Sometimes I feel like I'm cursed when it comes to feeding...

[andrewross8705]

....and then the corns and my biggest hognose female reminds me that I'm not completely cursed as they inhale their food without hesitation. It's frustrating though having various species not want to eat for weeks or months at a time. I know hognoses are notorious for going off food but you can't help but feel like it's you when new arrivals won't eat even a few weeks after getting settled.

All temps are spot on, humidity is within the acceptable range and they are being fed appropriately sized meals. It's a weekly round of roulette with who will eat and who won't. I plan to brumate the majority of the hogs even though I'm only breeding a single pair. Fingers crossed that will get them back on track. Now I just need the burm to stop being difficult.


/anxiety fueled rant.

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[Jhill001]

....and then the corns and my biggest hognose female reminds me that I'm not completely cursed as they inhale their food without hesitation. It's frustrating though having various species not want to eat for weeks or months at a time. I know hognoses are notorious for going off food but you can't help but feel like it's you when new arrivals won't eat even a few weeks after getting settled.

All temps are spot on, humidity is within the acceptable range and they are being fed appropriately sized meals. It's a weekly round of roulette with who will eat and who won't. I plan to brumate the majority of the hogs even though I'm only breeding a single pair. Fingers crossed that will get them back on track. Now I just need the burm to stop being difficult.


/anxiety fueled rant.

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My trick with fussy feeders has always been to just gradually get worse as a keeper, in terms of feeding at least lol.

Note: this is assuming you have a healthy snake, with dialed in temps, etc. Always check to make sure there are enough hides in the case that it may be a security issue. Not a note for the OP but for any inexperienced keepers who might be reading.

I'm not going to waste tons of money on snakes that don't eat, if they don't want to eat every 2 weeks, well they'll get moved to every 3 weeks, even up to a month if necessary. I don't know why this seems to work, I'm thinking it's because primarily related to the stress of attempted feedings more than hunger, and assuming there is little to no weight loss everything should be fine. If you do something like 3 weeks and the snake is overweight you could expect a smidge of weightloss that would just be permanent but the snake wouldn't lose much more. If you are keeping your snakes in a rack system you can't do this but if they are in individual enclosures you could always try bumping up the heat a few degrees or bumping it down a few degrees just to see if that does the trick. Once the snake takes two meals in a row on the starve em out schedule you can try and tighten it back up to your collection's standard feeding schedule.

[Zincubus]

My trick with fussy feeders has always been to just gradually get worse as a keeper, in terms of feeding at least lol.

Note: this is assuming you have a healthy snake, with dialed in temps, etc. Always check to make sure there are enough hides in the case that it may be a security issue. Not a note for the OP but for any inexperienced keepers who might be reading.

I'm not going to waste tons of money on snakes that don't eat, if they don't want to eat every 2 weeks, well they'll get moved to every 3 weeks, even up to a month if necessary. I don't know why this seems to work, I'm thinking it's because primarily related to the stress of attempted feedings more than hunger, and assuming there is little to no weight loss everything should be fine. If you do something like 3 weeks and the snake is overweight you could expect a smidge of weightloss that would just be permanent but the snake wouldn't lose much more. If you are keeping your snakes in a rack system you can't do this but if they are in individual enclosures you could always try bumping up the heat a few degrees or bumping it down a few degrees just to see if that does the trick. Once the snake takes two meals in a row on the starve em out schedule you can try and tighten it back up to your collection's standard feeding schedule.

I have a couple of Royals who will only eat every two weeks .

It's a nonsense to expect them all to eat every 7 days imho


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[Team Slytherin]

I️ have a Dumeril’s who is forever on the “LA diet.” The breeder fed her in front of me when I️ bought her to prove her feeding response and I️ have literally never seen that initial response repeated! Even at 6 months old, she would rarely feed more frequently than every 18 days and she often goes on fasts of 6-8 weeks. It’s always a crap shoot as to whether or not she’ll eat, so I’ve just started offering her food first, then giving her cast-offs to my garbage disposal scrub She’s perfectly healthy, happy, and growing. She eats when she feels like it instead of a schedule on a care sheet.

[andrewross8705]

I have a couple of Royals who will only eat every two weeks .

It's a nonsense to expect them all to eat every 7 days imho


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I had to break myself of that mindset when one of my ball pythons would go off food for weeks at a time. He's eating more regularly now but I'm still trying to get him over to rats because he could stand to gain weight. It's more of the anxiety taking advantage of the situation than anything because these snakes are eating great for the previous owners then come to me and don't want to eat. I know the stress of shipping and getting settled can play a part in it and of course I choose a species known to be extremely stubborn when it comes to food.

I️ have a Dumeril’s who is forever on the “LA diet.” The breeder fed her in front of me when I️ bought her to prove her feeding response and I️ have literally never seen that initial response repeated! Even at 6 months old, she would rarely feed more frequently than every 18 days and she often goes on fasts of 6-8 weeks. It’s always a crap shoot as to whether or not she’ll eat, so I’ve just started offering her food first, then giving her cast-offs to my garbage disposal scrub She’s perfectly healthy, happy, and growing. She eats when she feels like it instead of a schedule on a care sheet.

That's how my ball python is and he's a slow grower but he's still active and happy, even more so now that he has more room in in a new tub. I've got him on the same schedule as my female hog so I'm less likely to waste food. If he doesn't eat, it's offered to her because she only turns down food when she's in full zombie mode.


I appreciate the feedback. This was more for me to vent in the open than anything and put it on paper so to speak so it was out of my head and not just rattling around. I initially only planned to brumate my breeding pair of hogs but with the way everyone is acting, I'm more than likely going to end up brumating nearly everyone.