Burms Refusing Food. What Causes This?

Alright, so I just picked up some new burms 2 weeks back, I have other burms that eat fine. But these ones are showing no interest in food what so ever. They are rarely disturbed in their enclosure, only to clean it and attempt feeding. I have been keeping big snakes for years now, and I am quite sure temps in my snake room are fine as well as humidity, I have hides in all their bins.

I'm not sure how these little ones were fed at the breeders, but I'm starting to think it isn't me at all, but their environment before I received them. I've seen it with alot of snakes, any trauma at a facility or force feeding and they often don't eat on their own after that. I picked all the burms up from the same breeder in a trade.

They've been offered F/T mice and rats. But they don't have interest in either. I've tried feeding them normally, then leaving it in overnight, also tried a smaller container over night with the mouse. Nothing.

I picked up a burm from a different vendor at the show, and had a chance to talk to him in person and inquire about that individual snake. He seemed like a very decent guy. And as you can figure, that burm eats great, handles, great, never misses a meal.

So i'm mainly looking for some guidance here.. if someone can offer it. Burms are among one of the greater feeders when it comes to pythons, but the fact that these won't go near a rodent makes me question why.

I think there is alot of conflict, when it comes to how someone should breed snakes. But I think alot of the actual high quality comes from those breeders who put more passion into their work, and care for their animals. Quality over quantity is something we should all remember. While I am not personally holding any breeder responsible for my burms not eating, I still think it has alot to do with how they were handled from birth/day 1.

Anytime I have bought snakes from someone who seems to genuinely care about that individual reptile, they have been great snakes to own. The larger breeders that I have purchased from, have ended up sending out under-fed, weak looking snakes that are afraid to touch a mouse.

I'm open to any and all suggestions someone can pass along for feeding these baby burms. But in my personal opinion, a burm that won't touch a rodent in any way, shape, or form.. brained or not, then it's been traumatized in some way.



-Sarah Mis

I might as well get this out of the way, right from the start - nonfeeding babies does not automatically equate to traumatized babies.

You seem to be of the mistaken opinion that all baby burms feed readily on f/t rodents. Obviously, I disagree. I'll grant you that typically burms are great feeders..but it only takes a small temperature drop to change that. I'm not suggesting that your temps are wrong - though it never hurts to double check things - but if the breeder kept them warmer than you are, that could have an impact. If I run into problems getting new acquisitions eating, I find it helpful to touch base with the previous keeper regarding how they were kept.
I don't know how big these babies are; but, if they weren't eating f/t rodents, that could be the simple answer. Relatively few burms are difficult to switch over; but I have known of burms that were slow to switch, or that fed much better on live. It bears reminding that it has only been two weeks...
Shed cycles are almost too obvious a reason to mention, but it has to be done. Try live.
If they don't take live, try chicks.

I completely agree with Harald.

I actually ran into something similar with my last baby burm earlier this year. I purchased her at a show, though I did know the breeder and had another of his burms. I fed her a week later which she refused - but was going into shed so nothing shocking. Next week she ate a f/t. Following 2 weeks she refused. She had eaten a f/t no problem so it took me a bit to think she may actually be feeding on live. Gave her a live and that was the key. It only took 3 live feedings and I switched her to f/t fully and have had no issue since.

So, to repeat myself - I agree with Harald try live.

I agree, I would try live to get it out of the way. If they take, they usually swap when you have them on a good feeding pattern with a good response without much trouble.

Chicks are a good idea as well. I have also had good success with whole chicken parts as a suppliment. Sometimes if they just smell chicken, they get a strong feeding response and will eat. Some of mine don't like rabbits,(live or F/T)so I give them large F/T rats supplimented with chicken(whole or parts depending on animal size). They just take the F/T rats or Chicken parts off tongs without problems every time. Mine usually even eat while in shed without problems.

In my experience(less than many here though) I have found that it's best to leave them alone and do nothing but feed them in there cage when they are new or have any difficulties. Usually Burms are hungry little eating machines and will eat under the right conditions. It probably would be worth talking to the breeder to find out their temps they use. If you keep them slightly cooler than the breeder, maybe just the slight temp drop threw them off and need a few more degrees. Couldn't hurt to ask them.

As far as force feeding goes, I don't like doing it, but I will if they don't eat and start to drop weight. I have seen several animals(BP's) refuse on their own until they are forced enough to put a little weight on them. I have one small BP that is 2 years old now that was forced for over 3 months on an almost normal feeding schedule and she is one of the best handling and best feeding animals I have now. She's smaller than normal because it took me a while to break down and force her, but she's otherwise healthy. I wouldn't worry about force feeding until your forced to cross that bridge. Just make sure they don't drop too much wieght.