he did actually eat, and is still doing it, except... he doesn't eat, haha. I tried a couple times to leave it in overnight like you said, but yeah, no feeding for the past month now. This forum has been so helpful though, I've tried a couple of tricks like squeezing the rat's head to get some blood flowing... C.J. is just not hungry though.

Anyyyywayyy. Thanks for responding! I am now wondering what would be more helpful... offering same day every week, or just giving him a rest for awhile (maybe two, three weeks?) before offering again.

[kitedemon]

Check your temps and make sure that is ok. Is there anything around that is new, like a new location for the enclosure or something (speakers on or near the enclosure). Assuming everything is ok just keep trying pre senting the room often helps, but he may just be fasting. They do that sometimes, usually around breeding season but it is late for that.

[steveboos]

Yeah you can stress the snake and yourself out if you try too often. If you want to try once a week or once every 7-10 days it would probably be best. I had a friend who's male didn't eat for 6 months, but still had urates and drank a ton of water. Then when the spring came along so did the appetite!!

If your male is older, he might have already gone into breeding mode and not even want to have anything to do with food.

[GoBoilers]

I know it sucks, but there's not much you can do beyond making sure husbandry is in check! As long as he's not losing a tremendous amount of weight, he'll be fine. They can go months (even a year!) without food and hardly be affected. If I suspect an extended fast, I'll only try feeding once every 2 or 3 weeks to save on wasted rats (although I do live near a small body of water, so I just throw any uneaten rats out there for the lucky water snake who happens to come upon a free meal...the frozen rats don't last long out there)!

[franken_stein]

Thanks GoBoilers! I'll slow down the offers for awhile, maybe every 2-3 weeks like you said, until he eats again and then I'll the weekly feeding once that happens.

[slitheringdead]

Regarding the wasted rodents from freezing/refreezing too many times... this is why you should keep more than one snake Start feeding the pickiest snake first and if he refuses, then move down the line. You'll waste less rodents this way , but now you have more snakes to feed, which means you have to spend more money on feeders. Gahhhh... you just can't win!!!

[GoBoilers]

Thanks GoBoilers! I'll slow down the offers for awhile, maybe every 2-3 weeks like you said, until he eats again and then I'll the weekly feeding once that happens.

No prob! We're so used to feeding cats and dogs 2 or 3 (sometimes more!) meals a day that it can be a little (okay, ALOT) unsettling to have a pet that can survive months without a bite to eat! Trust me, once you get through your first extended fast, you won't stress the next one NEARLY as much! I like to think of it as a "money saving" opportunity...