My Spider isnt eating

[kuppler]

Well my Female spider BP hasn't eating in a lil over 3 weeks. i know BP can go on a hunger strike. Last time i weighed her she was 311g.a week ago. shes about 7 months old. I have tried dif size rats. I feed her F/T. I have left her alone for a week. not touching her just letting her be and still not eating. Im guessing when shes rdy to eat she will take one down. But till then ill keep offering her one once a week. I will get a Weight on her in the next day or so.

Does anyone have any ideas on how i can feed her ???

Thanks,
Adam

[RestlessRobie]

Have you tried live yet or have you tried a smaller size prey yet?
I have broken hunger strikes with live hopper mice something about the way they move is like BP eye candy. I have also had a female go on strike until I move down a size on her F/T prey just my hope it helps

[kuppler]

yea i have dropped down in size and she looks at it gets close to it and go right by like its not there. im going to pick up a live Rat pup from my buddy's tomorrow after work and ill try that.

[RestlessRobie]

Honestly I would try a mouse hopper they move a lot more and have this kinda hop they do drives my snakes into a fenzy. Never had one refuse rts after one mouse if thats a worry.

[Kaorte]

Some info about your temps and enclosure might help us think of some more suggestions.

Sometimes adjusting the enclosure size, adding or removing hides, changing substrates, or adding some 'cover' can help. There are many small adjustments you can try, but they need to be spread out over a few weeks so they don't get more stressed from the changes.

I agree trying live would be a good idea. What is her behavior like when you offer food? If she is shy, I think the rat pup might be a better option so it doesn't spook the snake.

Good luck!

[vangarret2000]

If you wanna feed your snake live you can try live. if you wanna keep it on f/t the don't try live especially this early. 3 weeks off food is like a couple hours for a human. With his age and weight he could go a couple months before you would even need to start to worry. As long as he appears healthy and isn't drastically lossing weight and you have the setup done properly you don't have anything to worry about. Most people freak out way too easily when their snake goes off food and don't understand that it is normal and they tend to start trying to much to get the snake to start eatting again an that can just put the snake more off food.

[kuppler]

little update. I got a live rat pup from my buddy last night. i tried to feed Charlotte when i got home. she didnt want anything to do with it. so i left the rat pup in the tank over night. When i woke up the pup was moved but not eating. Charlotte was in her hide and the rat pup was still alive so i left it in the tank. i went to work and came home and guess what. i think Charlotte wanted a snack. the rat pup was missing from the tank. LOL.

[Inarikins]

Just don't do that with anything bigger than a pup! Don't ever leave a rodent that can move steadily on its own alone with your snake for more than half an hour and definitely not unsupervised! I'm glad she ate. Review your husbandry to make sure it hasn't changed for whatever reason and that triggered the not eating, and probably try to go back to her normal prey next feeding time. (If I'm wrong, somebody else will probably chime in to correct me.) She might just have been having a few 'no I don't wanna eat' weeks. They happen. /shrugs

[kuppler]

Yes the only reason i left the Rat pup in there was cuz its way to small... the eyes were still shut...

[AK907]

Yes the only reason i left the Rat pup in there was cuz its way to small... the eyes were still shut...

Ok, so I'm guessing it was a fuzzy and not a pup then? Pups have their eyes open and are mobile, but aren't weaned. Fuzzies have hair, but haven't opened their eyes yet and mostly just stumble around. Fuzzies would be safe to leave. Pups are generally safe too, but carry a very slight risk.