Rat snake not feeding

Hey all, I have a Kunashir (japanese island rat snake) that i picked up from Bob McIvor 5 weeks ago at the midatlantic reptile show. He said he was a good feeder and the snake is healthy, BUT, he has yet to eat. He struck once when i had a mouse cut open and reheated then promptly dropped it, but he just has yet to show any real interest in anything I give him other than that one half a second of "oh this is tasty, wait no its not". Ive tried, egg, chicken broth, live, frozen, pinkies fuzzies, adult mice, freshkilled, everything i can think to try! and I am really stumped. I didnt know if anyone had some experience with these dudes and might know if it is just a winter thing or something else. Right now i am starting to only attempt feeding every two weeks to see if he just needs to get really hungry before he decides to eat.

So again, any experience at all with the cool looking dudes? And how long till i should be worried? I know some people have said not to worry till a few months have passed, so i try to keep my head cool about it, but most of my experience is with corns kings and milks....and this guy, well hes a rat snake so i do worry a touch lol.

thanks a ton!

T

almost forgot, here is the beautiful boy! and hes also super sweet and quick but never jumpy

wow! Sorry, I don't know much about rat snakes, but I just have to say, he is BEAUTIFUL!!! I'm jealous.

What are your temps at?

They can go a while without feeding. I wouldn't worry at this point.

I would suggest trying once a week.

Did you ask the seller how and what it was eating? (if not, this may be a good idea to do with future purchases)

Great looking animal btw. I have always like the Asian rats.

Thanks!

Temps this morning if i remember right were 84 in hot 72 in mid and 68 in cool hide
Im supper paranoid about his temps. I asked around to a lot of breeders and they said corn snake temps should be fine, but if anything slightly cooler, so ive been giving him a cold hide.

and honestly thats the frustrating thing, I DID ask the seller how he was as a feeder, if he had issues and any other information on how he was kept, and come to find out after he said " hes a great feeder but likes smaller prey" and I emailed him about how it was going, it turned out to be, " oh well some times hes really picky, and he only eats live, and he doesnt like people, and is really shy, and yadda yadda, anything and everything that i didnt want to hear lol...

BUT Last night he apparently (after i checked this morning) took down a few fuzzies in the dark.

Ive been covering his cage, feeding in the morning ( they are diurnal) not going in the room, as little handling as possible and everything to give him space, but he just seems so finicky?

Im trying my hardest to get him over to frozen because 10 bucks a meal for a snake is ridiculous, and I cant raise rodents on my own in my apartment lol.

Halp? :P

Wait a week and try another fuzzy and add in a F/T fuzzy as well. A good chance once he eats the live one he will eat the F/T also. Make sure the F/T is HOT when you put it in. Dip it in a cup of HOT water for a minute or so.

ahh thats a good idea! thank you for that reply! This week I will hope he takes them at the same time! and switch with relative ease.

Mine have been feeding on f/t pinks, the first time I had to put them in a deli cup with the pink and keep them in the dark for a day, but eventually they did eat. By the way your sure is a looker

Originally Posted by annmikeal

Mine have been feeding on f/t pinks, the first time I had to put them in a deli cup with the pink and keep them in the dark for a day, but eventually they did eat. By the way your sure is a looker

ahh thats another good idea!

Was yours a baby when you were doing this? this guy is a little big to put in a delicup now lol, hes 3 years old, BUT i do have extra feeding bins and some one suggested using a small pillowcase to keep him close to the food till he eats it?

I think this time im going to try that and use a small cup with a live fuzzy and a F/t fuzzy to see if he will take both :3

lemme know what you think!
Its hard to get this dude to break old habits :P