No longer eating!!

[HypoMotley1]

So i bought Audrik last month (my first snake). Was eating fine but suddenly stopped. Not sure how old he is but someone here said it may be an early 2010 hatchling. He currently weights 11g (last night). Temperatures are 84-86 and 75 on cool end, plenty of hides, on aspen, 2 water bowls, humidity between 40 to 80. Here is what I have done so far.

10/9/2010 Purchased
10/12/2010 F/T Pinky Ate
10/17/2010 F/T Pinky Ate
10/22/2010 F/T Pinky Ate
10/28/2010 F/T Pinky No Interest
10/29/2010 F/T Pinky No Interest
10/31/2010 F/T Pinky No Interest
11/2/2010 F/T Pinky No Interest

I have tried slicing and also putting in a deli cup but no luck. He was eating in a large tub with no problem. What can I do....I sure dont want him to die!! He is not blue, what's strange to me is that he is out and about in his viv...day and night. Really getting worried. Thanks for any help.

[decadence]

I'm not really a snake expert but humidity at 80 is kinda high isn't it? About 40 is ideal from all my reading. High humidity can cause R.I.

[decadence]

Didn't mean to send that yet and no edit button on my phone. I see you're feeding him every 5 days, I myself feed mine every 7 days. Every wednesday I feed. I have two snakes that will go two weeks without eating sometimes and they eat again.

[Nanci]

I would stop attempting to feed him every day. Just offer every four to five days. He ate- no reason why he won't again.

[HypoMotley1]

So should I try again on 11/07?

[Nanci]

I guess if it was me I'd try the 6th. Where did you get him? I would also stop handling him until you get him to feed. It stresses him and burns calories.

[HypoMotley1]

I bought him from Rick Krumrime Reptiles at an Expo in Maryland. I have been trying to get ahold of them to find out the hatch date but they dont answer phone calls or emails...ok ill try on the 6th and will stop all handling....thanks for your help...i appreciated. Hopefully he starts eating again.

[HypoMotley1]

I finally got ahold of the seller. She stated they only fed live and suggested i should try live and also found out he is 2 months old. I tried feeding live on the 6th...put him in his feeding tub for about 20 minutes with the live pinky....no luck. Then in a small deli cup with the live pinky for about 45 minutes...no luck. I then put him back in his viv and put the pinky in a small bowl in with him...he has not touched it at all. The pinky has been in his viv since saturday....it is still alive. He is active like normal and is out and about....don't know why he is refusing to eat???? Has not taken a meal since 10/22. Should I be worried?? Or just try again in 5 days?

[Jessicat]

I second what Nanci has said about not offering food so often. Your snake is probably stressed out, and getting more stressed out due to the multiple food offerings. Snakes can start to associate these negative experiences with the pinkie and their eating problems may be prolonged if you offer too soon.

Also, don't leave a live pinkie in his home with him for days on end. That is stressful for the snake and also inhumane for the pinkie. The pinkie is slowly starving to death. Also, if you did this with an older mouse it would be very dangerous to the snake, and could even result in death. The mouse will be frightened and hungry and start attacking the snake.

Wait a full 5-6 days. Get a frozen thawed pinkie. Thaw it and brain it. Put it and your snake into a separate feeding container. Place the feeding container in a dark closet. Leave them together overnight if necessary. If the snake still hasn't eaten by the morning, flush the pinkie and put the snake back and don't disturb it. Wait another 5-6 days or even longer to offer food again.

[Vicic17]

A similar thing happened with my 3 2010's, unfortunately 2 of them refused til the death :( However, the Anery refused for 6 weeks, but ate 4 meals before that, after 6 weeks i noticed she was shedding, after the shed she ate again, i don't know why a 6 week shed seems a bit much, but don't lose hope. I would also agree with above, give it some time, hopefully your snake will pull through like my anery! Keep us updated please.

[HypoMotley1]

[QUOTE=Get a frozen thawed pinkie. Thaw it and brain it. Put it and your snake into a separate feeding container. Place the feeding container in a dark closet. Leave them together overnight if necessary. If the snake still hasn't eaten by the morning, flush the pinkie and put the snake back and don't disturb it. Wait another 5-6 days or even longer to offer food again.[/QUOTE]


Im sorry but im new to this, how do I brain it?? You think the snake will be fine with no heat over night? and would the snake still eat the thaw pinkie even if its cold?

Thanks.

[HypoMotley1]

A similar thing happened with my 3 2010's, unfortunately 2 of them refused til the death :( However, the Anery refused for 6 weeks, but ate 4 meals before that, after 6 weeks i noticed she was shedding, after the shed she ate again, i don't know why a 6 week shed seems a bit much, but don't lose hope. I would also agree with above, give it some time, hopefully your snake will pull through like my anery! Keep us updated please.


Thanks.....i will.

[WingedSweetheart]

Im sorry but im new to this, how do I brain it?? You think the snake will be fine with no heat over night? and would the snake still eat the thaw pinkie even if its cold?

Thanks.

To brain a pinkie you take a frozen thawed pinkie and take a knife and make a cut in the head (stab it in the brain). You want the snake to smell the brains :licklips:. Lot of times this will get a non feeder to eat because they like the smell. Besides braining you could add a few more slits down the back of the pinkie for smell and help digest if the snake actually eats it.

Your snake will be fine without heat for one night as long as the room temp isn't really cold. Also the pinkie should be fine too. I know of some people who have left the pinkie with the same overnight and didn't have an issue with the snake not eating it because it got cold. But I would say to make sure the pinkie is good and hot when you offer it to the snake. Don't cook it but just make sure it's hot (live baby mice usually have high body temps anyway).

Lots of info about getting non feeders to eat on this forum if you search including senting the mouse with lizard tail, dirty mouse bedding, tuna juice, KFC. Also can try the zombie dance (moving the mouse around) or tease feeding (hitting the snake in the nose with the mouse til it gets ticked off and bites it) and even car rides. So tons of things you can try.

[HypoMotley1]

To brain a pinkie you take a frozen thawed pinkie and take a knife and make a cut in the head (stab it in the brain). You want the snake to smell the brains :licklips:. Lot of times this will get a non feeder to eat because they like the smell. Besides braining you could add a few more slits down the back of the pinkie for smell and help digest if the snake actually eats it.

Your snake will be fine without heat for one night as long as the room temp isn't really cold. Also the pinkie should be fine too. I know of some people who have left the pinkie with the same overnight and didn't have an issue with the snake not eating it because it got cold. But I would say to make sure the pinkie is good and hot when you offer it to the snake. Don't cook it but just make sure it's hot (live baby mice usually have high body temps anyway).

Lots of info about getting non feeders to eat on this forum if you search including senting the mouse with lizard tail, dirty mouse bedding, tuna juice, KFC. Also can try the zombie dance (moving the mouse around) or tease feeding (hitting the snake in the nose with the mouse til it gets ticked off and bites it) and even car rides. So tons of things you can try.


Thanks....ill give some of these a try....since i tried feeding saturday and left the pinkies overnight till today....do you recommend trying again in 4 days?

[WingedSweetheart]

Sure you can try again in 4 days.

I really hope your little one starts eating again for you. Babies can be so worrisome! If push comes to shove you could try force feeding. But I would only choose that as a last resort as it can cause major stress and if not done right can actually harm the snake.