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This Is Getting Serious Now...

blazibaby

blazibaby

New member
Im really worried...I have been for the last two years...My beautiful Amel male is not eating. He hasnt been for 2 years. He's had the odd one or two about every 4 weeks but he isnt growing much. He's only about a foot and a bit long and really quite skinny...and this is a 3 year old we're talking about. I try to feed him every week but no avail unless i force feed him, which sometimes he doesnt even eat then. Its really worrying me as he was my first ever snake and is very special to me. Im worried that there might be something wrong with him and with no local vets that specialise in reptiles...im pretty stumped. Is it worth keeping a snake like this?
 
blazibaby said:
Im really worried...I have been for the last two years...My beautiful Amel male is not eating. He hasnt been for 2 years. He's had the odd one or two about every 4 weeks but he isnt growing much. He's only about a foot and a bit long and really quite skinny...and this is a 3 year old we're talking about. I try to feed him every week but no avail unless i force feed him, which sometimes he doesnt even eat then. Its really worrying me as he was my first ever snake and is very special to me. Im worried that there might be something wrong with him and with no local vets that specialise in reptiles...im pretty stumped. Is it worth keeping a snake like this?
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Well, I Dont know what to say, your snake must be VERY ill or Weak, i would find a vet.. if he means that much to you, i would find one...
 
But he seems perky enough. He's flicking his tongue around, smelling the air around him, slithering quite happily. I'll take your advice though. He means the world to me...They'll surely have a vet in a city somewhere that will be able to help. I hope so anyway...
 
Yea : ) Actually.. i was thinking.. ive herd around the foum about the dreded "force feeding" its not nice but i think in your situation you might have to hold him down and make him eat :/ ill have to get somone to second that though, i'm not 100% sure. hopfully someone more skilled in that area will read this thread.
 
what are your temperatures like?? this may cause him not to eat if they arent really within 70-75F (cool side) and 80-85F (warm side)
 
My temperatures...My thermometer is kinda broken...im going to get a new one this weekend...but it might not help with my room being so cold...I do use a heat lamp in the tank but i don't know if that warm enough for them. I'll check once i get my new thermometer. My thermostat is set to 70-75 on the cool side though i know that...
I just hope all goes well for him...Its a real shame since he has such beautiful markings and is a real sweetheart...
 
So first, have you tried cutting, braining, scenting, or fresh killed and stunned? And he hasn't taken any?? If you haven't tried ALL of those, then do that before trying force feeding.

If so then yes, I would say force feeding would have to be the way to go (that does NOT count as your second recommendation. I don't think I'm qualified!! :grin01: ), or try getting live peach fuzzies and see if he takes that. If he does then while he is still in "hunt mode" try and get him to strike at a very warm mouse of usual, or smaller than his usual size.

As said, I think finding a vet is a must if he has had problems for soooo long and hasn't taken any of the feeding tricks I mentioned above. I don't know how you would find a vet near you if there are none in the phone book, but hopefully some one knows of one somewhere moderately close to you.

Good luck!
 
Braining, Cutting and scenting seem to put him off even more. Live mice he's seemed kinda..."Meh" towards and took them eventually...but we just dont have enough space to raise our own mice...
 
personally, i think the feeding problems might have a huge amount to do with your temperatures.
make sure that you get a thermometer with a probe (indoor/outdoor thermometers...walmart outdoor section), and that there is enough heat distribution.
 
Okay, well I wouldn't advize live if you can help it anyway, unless they are peach fuzzies or smaller.

Try stunning the mouse, if you don't mind doing the stunning part. It's safe for him, and if he eventually took live then it is probably a good way to get food into him, even if he is not totally into the whole "eating" thing. As for breeding mice, you don't have a place near you that sells live mice? Just one every 2 weeks if you can't get him to eat would help a lot I would think.
 
But if it's something to do with the temperatures then why isnt my female having eating troubles? She's in the same tank as him and is taking food as if she's never going to eat again...And no...our petshop only sell frozen mice...which kinda sucks...
 
plasticknives said:
personally, i think the feeding problems might have a huge amount to do with your temperatures.
make sure that you get a thermometer with a probe (indoor/outdoor thermometers...walmart outdoor section), and that there is enough heat distribution.
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I agree. I wouldn't feed it anything until I got the temp situation straightened out.
 
blazibaby said:
But if it's something to do with the temperatures then why isnt my female having eating troubles? She's in the same tank as him and is taking food as if she's never going to eat again...And no...our petshop only sell frozen mice...which kinda sucks...
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When did you get the female-- two years ago? Keeping snakes together stresses them out. But I'm not going to go into that. Do a search for the word "cohabitation", and read up.
 
Roy Munson said:
I agree. I wouldn't feed it anything until I got the temp situation straightened out.
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Oh, yes I forgot about your tempature problems. Our heating here was not working properly for a while and one of my females (who loves hiding on the cold side) had some trouble digesting and regurgitated, so make sure the temps are right. Avoiding a regurge and missing one feeding is better than getting the food in the snake only for it to come out again.
 
Male. Not eating. Female in same tank. Breeding season. I'd separate ASAP (they are old enough even if they're not big enough). Get your temps straightened out and separate. I have multiple (ok...most) males go off food once breeding rolls around - even those that aren't being bred! Oh yeah, and keep an eye out for eggs in a bit.

~Katie
 
PtDnsr said:
Male. Not eating. Female in same tank. Breeding season. I'd separate ASAP (they are old enough even if they're not big enough). Get your temps straightened out and separate. I have multiple (ok...most) males go off food once breeding rolls around - even those that aren't being bred! Oh yeah, and keep an eye out for eggs in a bit.
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This is possible, but it doesn't account for the male having almost zero appetite for two years. :shrugs:
 
Roy Munson said:
This is possible, but it doesn't account for the male having almost zero appetite for two years. :shrugs:
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True, then again since they've been cohabed you would think the female would have the same thing. I wonder if it's possible for him to be in a constant thought of breeding since they live together. I know my yearling bred last year and was more than ready (at least one). If he's constantly been living with the female and the temperatures have been right could it have thrown him off enough to quit eating until he gets what he wants?

~Katie

(Ok...this is the point where someone with more experience breeding chimes in...I only have so much!)
 
PtDnsr said:
True, then again since they've been cohabed you would think the female would have the same thing. I wonder if it's possible for him to be in a constant thought of breeding since they live together. I know my yearling bred last year and was more than ready (at least one). If he's constantly been living with the female and the temperatures have been right could it have thrown him off enough to quit eating until he gets what he wants?
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I may have been generalizing too much when I made this statement:

"Keeping snakes together stresses them out."

It doesn't stress ALL snakes out, even corns. I've cohabbed, and some of the snakes didn't seem to be stressed. Others were nervous, timid, and had funky appetites and growth rates. It wouldn't surprise me for the female to be unperturbed while the male is stressed to the max. Even if the male's appetite was suppressed by the breeding urge two years ago, he should have regained his appetite by the end of that season. His appetite wouldn't have been knocked out for two years. I've had young males go off food during breeding season and their appetites bounced right back afterwards despite the fact that they weren't bred.
 
I'll try splitting him up also. Theres a nice spare tank for him outside :)
Hopefully that will help him and i'll make sure the temperature is just right ^^
 
I'm just curious why you've waited 2 years to get help for your snake? :shrugs:

A snake that hasn't eaten except for maybe once a month for 2 years possibly has more problems besides improper temps. That snake needs to see a herp vet for a complete evaluation.
 
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