Still not eating :/

[Mkelleher]

It's been almost 2 months. She's a little over a year old, and weighs around 900g. I made a previous post about my girl not eating, and it seemed that the advice was to fix the ambient temps and to get thermostats. I fixed the temps, but I haven't gotten the thermostats yet because I already have an electrical grid behind her tank lol. I have the mist king, a jungle dawn grow light, a zoomed 100w day light, 100w night light, and a 60w heat emitter suspended above the tank, a zoomed heat pad on the side, and most everything hooked up to a zoomed timed power strip, and the rest hooked up to another power strip. So I'm trying to figure out how to get everything on thermostats without causing an electrical fire lol. Is there a thermostat that I can plug the day and night light into or do I need one for everything? Since I adjusted the height of the heat lamps the temps have remained a constant of 90° on the hot side and 80° on the cool side. I also added 2 mist heads and adjusted the mist king to go off for 10 sec every 2 hours during the day and every 3.5 hours at night. Humidity is at a constant 65%. 70% right after it goes off. Inside the tank is bioactive, it has 4.5 in layer of terra firma soil, bio shot, leaf litter, 2 cultures of springtails, 2 cultures of isopods, serveral organic bp safe plants, 2 corkwood hides, a fake log, and a water dish from petsmart (thoroughly cleaned) all of which has been there before the eating problems, the newest addition is a corkwood tube that I got her for our anniversary (I know I'm a dork) it was about 2 weeks after I got it when she stopped eating. I will take it out if that is recommended but she loves the thing, she doesnt even use her hides anymore. Her activity seems pretty normal, spends all day in her log, then comes out at night and chills on her fake tree, twists all the mist heads around cuz she thinks it's funny, tramples her plants, gets some water and goes back in her log. Another issue I have is one of my cats likes to jump on the tank and scare the crap out of her (I think that may have prompted the food refusal) I have since started locking that cat up at night, I also read that I could put a towel in front of the tank to give her some privacy, so I've been doing that for the past week. Yesterday morning I put a 60g rat from the freezer into the fridge, last night I took the rat and in a sealed bag and submerged in hot water for about 10-15min. I offered it to her and she took it!!! I was overjoyed. 30min later I checked on her and the rat was on the ground and she was in her log. I don't know what to do. any advice is appreciated, thank you.

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[Bogertophis]

Is the cork tube open at both ends? If so, & despite the fact that she appears to like it, you might want to cover (enclose) one end with something for added privacy.

It should be obvious that a cat has no business being anywhere near a snake cage...and your snake can smell your cat, even if you cannot. Cats are predators...BPs are
prey! Keep the cat out of that room from now on.

Rather than throwing a towel over the front, I'd suggest covering the back & sides with some scenery (unless you like the look of insulation) & then insulating behind
that (corrugated cardboard, foam board, sheet cork, styr-foam, peel & stick carpet tiles...many things work fine to both insulate the tank and add privacy). I would also
consider installing something along the front, just maybe 4-6" worth for added privacy.

It sounds to me like your snake realized she was being watched when she recently grabbed the rat & then left it out of an abundance of caution. You need to become a
"ninja" when she takes food next time...FREEZE! then move away so slowly that she cannot POSSIBLY notice. Many snakes besides BPs are distracted & intimidated
when there's any motion nearby & they're trying to eat...in the wild, that motion could be a predator coming for them when they're vulnerable (mouth full or slow moving
with a meal), & your snake does NOT know you by visual appearance...thus, you standing there is perceived as a threat.

Feed in evenings, low light, wear dark clothing & learn to be still. A towel over the front of the cage will only be a bigger shock when you remove it...change = threat.
You still aren't thinking like a Or keep another kind of snake that's less-easily intimidated.

For example, I have corn & rat snakes that either ignore my motion, or drop the prey to chase me thru the glass instead. More fun to feed, just saying...

[Faith.luu]

Something that I think you should give a try is to feed her, wait for her to take it and then cover up her enclosure with a towel. And let her eat privately. When I fed my bp, she constricted around her meal, had her mouth locked on it, but wouldn’t start eating it. I covered her enclosure and within an hour the rat was gone and she went back into her hide. So I think a little to act might help. As stated above covering/ insulating the sides of her enclosure is a good idea.

Another thing I’ve often heard/read about is the 1000g wall. Happens often with females. They just fast for months during this time. I think it’s like a transitioning time for them. Kinda like how humans transition through puberty.

Hopefully she’ll take a meal soon. Best wishes to you and your bp.


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[Zincubus]

I’ve PM’d you details of the ‘hairdryer trick’ ...


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[Craiga 01453]

Honestly, I'd ditch the mister. I keep my BPs humidity in the 50s unless they're in shed, then bump to 70-75.
With a bioactive substrate I would assume maintaining humidity shouldn't be too hard. That would eliminate some of your wires and cords right there.

As mentioned above, that enclosure is WIDE OPEN. BPs thrive on security. So covering the sides and too would go a long way.

There's two major reasons a BP will refuse food.
A) husbandry, which you're working on
B) stress.

A snake won't eat if it's afraid of becoming prey itself. They'll sacrifice food in order to be lighter and better equipped to escape if need be.

And as far as your BP is concerned, your cat is a predator. Cats and snakes don't mix. Period. My cats are NEVER in my snake room or my quarantine room. Nor are they in the room when I'm handling any of my snakes.
Just kicking the cat away at night won't be enough if the cat has access to the snakes enclosure all day.

[Zincubus]

Honestly, I'd ditch the mister. I keep my BPs humidity in the 50s unless they're in shed, then bump to 70-75.
With a bioactive substrate I would assume maintaining humidity shouldn't be too hard. That would eliminate some of your wires and cords right there.

As mentioned above, that enclosure is WIDE OPEN. BPs thrive on security. So covering the sides and too would go a long way.

There's two major reasons a BP will refuse food.
A) husbandry, which you're working on
B) stress.

A snake won't eat if it's afraid of becoming prey itself. They'll sacrifice food in order to be lighter and better equipped to escape if need be.

And as far as your BP is concerned, your cat is a predator. Cats and snakes don't mix. Period. My cats are NEVER in my snake room or my quarantine room. Nor are they in the room when I'm handling any of my snakes.
Just kicking the cat away at night won't be enough if the cat has access to the snakes enclosure all day.

^^^^ ALL THIS ^^^^


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