Another not eating thread.

[Dinosaur]

I know these probably get old after a while but when it happens to you it's completely different than just reading about it. I have a two month old female mojave who shed on the 23 of October and ate for me twice before that. She has refused food twice now. I tried once on the 23 and another on the 26. On the 26 attempt I tried on tongs and I tried to just let it sit at her box door for about an hour, after that did not work I tried to assist, needless to say she spit it out. She has not eaten since the 16th of October and has gone from 115g pre shed to 105g. I am starting to get worried and wondering what to do next.

[Freakie_frog]

Ok first deep breath three weeks is nothing for them even at that size I just had a hatchling that Dropped her yolk not eat anything at all for 5 weeks no weight loss and she ate unassisted just fine twice now. Offering F/T might be the issue you might offer live and see how it goes, Assuming all your temps and stuff are right.

P.S. Assist feeding is an uber last resort for experienced people only! I doubt you'll get it to eat now after a failed assist feed..Give her another few days and offer live..

also 10 Grams is a good poop which they do right after they shed so the weight loss when their that small is most likely due to poop.

[Dinosaur]

I was just getting worried, so I tried the assist, which I have had success with on snakes in the past which is the only reason I tried it. Thanks for the input.

[don15681]

I was just getting worried, so I tried the assist, which I have had success with on snakes in the past which is the only reason I tried it. Thanks for the input.

assist feeding is mostly for hatchlings that won't feed on their own. humans have a core temp that is maintain by a big part of our calorie intake. snakes don't have this problem, they get their body temp from other sources. so you can't expect them to feed like your dog or cat. when a snake is off feed it's ok for it to lose some weight. but it's not ok for your snake to continue to lose weight. If one continues to lose weight it's not a reason to stuff a rodent in it's month, but if you have good husbandry and a snake continues to lose weight, this is a good sign to take it to the vets. I have a snake that haven't eaten in over 10 months. if you walk in my snake room you couldn't pick him out, he's maintaining a good body weight.

[steveboos]

Yeah trying to assist feed right after trying to put a dead thing in front of it's face is only going to stress her out. I would just leave her alone for about 5 days and try again.

Just 2 days ago i went to feed my extremely small rescue that was at 36 grams as of a day ago and hes over 4 months old. He didn't eat the hopper mouse when i put it in his tub at first. He will usually eat if you leave it in there for about 20 minutes, but he didn't want to have anything to do with it.

So last night about 11:45 i put a warmed up F/T hopper in there and left it over night. Came back this morning and it was gone!

So just give her some time, let her calm down and try again without stressing her out. The best thing to do is to be patient, try a live prey and if that doesn't work, try fresh killed. Plenty of options for you before assist feeding.

Lastly any information about the housing, temps, and humidity would be helpful, but I'm pretty sure you already know all the required information.

[Dinosaur]

Yes, I realize that trying to assist was mistake at this point. Instead of typing out all the numbers I can just say that her temps humidity and all that jazz are adequate and within proper range. I will continue to monitor her weight and continue regular offerings of food. If anything should go wrong my cousin is vet and she knows several great reptile vets in the area so I should be covered. Thanks for the help everybody.

[M_MULLINS]

I'm having the same problem with 2 of mine. I got my male pastel & female normal pair 2 weeks ago & the female ate for the guy I bought them off of but the pastel didn't. I've offered him food the last 2 weeks & he's not even interested in it. My female het pied is doing the same thing. I've offered both live & frozen thawed with no luck. The temps & humidity are all where there supposed to be. Am I doing something wrong?

[don15681]

I'm having the same problem with 2 of mine. I got my male pastel & female normal pair 2 weeks ago & the female ate for the guy I bought them off of but the pastel didn't. I've offered him food the last 2 weeks & he's not even interested in it. My female het pied is doing the same thing. I've offered both live & frozen thawed with no luck. The temps & humidity are all where there supposed to be. Am I doing something wrong?

when you get snakes, they are stress from the move, and being housed in something new. some eat right away. others can take months. balls will go off feed at different times of the year without any changes also. this isn't a problem if their husbandry is correct. this is normal, watch their weight, offer food weekly. they will eat when they are ready, not when you're ready. good luck don