Cured my Non-Feeder

[fishmommy]

my adult male refused food for the past three weeks (two feedings, one week shedding)

he seemed interested in the food but would not strike.

I had read here and elsewhere that you can leave the dead rodent in overnight and see what happens.

I tried that this evening after he refused it today but I have to admit the whole time I was thinking 'there is no way he'll eat the rat after it's cooled off and has been laying on the floor'

I went down after a few hours of darkness to throw the thing away.....and it was in my snake's BELLAH~!

oh gods of internet snake wisdom, I bow down in awe


I never thought it would work but it did

so now that I've got him eating it's my job to figure out why he's suddenly become so shy about eating

[reptile3]

Congrats on your male eating...

[2kdime]

That worked for my girl!!

She then took a small small rat the week after. Then took a small small medium rat the next week.

The first one got her going. The next two were live.

Just another example of it working. Good for you!!!!

[Laooda]

Good job! You gotta love all the wonderful ricks that you can learn here!!!

[frankykeno]

Well congrats on the feed! Do the same thing next week and so forth, once you figure out how to trigger them, stick with what works at least for a good long while.

Who knows how snakes think LOL. I have one female here, a good big girl that will slam into her live prey like a freight train. She could care less if a marching band was parading by when she's hunting. However, if you even breathe near her once she's killed her rat - she won't eat it! She's a total goofball that way. We make sure she's got that rat good and dead, then sneak out quietly and can't dare even open the BP room door until she's got her rat down and gone back to her hide. Whatever works....works!

[fishmommy]

it's funny how they can change so completely in attiude.
this was a snake that on feeding day was up at the door of the cage striking toward me as soon as I walked into the room with the food. Nothing phased him during the hunt or when eating, and in fact would patrol the cage afterward looking for more no matter what was going on around him.
then three weeks ago - suddenly timid. I think it must be something environmental or something I did - I hope to figure it out since it obviously is/was bothersome to him.

or perhaps he's just grown up and has less of a drive to eat so the littlest thing could throw him off where before it would take an atom bomb

anyway, thanks again to the board - I will definitely keep feeding him in the dark. if that's what my boy wants then that's what I'm happy to provide

[Texas Dan]

it's funny how they can change so completely in attiude.
this was a snake that on feeding day was up at the door of the cage striking toward me as soon as I walked into the room with the food. Nothing phased him during the hunt or when eating, and in fact would patrol the cage afterward looking for more no matter what was going on around him.
then three weeks ago - suddenly timid. I think it must be something environmental or something I did - I hope to figure it out since it obviously is/was bothersome to him.

or perhaps he's just grown up and has less of a drive to eat so the littlest thing could throw him off where before it would take an atom bomb

anyway, thanks again to the board - I will definitely keep feeding him in the dark. if that's what my boy wants then that's what I'm happy to provide

Yeah, the first time my BP ate, he wouldn't eat when I had the lights on, when I turned them off he immediatly went for it. Now it doesn't matter. (Pre-scenting helps, A LOT). I leave the paper sack with the rat in his tank for about 10 minutes, when he starts crawling around it, I take it out (with tongs) and drop the rat in on the other side of his feed tank and he goes right for it.

Yay for ball-pythons.net.