Update on my snakes that won't eat

[Jay_Bunny]

A while back I posted about 2 snakes that I have that would not eat. Now, the male is eating like a champ. He gobbles up anything I throw at him and he's putting on the grams. The female however is hovering around 1000g, but won't eat anything. She has skipped her last 2 meals. Its like she'll eat once, skip a bunch of meals, eat once again, and then skip a whole bunch more. Because she's hanging around 1000g, I can't use her for breeding and I end up losing money on her because she won't eat the rodent. I've tried live mice, f/t mice, live rats, and f/t rats. The only thing she WILL eat, when she decides she's hungry is f/t rats. Usually, you have to leave it in her tub overnight and when you come back, if she's decided to eat, it will be gone. If not, you have a stinky rat to throw away.

What should I do? I've never had a snake hold out like she does. When she first came home, she and another female she came with didn't eat for 4 months. Then the they both began eating, but even since then, she's been a very picky eater. I don't think she's ever eaten more than 3 meals in a row. I was planning on selling her but I don't want to sell her to someone and they just have the same issues, so I'm pulling her from my ad until I can get her eating on a regular basis.

I do not have access to a steady supply of ASF otherwise, I'd try those.

[dr del]

Hi,

What size of rat are you feeding her?

Just wondering if feeding her smaller ones would leave her still feeling hungry and get her on a more regular feeding pattern.


dr del

[Jay_Bunny]

Small rats, though in the past I have tried rat pups and hopper mice, both live and frozen/thawed. She just seems completely uninterested. I've tried the zombie rat dance, I've tried just leaving it in with her, live rodents, mice, rats, frozen/thawed, pre-killed, and still she only eats when she darn well feels like it. But I can't get her to gain any weight like this.

[bsash]

Not sure if you'd be interested or not, but here is a website where you can get frozen african soft furred rats. They are okay priced, but they are good quality.

www.southfloridarodents.com

Hope it helps some, I know for a lot of people african soft furred rats are hard to find.

[dr del]

Hi,

I take it there are no obvious clues like colour of rat or male or female?

Have you tried putting her in a smaller container or adding/ removing hides?

They really can drive us nuts - I think I may have found the key to feeding a snake I have been assist feeding on and off since it hatched last november. But I'm only two feeds in so gord alone knows.


dr del

[Nordinho]

I had the same problem, but I did a few things that made ALL my snakes pound rats. First of all, I started feeding smaller rats. Not very small, just slightly smaller than usual. And every day that I'm feeding, I get out the frozen rats in the morning and let them thaw in the snake room. When I get home from work, I clean all tubs. I don't know why, but I think the snakes get used to this ritual and get into feeding mode. Later that evening, when it's dark, I put on a very small light in the snake room and feed the snakes.

This is what works for me. Give it a try, I'm pretty sure your girl will get up to weight!

[Jay_Bunny]

That is pretty much my routine. I do house my breeder rodents in the same room but I thaw the f/t rats on top of the rack. All of my other snakes pound the rats like there is no tomorrow after I clean their tubs and offer food. It is just her. Most of the rats I feed are albino, black hood, or beige hood. She has eaten colored rats before.

[greghall]

You should know that this time of year the females go off feed??? Thats what the do? slap a male on her that kick starts their appitites 80% of the time.

[Jay_Bunny]

I don't want to risk her breeding. She's barely 1000g. She is 4 years old, but 1000g isn't big enough to breed. And my boys are usually ready to get it on. And she's off feed like this year round just about, not just during the breeding season.