Another "snake won't eat" question

[Libby]

My stubborn bp Millie is in week 9 of her hunger strike. Normally she eats f/t rats. So far we have tried a f/t asf, a brained f/t thawed asf, a prekilled asf which we put with her in a paper bag overnight and a f/t asf covered in homemade chicken stock. (I seriously don't know what's wrong with this rotten animal when she turns down my chicken soup!)

At this point she's lost just under 50gr and is still over 1300gr, so she's not in any danger yet. Her temps/humidity/husbandry are all good.

I am reluctant to feed her live because I don't want to get stuck with a live rodent if she refuses it. My question is whether there would be any value in offering her a live pinkie just to try to break the cycle, because if she doesn't eat the pinkie I can give it to my sand boa.

Thanks for any help!

[200xth]

Pinkies are awfully small for her size. She may not even recognize it as a food option it's so small.

[kylearmbar]

Now now, no reason for name calling lol. Just be glad you havent been assist feeding a hatchling for 4 months hoping when he's big enough he will eat live.....because all you can get for live, is adult mice and larger...

[Libby]

That's kind of what I was wondering, if it was worth bothering to try it. I guess I'm leaning toward it won't hurt and might help. Oh, and I also found this article, so I cleaned everything out, changed hides and gave Millie a bath the day before the last feeding attempt, just to see if that helped, too.

[200xth]

That's kind of what I was wondering, if it was worth bothering to try it. I guess I'm leaning toward it won't hurt and might help. Oh, and I also found this article, so I cleaned everything out, changed hides and gave Millie a bath the day before the last feeding attempt, just to see if that helped, too.

You can definitely try. No downside, with a potential upside, so it can't hurt.

[Libby]

Kyle, you should have heard what I called my darling pet after she peed/pooped all over my new sofa! Assist feeding for 4 months? That sounds incredibly stressful for both of you! I'll definitely come back to you for tips if it ever gets to the point where we assist feed. (Which is a loooooong ways off yet.)

[DooLittle]

1300 grams, I wouldn't worry too much. You are probably more worried about it than her. What size tub is she in, how many and what kind of hides? How often do you handle her? I wouldn't handle or bathe her before a feeding attempt. Also, how often are you offering food? Too frequently can stress her out too. I'd try cluttering up her tank with more hides or crumpled news paper, and just leave her alone for 2 weeks. Then try offering food. Personally I'd offer live. But I know that's not for everybody.

[kylearmbar]

Kyle, you should have heard what I called my darling pet after she peed/pooped all over my new sofa! Assist feeding for 4 months? That sounds incredibly stressful for both of you! I'll definitely come back to you for tips if it ever gets to the point where we assist feed. (Which is a loooooong ways off yet.)

Ya its Terrible, I took the little guy in as a rescue and was only 43 grams ribs and everything. I didn't think he had eaten since he had hatched.

[Libby]

1300 grams, I wouldn't worry too much. You are probably more worried about it than her. What size tub is she in, how many and what kind of hides? How often do you handle her? I wouldn't handle or bathe her before a feeding attempt. Also, how often are you offering food? Too frequently can stress her out too. I'd try cluttering up her tank with more hides or crumpled news paper, and just leave her alone for 2 weeks. Then try offering food. Personally I'd offer live. But I know that's not for everybody.

She's in a 20 gal long with the back, left side and most of the top covered. (Natural light comes from the window on the far right side of the office, so I haven't covered that end.) There's a ceramic heat bulb above with an ambient of 80F and a UTH on the right set at 90F. Humidity is nice and steady at 60%. She has a hide on the right over the UTH and several large cork logs tetrised together on the left (her cool hides/jungle gym) and a water dish in the center under the ceramic bulb. We offer food every Sunday night, but she's large enough it might be time to back her down to 8-10 days. We've reduced how often we handle her to no more than a couple times a week since she's been on strike and really only have her out when she wants to come out on her own. (If she's nosing around the top we'll open it up and let her crawl out to us. In fact she gets frustrated and keeps poking then staring at us if we DON'T get her out.) Oh, and she's on aspen.

I would prefer not to feed live just because I don't want to risk her getting chewed on, but the real deal breaker is that we simply cannot keep any animals with fur or feathers in our home. My son's allergies were the reason we decided to get a snake in the first place. Bringing home a live rat or mouse and feeding her wouldn't be a big deal, but if she refused it, I'd be stuck with it. That's why I've been thinking about trying a live pinkie just to try to trigger a feeding response. If she turned it down, I could just give it to our little garbage disposal of a sand boa!

[Libby]

Ya its Terrible, I took the little guy in as a rescue and was only 43 grams ribs and everything. I didn't think he had eaten since he had hatched.

Oh, good on you for taking a rescue! Have you put up any pictures of him?