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 Can you handle a fasting/non-eating snake?

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T O P I C    R E V I E W
Sam84 Posted - 28/09/2011 : 18:26:10
hey all

been told not to handle Cora while she isn't eating but I don't think this is fair

12   L A T E S T    R E P L I E S    (Newest First)
Sam84 Posted - 04/10/2011 : 18:03:27
Thanks Sam (name snap!!) love your picture of Kaa on your Banner - when Cora shed i'll take some of her

Also thanks Don for the advice xx
SurroundedByMadness Posted - 04/10/2011 : 17:04:25
My snake Kaa had a 8 month fast, and I handled him throughout and he's doing amazing now, eating like a pig!
My uncles snake who is now mine, Donkey, had a 9 month fast, and he was being handled throughout then too.. But he's eating gerbils and hamsters fine now..

Handling them may have been the reason it took them so long to get back eating, but they ended up eating in the end and they were both perfectly healthy after.. I think its all down to the individual snake
acd1984 Posted - 04/10/2011 : 05:49:14
I agree completely that it depends on your individual snake, they are all so different that I think what people say can only be taken as a guide and not a rule (in my opinion), for instance I handle george while hes in deep blue and before each meal and he is fine yet my gfs snake wont eat if she is handled too close to feeding time.

I guess if your not handling and he/she is not feeding, then the change of scenery may help.
Tawfik47 Posted - 29/09/2011 : 09:46:22
I think it depends on the snake itself, when i got the fasting Blitz -if i might say - i told not to handle him until he has 3 successful feed in a row. but u can tell someone who's being waiting long time to get his FIRST snake not to handle him if he didn't eat whole 5 months so in that period i did handle him but once in a week or two. i just couldn't resist him at the end he did surprised me by taking the prey. i think they(the snakes) will eat when they will feel hungry eventually.
Sam84 Posted - 29/09/2011 : 09:19:21
Thanks Lilith
Everyday we learn something new :) xx
n/a Posted - 28/09/2011 : 22:06:53
Ah, that's royals for you - my little girl Saada's been feeding on and off all Summer ...mind you so has Surahi ...royals eh? That's just how they are.

cf stands for captive farmed (or sometimes they all it captive ranched.) In my ignorance I used to think this mean some kind of large scale snake production ...

What it really means is that in Ghana (mainly) but also in Togo and Benin, in west Africa, where the wild royals lay their eggs in burrows, guys earn a living 'harvesting' the royal python eggs. These are incubated and hatched, and the hatchling snakes exported to the UK, USA etc to be sold in the pet trade ...

There are reports that a percentage of hatchlings must be returned to the wild, therefore maintaining the royal population; there are other reports that gravid females are captured before egg arrival and thereafter killed for food; also there is a lot of speculation and even reported royal python 'mafia' concerning discovery of new morphs in wild royals ...I know a fragile economy depends on all this but I think the cf trade is pretty dubious ...to my shame I bought Shahi before I did my homework properly but since he was here, I'm glad he came to me, likewise with Saada who was a year old but needing a home.

Oops sorry for rant but that's what cf is.
Sam84 Posted - 28/09/2011 : 21:01:02
Just got her out now to check on her eye and she's blue!
now doubly confused - if fasting was because of shed why has it been on/off for 9wks?
we moved male carpet in viv above her 9wks ago- could this be a cause?

and sorry to be dumb what's cf? cb is captive bred...

Lotabob Posted - 28/09/2011 : 20:17:14
If the snake is just fasting and you are 100% sure its purely due to season changes and urges then I dont see much harm coming from a bit of a handling session every now and again. Duke is off food, has been for a month, he normally only get handled once or twice a week at the most and I know for a fact nothing other than the season has changed and he is constantly looking to get out for a wander which in itself is an odd thing for Duke so letting him out isnt going to do him any harm.
n/a Posted - 28/09/2011 : 20:14:26
Hi, breeding age and size for a female is, traditionally, at least in her third winter and weighing at least 1500-1800g - a lad can be younger and smaller though not under 600-800g. This is a guideline to protect females from getting eggbound/males from getting ...erm, shagged out lol.

However, my male Shahi, a cf10, went into the mating season fast last winter after I brought home 2 adult females, who also began the fast in the New Year. One of them, cf09 Saada, was only 300g when she arrived in Nov; Surahi is a cb06 dinker who still only weighed just over 1300g. So sexual maturity/breeding weight isn't necessarily indicated by fasting. They all say, like teenagers anywhere, 'I wanna!!'
Sam84 Posted - 28/09/2011 : 20:02:36
I've had her for 5mths (brother gone to uni) but had her in family since she was 12wks old - she 21mths now.
when do royals sexually mature? - is it by age or weight/length?
n/a Posted - 28/09/2011 : 18:57:29
I've heard this too. I wouldn't handle a snake obviously in shed, which is when they can fast, unless it was to quickly check it over.

As for the long fast during mating season ...I really don't know. I have observed this rule of not handling during the fast, but it seems to me that my girls have got shyer. I don't suppose this bothers them; they just do their own thing regardless of relating to humans, but from my human sentimental point of view, seems a shame that we have to break off contact for a few months, when both girls did seem to welcome handling and an excursion out of the viv, though I'm willing to leave off handling during fasting if it benefits the snake ...really don't know ...
Evolution Morphs Posted - 28/09/2011 : 18:27:12
How long have you had her for ?

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