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Never give up hope on problem eaters!

DeadMouse

DeadMouse

Hungry, hungry Hognose!
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Well, tonight has finally taken another snake off of my problem eater list. After 2 months of trying many different methods to get my female mandarin rat snake to eat, she finally just took a regular f/t pinkie out of the blue.

I have always made it a habit to give even my non-eaters a chance every week to get a chance even if it means tossing away uneaten mice (I don't always feel comfortable giving uneaten mice to my other snakes unless that snake has been in my collection for a while and appears totally healthy).

The thing that has really had me climbing the walls with this particular snake is that she is so spooky and shy. The male I have is also shy but doesn't take off and hide like she does when he sees me; in fact, he loves poking his head out of his hides to watch me walk around my room. But the female is so spooky, I always attributed that this was part of her problem with eating regardless of where I kept her tank (away from activity, noise, excessive lighting, etc). The other thing that had me worried was that she was hatched on 08/11, ate one f/t pinky for the breeder on 08/21 and had not eaten since I had picked her up at a show on 09/08. The first month of her not eating didn't phase me too much as she wasn't losing any weight and I'm used to snakes going off of food for a month or so. But the last couple of weeks she had gone from 11 grams down to 9 grams and that started to get me worried. But my one male grey banded that I also got at the same show but from a different breeder went pretty much through the same non-eating phase and before he finally succumbed to hunger 2 weeks ago and decided to eat and has since gained some weight. So, that at least gave me a little hope for her which has finally paid off.

Now if she gets onto a consistent feeding regimen, then I'll be totally content with her :)

So, don't give up hope on your non-eaters, even when all the tricks and methods don't seem to work, if they are healthy, they might eat when they are just plain good and ready to! :smash:

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Congrats! I know how frustrating a problem feeder can be and how fulfilling it is when they finally eat.
 
Nanci said:
Congratulations! That would have killed me!!!

Nanci
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Believe me, up until the last week, I was getting fairly distraught over the whole ordeal with her, then this last week I just resolved myself that whatever is meant to happen will happen. I cannot even fathom what medium to large breeders, heck, any breeder for that matter, that has to contend with when it comes to when an ample amount of neonates refuse to eat. I guess I'll find out soon enough once I start breeding over the next few years :uhoh:
 
scotchy1ca said:
congratulations on the feed. That snake is just....wow, the patterns and the colors, like I said...wow.
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Thanks! That's exactly how I felt the first time I saw a picture of them some 15 years ago in one of my rat snake books. Back then, I do not believe anybody, perhaps save for a very few individuals, were breeding them then, nor did I ever see one in person until I bought my pair this year. They tend to be very uncommon and a little on the pricey side but they are definitely not unaffordable.

There are a lot of rumors about them being bad eaters and very difficult to keep. Aside from my female giving me this past grief, the male I have has been a great eater. As far as being difficult to keep, I personally don't think so. They are a mountain species which, according to many people who breed/keep them, like cooler temperatures and therefore do not require a heat source unless you get to temps below 50f. Supposedly they also have a very low metabolism which can cause them to eat every other week or less. However, my male eats weekly and defecates on a regular basis. I do not have heaters on their tanks and our ambient room temps are 68-72f at this time of year which I was told was ideal for them.

As I stated earlier though, they are very shy and spooky snakes. Mine do not handle well at all even though I've now had them for several months and I have yet to actually have someone tell me that theirs handle well. But those that I've talked to still love them to death because of their beauty. :bang:

If you want to get a beautiful semi-expensive uncommon snake you might never get to see very often, I highly suggest getting one! :rofl:

I probably posted this pic before, not sure, but here's a good shot of my male:

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YAY, WOO HOO, YEEHAW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! FINALLY!! :dancer:

I was hopin' & prayin' cause I was gonna sneak a baby in as soon as her first hatched!! lol *poor Mango*

So happy for you & she is just beautiful! I love the pic of her in the moss, too cute.
Did she shed for you yet? My Cali King hasn't & I have had him for over a mth now. He is a picky eater as you know. He's goin on a 18days hunger strike now! :confused:

Grt news my friend!! LYM!
 
Just posting to join in the joy - last night, two of my non-feeder Corns (July & August) ate for the first time, for no apparent reason.

Go us!
 
CALIVIK said:
YAY, WOO HOO, YEEHAW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! FINALLY!! :dancer:

I was hopin' & prayin' cause I was gonna sneak a baby in as soon as her first hatched!! lol *poor Mango*

So happy for you & she is just beautiful! I love the pic of her in the moss, too cute.
Did she shed for you yet? My Cali King hasn't & I have had him for over a mth now. He is a picky eater as you know. He's goin on a 18days hunger strike now! :confused:

Grt news my friend!! LYM!
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Thanks so much!!! I know you've been on pins and needles with me throughout this, thanks for your support. :D

She did shed for me on 10/26.

Keep your fingers crossed on Shine, I'm sure he'll be just fine once he gets hungry enough. The fact that he's eaten before is a good sign that he will resume once whatever his little problem is now resolves itself. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you. :licklips:
 
bitsy said:
Just posting to join in the joy - last night, two of my non-feeder Corns (July & August) ate for the first time, for no apparent reason.

Go us!
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Congrats! Isn't it a great feeling to know that things might actually get back to normal? (whatever normal is :crazy02:)
 
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