Help needed - not eaten in 13 months

[jphealy]

My BP has now not eaten in 13 months. He is about three years old. He used to eat reasonably regularly, but would stop every so often for up to a few months. He started on mice and was up to small/medium rats (always frozen-thawed) before he stopped.

Temps and humidity are fine. He had a perfect shed a couple of weeks ago, which was his first since February. He is currently quite active (for a BP) but does go through periods of minimal activity. He weighs 486g, so he's not a large BP, but he has lost almost no weight since he stopped eating. He is still healthy looking.

I have not yet tried any particular feeding techniques, apart from the usual: present warmed-up rat with tongs and jiggle it around a bit. Sometimes he will come check it out, other times he completely ignores it, but since November 2007, he has not struck at it.

Surely at this stage, I should be getting worried...?

As always - any advice greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[Darkice]

Get him to the vet. And bring a fecal sample.

[Gloryhound]

I would say the time has come for a vet visit. Make sure it is a Herp specialist. Nature is telling it not to eat for some reason and that reason could be an illness. Otherwise we need pictures of the set up, temps, and information on how you feed to see if anything is off or maybe give you a hint on what is wrong! Another thing to try is possibly feeding a live to see if he gets interested.

[boost3d05]

try live, but get him to the vet

[jphealy]

Fecal sample is not an option as he only defecates when he eats. I will post some photos of the setup shortly so you can have a look.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

Temps and humidity are fine.

That does not tell us much

Please try to answer those questions precisely

What type and size of enclosure do you have?

How many and what kind hides do you have (how they tight with all sides touching your BP's body)?

What are your temps? How do you measure them (type of termomether)?

What is your humidity? How do you measure it (type of hygrometer)?

How often and how long do you handle your snake?

[muddoc]

My first question is, you say he is three years old. Have you had him the entire time? And, do you know his background (i.e. CBB, CH WC)? As one other has stated, I would try to get him to eat a live adult mouse (I say mouse, so that if he doesn't eat, you can keep it indefinitely and it won't get to big for him). I had a WC female come in that didn't eat for 55 weeks, and she finally decided to eat a mouse. She had no parasite load, and was housed in a rack with animals that ate above and below her tub (thus ruling out husbandry issues). She did loose about 40% of her body weight during that time, but regained all of her weight plus a few hundred grams after about 4 months, and bred and laid a perfectly healthy clutch of eggs the same year.

I would say that if he hasn't lost any weight, and still looks healthy, get him looked at by a vet, but try to change up his feeding a bit (try live, try F/T rats or even ASFs if you can get them). Another thing to try is to move him into a different enclosure for a few weeks, or move his enclosure to a different room, as change can make them start eating too. Lastly, another tried and true trick that sounds strange but works, is to take him for a ride in the car for about 30 minutes. With all of that said, I have a few adult males that only eat between 6 and 12 times a year (and breed without getting sick).

I hope some of that helps,

[jphealy]

I have now uploaded some pictures of my setup to my gallery, so check it out if you don't mind, and let me know any thoughts you have.

Temps vary between 78 and 84 on the cool side and 90 and 92 on the basking spot (a heat pad under the cave at the left (warm) side that's on a thermostat. Humidity varies little from 50%, and I spray a bit to get it up over 60 if I know he's heading into shed. You can see there's a digital thermometer/hygrometer at the cool end with a probe going to the basking spot.

The caves are just big enough for him to fit in, and the middle hide, in the base of the tree is more roomy.

I don't handle him often at all now that he is not eating. Maybe a few times a month for no more than a few minutes at a time.

Hopefully that gives you some more detail. As I say, have a look at the pics in my gallery.

Are there any tricks I can try before I try the vet or feeding live? I think I've read something about cutting the rat's skull to expose the brain. Does that do anything? Or anything else I can try?

Anyway, thanks again everyone.

[rabernet]

John, I had a male that didn't eat for nine months. After nine months, I had enough and changed him to a tub set-up and he took a meal within a week.

He looks to be in good condition in your photos, however.

[llovelace]

Am I seeing things right?! Is that flexx watt going up the side of the enclosure? why not under the warm side of enclosure? You should get rid of that tape in your enclosure also, I also would try live mice, and I would schedule a vet appt.