Fasting?

[Maddlesrain]

I think I may have triggered my snake into a fast. Sorry this is going to be a long post since I’m trying to be thorough.

Kaa is a bit over 3 years old and eats every week, usually twice a week, on adult mice. I was previously living in an apartment that was pretty temperature controlled so didn’t worry about the heating in her/his (I just refer to Kaa as she, I really don’t know) cage so much. I moved her home with me for the summer and it’s been weirdly cold here, so her cage’s ambient was getting to about 70F some nights on the cool side (would bounce back to upper 70s during day). I fixed it by ordering a new heating pad that covers a large portion of the cage and now the ambient temp is 82F during the day and sometimes 77F at night which is in a range that she’s happily eaten in before.

She has three hides, one over the heat pad that gets to 92F, a humid hide under the heat lamp, and a cool hide that’s neither over the pad or under the lamp. She spends 90% of her time in the cool hide or the one over the pad. The humid one is almost only used for sheds because it’s so dry here and I can’t seem to get the humidity above 45 consistently. That has never changed, so I’m pretty positive that’s not the culprit in this case.

She’s in a V332 cage (side suggestions on how you raise humidity if you use one is welcome). I use moss under the humid hide and thoroughly wet it a couple times a week.

The problem is, I think maybe she’s gone into a sort of fasting mode now. It’s been about a month and no strikes, although the last two feed attempts she’s shown interest - came all the way out of the hide she was in to investigate, but no strike. This is odd behavior, because typically if she’s come all the way out she slams into her prey. I got slightly smaller mice because that has helped in the past. Should I go even smaller?

I’ll dig the scale out of the garage and do a weighing tomorrow to see how heavy Kaa is, but she looks by no means thin.

My question is whether the few cold nights could have triggered a fast? There have been other times the temp has dropped due to moving around and she’s still eaten fine, it just worries me that this is happening. I took her out the other day to just check on her and let her roam and nothing was out of the ordinary (listened to breathing and everything because I got worried about the cold causing illness), but she was still inquisitive and active.

I did a bit of reading and found that snakes around this age can be prone to a fast? She did a small fast around/ during December for about a month due to me accidentally trying to feed her during a shed that I think freaked her out a little. She also hasn’t been poking her head out as if expectant of a meal as she usually does, so I’m not sure if that’s an indicator I should cut back on the food offerings?

As a side note, I feel like everything has been a mess since I moved her and one reason she might have put off food is because the first time I went to feed her after the move she managed to poop and then rub it all over herself that evening (which obviously put her off her appetite). So instead of feeding her like she had been waiting for, I ended up having to wash her off. She’s never done that, but she has refused a meal before and I figured out it was because she had soiled the cage.

She can get kind of “awkward” if she misses a strike or something, so I’m not sure if that fiasco contributed. I also move her back and forth between locations several times a year and there’s never been an issue with that either.

I feel really bad about the temperature issue and just hope I haven’t caused a major rift for her. Is there anything else I can do now or just wait? I don’t want her to suffer... am I being paranoid? How long should I wait before trying to feed again and should I refrain from taking her out to get sun in the garden during this period?

Thank you if you’ve managed to get through this long winded, hodgepodge write-up and have some insight. (:



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[Craiga 01453]

My first question is why are you only feeding adult mice? She should be plenty big enough at 3 years old to takesmall rats....and why are you feeding an adult snake twice a week?

[Maddlesrain]

My first question is why are you only feeding adult mice? She should be plenty big enough at 3 years old to takesmall rats....and why are you feeding an adult snake twice a week?

I’m feeding the mice because she doesn’t particularly like the rats. Sometimes I think she has a hard time getting them down and then would refuse to eat the following week, so I stuck with the mice. I feed them 2x per week because they’re smaller than the rat, so that makes up for it.


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[Craiga 01453]

I’m feeding the mice because she doesn’t particularly like the rats. Sometimes I think she has a hard time getting them down and then would refuse to eat the following week, so I stuck with the mice. I feed them 2x per week because they’re smaller than the rat, so that makes up for it.


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Ok, why not two mice per feeding then?
And I'm sure she doesn't have any problem with small rats at 3 years old. Most BPs are on small rats by 2 years old.

...and if you're offering even SMALLER mice she might not even recognize it as a worthwhile prey item

[Maddlesrain]

Ok, why not two mice per feeding then?
And I'm sure she doesn't have any problem with small rats at 3 years old. Most BPs are on small rats by 2 years old.

I know she can, but I’ve tried them and she’s just not that inclined to them. I made another thread about whether or not it mattered and the consensus was that it doesn’t, so I stick with what she likes.

I usually spread them out a day or two just because I’m not sure she’ll take the second right away and I don’t feel it hurts anything to wait 24 hours in between.

I just asked about the smaller mouse to rule it out as an option.


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[Craiga 01453]

There's no need to space out the feedings. They're designed to take larger meals because they are opportunistic ambush predators. Giving a day or two in between barely gives her time to digest before feeding again.

Feed weekly and that should help

[Maddlesrain]

There's no need to space out the feedings. They're designed to take larger meals because they are opportunistic ambush predators. Giving a day or two in between barely gives her time to digest before feeding again.

Feed weekly and that should help

First I need to get her eating again, that’s what I’m asking about. I’ve only been offering once per week now to see if she gets back on track. But I’m not sure if I should wait longer before trying again or should be concerned about the situation?


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[Craiga 01453]

First I need to get her eating again, that’s what I’m asking about. I’ve only been offering once per week now to see if she gets back on track. But I’m not sure if I should wait longer before trying again or should be concerned about the situation.


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I wouldn't sweat it. Sounds like she's just doing what BPs do. As long as the animal isn't losing weight there's no health issue to worry about.

As for when to offer, I'd wait at least a week between offering. I personally wait 2 weeks once they refuse consecutive meals. If they refuse 3 in a row I space it out even more.
My male BP just came off a strike a few weeks ago. I hadn't offered in probably 5-6 weeks when I noticed he started poking his head out of his hide, indicating "hunting" behavior. Once I saw this 3 straight nights I knew he was hungry. Sure enough, I offered, he took it,and he's been back on track since.

Be patient. Like I said,no need to worry.

The move and temp fluctuations may have added to her desire to refuse, so just let her settle in for at least a week.

[Maddlesrain]

I wouldn't sweat it. Sounds like she's just doing what BPs do. As long as the animal isn't losing weight there's no health issue to worry about.

As for when to offer, I'd wait at least a week between offering. I personally wait 2 weeks once they refuse consecutive meals. If they refuse 3 in a row I space it out even more.
My male BP just came off a strike a few weeks ago. I hadn't offered in probably 5-6 weeks when I noticed he started poking his head out of his hide, indicating "hunting" behavior. Once I saw this 3 straight nights I knew he was hungry. Sure enough, I offered, he took it,and he's been back on track since.

Be patient. Like I said,no need to worry.

The move and temp fluctuations may have added to her desire to refuse, so just let her settle in for at least a week.

I think I’ll wait two weeks this time then since there have been multiple refusals.

Once she’s eating steadily again I can try another rat since it’s been a little while and see what happens with that. I’ve seen her eat them, it’s just not as solid as with the mice, but she’s a little bigger now anyway too.


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[Craiga 01453]

I think I’ll wait two weeks this time then since there have been multiple refusals.

Once she’s eating steadily again I can try another rat since it’s been a little while and see what happens with that. I’ve seen her eat them, it’s just not as solid as with the mice, but she’s a little bigger now anyway too.


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Sounds good.

Now, just out of curiosity. What makes you say she prefers mice?