Feeding issues

[Megz]

Hey,

so my snake has stopped eating and it has been three weeks. I feed her frozen rats and the preparation has remained the same each time. she was doing very well and then this happened again. Her temps are 88-90 hot side and 77-80 cold side. I have also noticed she has been spending all her time on the cold side; literally she hasn't gone to the hot side for all this time. She has gone from 1286 (weighed the day after feeding and the rat was 105g), so technically 1181g to 1166g (now). I am worried but she won't eat and i also noticed she moves funny. this happened once before but it was nothing but now its back so I'm not sure. rather then slither she shimmies by lifting parts of her body up and back and then continues to move that sort of way rather then just slither. I'm getting worried about her. I don't want to force her to eat cause in the summer she went a month and 2 weeks and finally got back onto her scheduled eatings. What i was thinking of doing was waiting a week and trying the frozen again and otherwise if that doesn't work, ill get her a live rat. I wanted t hear any suggestions and am open to ideas. I know they are finicky eaters so I'm border-lined concerned.

[PitOnTheProwl]

where is her water bowl and how big is it?
Her not eating is not a huge deal with a ball, that is not a huge weight loss either.
I wouldn't be worried but keep an eye on her.

[NYHC4LIFE8899]

If she doesn't wanna be on her hot side at all,well I'd think your hot side is to hot...I keep my hot side of my tank warm,not hot... Definitely I'd think feeding live can cause a trigger to get her eating. Just spoke to a few buddies of mine,they have had similar problems and live usually gets them going. I'm sure your pet will be fine

[AlexisFitzy]

Your girl sounds just like my girl Eva! She's around 1350g and will be 5 years old in January. She's such a picky eater but she's even more picky in the winter. Today was her feeding day and she didn't want to eat. So I'm going to have to put her back on a two week schedule for the winter. Does your snake eat consistently in the warmer months? Eva eats well when it's warmer, but since it's breeding season she may just not want to eat. I know Eva has been skimping on her feeding this winter. But at her size she has enough weight to go months without eating so she will be okay and that's weird about her movement. Does she just move weird in her enclosure or when you take her out? I'd take her out and see how she moves outside the enclosure. Hope this helps a bit. I know how it is to worry when they stop eating.


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[Crazymonkee]

I wouldn't worry too much about her not eating yet. My normal girl eats when she wants, she just had a 3 week strike. I wouldn't over think it.
As for staying on the cool side.. I would first check your again, what are you using to get your temps? How is your enclosure heated? Is there a thermostat on the heat source?
If that's all Ok I would say she just wants to be cooler... maybe the time of year...

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[bandicoot4]

it kinda just happens sometimes my pastel just stopped eating for about a month and a half she was on pre killed mice, and one day just didnt eat and showed no interest for a while. then randomly i put in a live one and she was fine. i would give it a try the worst that could happen is she doesnt eat again

[Megz]

where is her water bowl and how big is it?
Her not eating is not a huge deal with a ball, that is not a huge weight loss either.
I wouldn't be worried but keep an eye on her.

Her water bowl is in between both her hides slightly closer to the cold side but not a huge marginal difference. It's big. It's one of those Eco terra corner dishes. Sorry not sure how to describe how big it is

[Megz]

Your girl sounds just like my girl Eva! She's around 1350g and will be 5 years old in January. She's such a picky eater but she's even more picky in the winter. Today was her feeding day and she didn't want to eat. So I'm going to have to put her back on a two week schedule for the winter. Does your snake eat consistently in the warmer months? Eva eats well when it's warmer, but since it's breeding season she may just not want to eat. I know Eva has been skimping on her feeding this winter. But at her size she has enough weight to go months without eating so she will be okay and that's weird about her movement. Does she just move weird in her enclosure or when you take her out? I'd take her out and see how she moves outside the enclosure. Hope this helps a bit. I know how it is to worry when they stop eating.


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She eats better in the summer but she did this same thing closer to the end of the summer. Yah the movement thing happened once before also and then went away. It's very weird cause it happens in the enclosure and outside of it. It's like she doesn't want to move her body she just moves her neck out and then that's the extent. Otherwise she moves like that. So weird, but I do think that's a contributor to the eating thing.

[Megz]

I wouldn't worry too much about her not eating yet. My normal girl eats when she wants, she just had a 3 week strike. I wouldn't over think it.
As for staying on the cool side.. I would first check your again, what are you using to get your temps? How is your enclosure heated? Is there a thermostat on the heat source?
If that's all Ok I would say she just wants to be cooler... maybe the time of year...

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I use a digital thermostat and a temp gun for a double check. She has a UTH and I have a canopy that goes across with two 15W daytime heat bulbs from exo terra, but those aren't on all the time. There is a thermostat on the heat source and both digital probes are inside the corresponding hides

[Crazymonkee]

I use a digital thermostat and a temp gun for a double check. She has a UTH and I have a canopy that goes across with two 15W daytime heat bulbs from exo terra, but those aren't on all the time. There is a thermostat on the heat source and both digital probes are inside the corresponding hides

I would suspect possibly the time of year then.

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