Hello all,

I know there are a lot of threads about problem feeders but I have read dozens of them and tried a lot of different things and after everything I thought I'd try getting some counsel on my particular situation.

Here are the details: Sarah is a little over 1 year old. For the first 6 months she was a fantastic eater and as far as I remember, never rejected a meal. She was growing and shedding a lot which is nice because I like larger snakes (though I love them all equally). Right at about 6 months though she started rejecting meals occasionally and then at about 7 months completely stopped eating. Since April she has eaten maybe 4 or 5 or 6 times, scattered throughout the time. As a result she has hardly grown and is becoming thin, though not dangerously so, yet.

I've tried a few things to get her eating again, from changing substrate to complete tank cleanings and even moving her to a new enclosure. At most these changes have sometimes gotten her to eat one meal, the first one I try, but she goes off feed again immediately after.

Her conditions are all fine, temperatures and humidity are all good and consistent with what they were when she was eating regularly. I keep her tank clean and she has a lot of privacy. I feed live rats.

Now about the curious behavior. It might be normal, but here's what she's doing: She hides during the day, and in the evenings she comes out and very actively crawls around, very interested in the ceiling/lid of the tank, as if she wants to get out. I mean, she probably does, that's why she's doing it. She does not do this after eating or when shedding, she'll just stay in her hide and poke her head out to chill or get water, but she now gets out and explores around the lid every single night. While she's doing this, she is completely uninterested in any juicy, tender rats that I give to her. It's not that she just won't take the rats either, she doesn't even so much as glance at them.

I moved her into a brand new, clean tub and gave her a day to adjust and that evening she was doing the same thing, checking out the lid, trying to get out. She later rejected food again in the new tub.

At this point I've tried so many things and nothing has helped to get her eating again, so I'm wondering if any of you have good advice for me or if your snakes have ever behaved in a similar way and what you've done. Thanks in advance! I'm looking forward to your tips.