| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| eyeball |
Posted - 07/05/2014 : 22:08:05
Hi all,
I've not been around for a while as I've been getting on with looking after Noodles and we've come up against the dreaded refusal!!
To bring you up to date, we decided to get Noodles sexed (which we said we'd never do) and it turns out we have a boy snake!
He's just over a year old now and has spent the last few months looking for a lady snake and while he's been looking for love he's not been eating. He refused for about six weeks and then took a small weaner (as a snack presumably as he usually takes small rats) and then promptly refused again for about another four weeks to date.
He's lost a little bit of weight but otherwise he seems in rude health. Is there anything we can try to get him to eat? I know it's not an exact science as the little blighters are notoriously fickle but is there a rough guide on how long they fast for?
Thanks! |
| 7 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| hodgie |
Posted - 17/06/2014 : 22:11:25
i don`t know his weight but at a year old i`d go for every 10-14 days. |
| eyeball |
Posted - 16/06/2014 : 14:52:00
Woo hoo! After what has amounted to nearly 10 weeks of not feeding, Noodle decided that it was time to have some grub last night. I made sure his rat had been super warmed (it was in a plastic bag submerged in two lots of hot water) and I think it may have helped that the rat had a slightly bloody nose. Anyway, he went for it like a good 'un and it barely touched the sides!!
Is it better to keep to the two week cycle I was using when he wasn't eating or try him again next week? |
| hodgie |
Posted - 08/05/2014 : 17:17:37
Its probably not what you want to hear but trying all different methods will only stress you out. Just offer food once every two or three weeks. When he wants to eat he will. Its a learning curve for all of us and a little worrying when it first happens but next yea and the year after it won`t worry you in the slightest, |
| Baobab |
Posted - 08/05/2014 : 09:13:38
I agree that four weeks is a bit early to worry.
Scenting is just when you add an additional scent to the food. Lots of different things have been tried, some work for some snakes bit not others. Personally speaking I've never noticed much of a success rate with any of them but others swear by them. Methods tried have been dipping the prey head in tuna oil, or rubbing a chick on it or leaving the prey in a bag with used mouse bedding for a while. If you do a search on here on scenting you will find a lot of suggested methods. |
| Derek FRS |
Posted - 08/05/2014 : 02:24:24
If its been 4 weeks since he has eaten i wouldnt try to scent of different prey just yet my male pastel went off food mid November and just broke his fast last week by taking a jumbo mouse he was usualy on small rats but just tried a mouse to try kickstart his feeding again and it seems to have worked :) so with your boy having eaten 4 weeks ago i wouldnt change to much other than offer food every 14 days instead of 7 :) |
| eyeball |
Posted - 07/05/2014 : 22:58:59
Thanks Boabab, what's involved in scenting? I've never heard of that before... |
| Baobab |
Posted - 07/05/2014 : 22:26:28
Sounds pretty normal awkward royal behaviour. If you keep an eye on his weight loss during this. If it's not reaching 10% loss then it's not time to worry. Not sure about a rough guide to time as they can fast for months. Just keep offering as normal and if you feel so inclined try some scenting, braining or other enticement methods if he's starting to worry you. They can be a pain in the a**e when they want to. |
