Sleepy Ginger

[pbyeerts]

Ginger enjoyed 2 small rats about 3-4 weeks ago. She's been extraordinarily sleepy ever since! I thought that perhaps she was going into shed, but nope. I expected her to be quiet for a few days after her big dinner, but now I'm getting worried.

I've checked her for any wounds, and don't see anything. She'll be 2 in September, and weighs approx 1200 grams. No sign of RI - she's just sleeping all of the time, and not coming out of her hide.

Any ideas?


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[shoat73]

How do you she asleep

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[pbyeerts]

She's not out of her hide and wandering around her tank like she normally does. Even out on the sofa with us, she seems lethargic


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[DVirginiana]

IMO it's very important to be able to tell the difference between lethargy/listlessness and the snake just chilling because she's going off food for awhile.

Does she still tongue-flick like normal when she is out of her tank being handled?

Is her muscle tone good? ie; Does she still grip onto you appropriately if you pick her up?

Is she still reactive to environmental change? ie; Does she try to move away like normal if you go to pass your hand over her head or touch her on the nose, or something else that would normally get an evasive response?

Those are things that might be an indicator of something being wrong. If she's just spending more time hiding, it could be that she's going off food for awhile and conserving energy.

[pbyeerts]

Yes, to all of the above. She's actually started to wrap around my arm more than she used to, and boy, is she strong! Maybe I'm just a worrying mom.....


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[DVirginiana]

Yes, to all of the above. She's actually started to wrap around my arm more than she used to, and boy, is she strong! Maybe I'm just a worrying mom.....


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I think any change in behavior is worth watching closely, but if she's doing all those things normally I don't think you're looking at any sort of serious medical problem.

Haha, I tie myself into knots when one of mine starts acting different, even if it's something totally benign, so I know the feeling.

[pbyeerts]

When should I try to feed her again? I don't want to get stuck with a live rat....


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[DVirginiana]

Hmm... Call around to all your local places and ask about same-day return policies if your animal doesn't take the feeder. It's kind of a long shot, but the place we buy prey from (Pet Supermarket; they have locations all over the South if that's an option for you) will actually take them back if they aren't eaten, so it's not totally unheard of.

Did you purposely skip 3-4 weeks of feeding, or has she been refusing food? If you purposely skipped that much, go ahead and see if she'll eat. If she's been refusing, maybe wait for someone with more experience with fasts to chime in or post a new thread about how to handle offering food during a fast. I'm lucky in that mine has never skipped a single meal, but that means I don't really have a lot of advice for offering food during a fast (other than 3-4 weeks isn't long enough to start worrying).

[pbyeerts]

I just checked, and I can return a rat. Thanks for the idea!


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