| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| n/a |
Posted - 13/04/2010 : 16:48:50
Ive flicked thru the forum on not eating and think ive got it worked out. I have two snakes which i believe to be a male and a female. The male hasnt eaten for nearly nine weeks now and I was becoming concerned,but after a read I think its because hes feeling randy for the female. I have being considering getting him live food,even though its illegal in the u.k. as I know he has eaten live before I bought him. All help appreciated
Karl |
| 12 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| casper |
Posted - 14/05/2010 : 11:33:18
My male corn went off food about 5 weeks ago and I started to get very concerned. He is nearly 2 years old and about 3.5 foot long.
After 5 weeks or so of trying to get him to feed aging he finally did on Tuesday night.
I am not that experienced with snakes but I just thought I would share with you my tactic for getting him to feed again.
First I tried to feed him in his usual feeding tub but he was completely uninterested and just kept trying to escape. He was also very bad tempered. He has never struck at me and is the most docile snake I have ever held, but on a few occasions he did try to tag me.
I kept trying to feed him every 3 days or so and this resulted in throwing a lot of mice away and him getting very stressed. I kind of figured he may be horny so in the last couple of weeks decided to just try feeding him normally in the feeding tub on my usual weekly routine day, this still didn't work.
So on Tuesday night I put him in a rub with covered sides so he had some privacy, and put the mouse in with him. I then put the lid on and put the whole thing back into his viv over the heat mat. After about an hour of him trying to escape he finally ate the mouse.
My advise to people in the same situation, is try not to worry to much, stick to your usual feeding routine and maybe try the rub method as I did. As long as your set up is correct and you are monitoring the viv temps, conditions etc, it really is just a matter of waiting for them to feed again, it will happen just be patient and try not to worry.
Also just keep checking their weight once a week, as long as their weight is not dropping greatly they will be fine.
I hope this helps!!!! |
| Sta~ple |
Posted - 09/05/2010 : 20:59:09
Apprently it is still about breeding season it should end soon though I would have thought. Maybe braining the mouse would tempt him and some people have had luck cutting the mouses belly open. Has he lost any weight at all do you know? |
| n/a |
Posted - 09/05/2010 : 19:22:36
We were getting very worried until i read these posts - we have a 20 month old corn snake who we have had no trouble with feeding up until about February this year when he just refused to take anything from us - this went on for what seemed to be weeks and weeks until he finally took a feed he then shed the week after and has not now eaten anything for another 4 weeks and we (its my daughters snake)are getting very worried!!!! should we be. |
| Kellog |
Posted - 17/04/2010 : 05:26:11
quote:
Originally posted by trackrat
Ive flicked thru the forum on not eating and think ive got it worked out. I have two snakes which i believe to be a male and a female. The male hasnt eaten for nearly nine weeks now and I was becoming concerned,but after a read I think its because hes feeling randy for the female. I have being considering getting him live food,even though its illegal in the u.k. as I know he has eaten live before I bought him. All help appreciated
Karl
Last year Kellog went for 13 weeks without feeding Karl, and this was from the point of when I first got him and he refused the first feed with me....so as a newbie I panicked. But luckily I found this forum and they explained what was going on and what to do - which is just wait it out.
They did suggest I weighed him on his normal feeding days to make sure there wasnt a massive amount of weight loss; but other than that to just keep offering him food as normal, leave it in the viv overnight if he didnt take it and bin it the next morning if it was still there. Considering the fact that he was being fed every 5 days at that point a lot of mice were binned!
But then, suddenly, one morning he struck  and has eaten great since then....until almost exactly a year later and he is into his 5th week of not feeding *sigh*. I do hate it when they dont feed but at least I know why....
I do hope that your snake starts eating soon, but as long as you have checked that his set-up is ok and that he is not losing a drastic amount of weight, then I am afraid it is a case of just waiting til he gets over his desire for a mate!
xxx
|
| reptiledanny |
Posted - 14/04/2010 : 20:19:12
theyre just horny boys  |
| animal_crazy_lady |
Posted - 14/04/2010 : 20:13:39
good luck with the feeding, iv had trouble too... got a few more things to try. tried braining, next is cutting the belly, then heating.... maybe a dark box after that if nothing works. dont think i wud wana try live feeding, i used to keep mice as pets lol |
| HannahB |
Posted - 14/04/2010 : 19:21:05
live feeding is a tricky subject.. in the eyes of the rspca they can get you for two things if you are caught live feeding.. they can do you for the cruelty on the mouse being fed live and for endangering the health of the non feeding animal.. kinda catch 22.. but if you are sensible about it and dont advertise that you have had to feed live then there shouldnt be any reason as to why they would find out.. although thats what iv read so it may not be absolutely correct 
but it is nearly the end of the breeding season so im sure one day soon (the day you least expect it!) he will make you jump by striking at his food |
| Jennet |
Posted - 14/04/2010 : 18:36:09
Live feeding is not illegal in the UK in so far as I am aware, however it should be used as a very last resort, as it is quite possible that the snake could be injured.
To be honest, 9 weeks is not such a terrible long time for a snake to go without food, unless it is very thin to start with, or it is a very young snake.
Most snakes should be coming out of the breeding phase phase soon with a bit of luck and a following wind , so my advice would be to carry on offering as you normally would, but try a smaller mouse than you would normally offer, and try heating the head end up with a hair dryer for about a minute and braining it.... Best of luck... |
| Sta~ple |
Posted - 13/04/2010 : 18:40:27
Wiggle a dead mouse in a tub or something, it will be safer than giving he a live mouse and wiggling it will make it look alive. |
| crazy JJ |
Posted - 13/04/2010 : 18:38:15
he will calm down eventually... breeding season nerli over my males havnt eaten in a while either.
so i dont think ya need to do live feeding... :D |
| n/a |
Posted - 13/04/2010 : 18:07:48
Thanks for that...took a bit of a load off my mind |
| mozacchio |
Posted - 13/04/2010 : 16:56:39
That's probably it, because it's the end of mating season! 
He's gonna eat soon, though..! The end is near..! |
