Feeding Question

[Ally.]

One of my males has been refusing food for a couple of months now. I'm not too worried yet since he's not losing a substantial amount of weight, but he is losing some and he's thinner than I'd like him to be. Tonight I tried giving him a small f/t rat which is what he'd normally take. He would be interested, go up close to it and look like he's about to strike. Then he'd flick his tongue and when he got close enough and hit it with his tongue, he'd back away from it suddenly and then just move away. I left it in there with him in front of his hide for about an hour, but I just caught him going over it to get back in his hide.

I guess my question is, should I just wait out this hunger strike? Or should I try switching him to live, or even possibly mice? I've never fed live so I'm a little worried about it, but I'm definitely up for trying anything if he needs it.

Also, everyone else is pigging out and he's in the same rack with the rest of them so I don't think husbandry is the issue. I haven't changed anything from when he was eating to when he stopped either.

[mercerasian]

One of my males has been refusing food for a couple of months now. I'm not too worried yet since he's not losing a substantial amount of weight, but he is losing some and he's thinner than I'd like him to be. Tonight I tried giving him a small f/t rat which is what he'd normally take. He would be interested, go up close to it and look like he's about to strike. Then he'd flick his tongue and when he got close enough and hit it with his tongue, he'd back away from it suddenly and then just move away. I left it in there with him in front of his hide for about an hour, but I just caught him going over it to get back in his hide.

I guess my question is, should I just wait out this hunger strike? Or should I try switching him to live, or even possibly mice? I've never fed live so I'm a little worried about it, but I'm definitely up for trying anything if he needs it.

Also, everyone else is pigging out and he's in the same rack with the rest of them so I don't think husbandry is the issue. I haven't changed anything from when he was eating to when he stopped either.

If he's a breeding size male it might just be the winter hunger strike that a lot of bps seem to have around this time of year. If you don't think it's just a seasonal hunger strike or if he's pretty small, I'd try a live rat then. How was his last successful feeding? Anything that happened out of the ordinary that might have spooked him?

[Ally.]

Well he's a 2010 and is about 850 grams, so I guess it could be a breeding thing. But I think he started refusing around August-September so I thought that might be too early for him to start refusing because of wanting to breed.

I don't remember how the last feeding went, other than he ate. lol. I panic pretty easily so if something was off or I felt that there was a problem with the feeding or him, I'd definitely remember that. I warm my rats straight in water and he's always eaten them that way. Should I try another way of warming it?

If I do decide to try live and he refuses that, I'll give it to one of my others. I don't have the heart to kill it myself and I can't keep a rat for however long it takes him to start eating again. This might be a silly question, but if I do give it to one of the others, will they start refusing f/t and only want live?

[mercerasian]

Well he's a 2010 and is about 850 grams, so I guess it could be a breeding thing. But I think he started refusing around August-September so I thought that might be too early for him to start refusing because of wanting to breed.

I don't remember how the last feeding went, other than he ate. lol. I panic pretty easily so if something was off or I felt that there was a problem with the feeding or him, I'd definitely remember that. I warm my rats straight in water and he's always eaten them that way. Should I try another way of warming it?

If I do decide to try live and he refuses that, I'll give it to one of my others. I don't have the heart to kill it myself and I can't keep a rat for however long it takes him to start eating again. This might be a silly question, but if I do give it to one of the others, will they start refusing f/t and only want live?

Well I warm up my F/T by taking the ziploc bag they're sitting in and putting it in hot water to thaw out and then I just warm the head with the heat lamp.

There's no definite yes or no on whether or not your snake will then only take live if you feed it live. I've never had a problem switching between one or the other but my cinny will eat anything you put in front of him, live or f/t. I'd probably find the best eater in the bunch and let it eat the live rat if you really can't kill it yourself. I would never try switching to mice unless it was my last resort. And clearly your boy is a breeding size male so I'd never be that desperate unless he lost a lot of weight and refused a live rat first.

[rlditmars]

My daughter's YB goes off feed every year. Last year it lasted 110 days. Just monitor his weight and make sure he isn't losing too much. In the 110 days, hers lost a little over 10% of his weight. Try offering every two weeks instead of once a week. An extra week will not hurt him and you wont stress as much with each refusal. He will probably start eating again just as suddenly as he stopped, and you wont have any more of a clue as to why. Good luck

[PitOnTheProwl]

My spider only eats 6 to 8 times a year. He sits right at 1000g after he is done feeding and drops to about 800ish duing his 9 to 10 month fast.
After the girls lay he will feed and then stop in mid summer.

[Ally.]

Okay, I'll give him a little longer before I try anything since he hasn't lost a lot of weight. I didn't realize they would start refusing as early as summer so that makes me feel better.

Thanks