Not eating after strike

[chaase321]

I got my snake about 5 weeks ago and this is the first time he has even been interested in eating (I think that was part my fault though because I was unthawing the F/T rats directly in water and I hear that it will rinse off all of the sent). Each attempt at feeding was not closer than 6 days apart.

Here is the thing. He finally struck like he was a wild man and starving. (this is F/T) however, that was about 1 hour ago (5:45 EST) and now he is just laying there looking at the rat.

Should I be worried, or is this common? Should I leave the rat in there or take it out and wait another week?

Thanks in advance everyone for your thoughts (this is my first BP)

[dr del]

Hi,

Couple of things to try.

Take the rat back (use tongs! ) ,heat the head up again, and re-offer it.

Make sure he doesn't get spooked - eating is a vulnerable time so if they feel unsafe they will be put off.

Once he has coiled it tip toe quietly out of the room and give him a good 20 minutes before you check back.

You can also leave the F/T rat in the enclosure with him over night to see if he eats once it gets dark and quiet. If he doesn't throw it out though - I never like to re-freeze anything that has been left out that long.

If that doesn't work we could re-run over your husbandry to see if there is anything that could be tweaked?


dr del

[chaase321]

Ok, I tried that and he took it again (man it is awesome finally seeing him go after something). Now we just have to wait to see if he will eat it. Thanks for your help Derek, I will be sure to post what the out come is.

[chaase321]

Great! I followed exactly what you said...reheated the nose in some warm water, he took it right away, I shut off all the lights, shut off the heat lamp, and left him alone for about 25 min, and sure enough when I walked back in only the tail was left and I watch him chomp that down. This is such a great feeling! Thanks for the help

[dr del]

Hi,

Glad you got him eating.

For the future I wouldn't turn off the heatlamp though - just the lights if needed. One of mine wouldn't eat while the t.v. was on - it took me ages to work out he could see the flickering light from his cage and was stressing about it.

He got used to it quite quickly though so I only had to turn it off for about three feeds before he decided it wasn't a threat.

They are all different - you might be ok leaving the lights on just leaving the room (or standing further away ).

My biggest girl will only eat if I show it to her (but not too close ) lay it gently on the ground, close her tub and, if possible, leave the room and turn the lights out. My smallest adult female would eat in the middle of a marching brass band and tickertape parade during a thunderstorm.

Once you get used to each other's little ways things go a lot smoother.


dr del

[Darkice]

Another thing you can try is wait till night time. Use Tongs and pinch the rat behind the neck. Make sure the snake is in his hide so he Cant see you. Walk the rat into his hide and he should take it.

[Slim]

Warm up F/T in a zip-lock bag. Just put the rat in the bag, and throw the bag in a sink full of hot water. Feeding wet rats is a real pain. Substrate gets stuck to the rat, and mine seem less interested in a wet one, than a dry one.

[chaase321]

Warm up F/T in a zip-lock bag. Just put the rat in the bag, and throw the bag in a sink full of hot water. Feeding wet rats is a real pain. Substrate gets stuck to the rat, and mine seem less interested in a wet one, than a dry one.

This the to approach I finally had to take. I think this was the reason why he was not eating because the sent was all off from the water.

Thanks for everyones help and tips!

[snakelady]

Another option is to use an extra heat lamp to thaw. Then if needed use a blow dryer for a min or so on the rat/mouse head for some extra heat.
Nice an dry and warm.