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Rat snake not feeding

D

Dorgrim

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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

61521_1572297637886_1548870003_31418977_242647_n.jpg
 
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 :)
 
annmikeal said:
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 :)
Click to expand...

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
 
mine are 09s, so basically still babies :)

I think putting him in a feeding thing sounds like a good idea. If he isnt losing any weight and everything is set up right, maybe he is just ready for brumation (some species just do it on their own)...
 
Dorgrim said:
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
Click to expand...


I've had luck with paper bags for larger snakes.

Also, if you have a scale, start tracking his weight. I wouldn't get worried until he loses over 20% of his weight (or so I've been told). I had a ball go off feed for months and finally figured out what she prefered. She ate three rats in two weeks and has gone off feed again for over a month. It can be very FUSTRATING! :rofl:
 
hey all! another update

So the snake still is being a little stinker :p he took down 4 live fuzzies just to make sure he had a meal in him and so i could get a good poo sample to make sure it wasnt something inside him causing the issues.

Well...now hes being stubborn again and wont take anythign! I placed him in a bag with his food and he never touched it, even though it was over night and right there for him to take (but it was f/t)

SO im at the point where i really wonder if forcing a f/t for him might let him realize that he can eat already dead prey?

Aside from that, he is a bit thinner at this point, but hes already a slender snake as is. I just dont know what to do! And i do worry about harming him with forcefeeding and feel like it is my last resort!

Right now i didnt have his weight by scale from when i got him, but as of now hes def just empty tummy and isnt lethargic. He still climbs and hangs out on his heat pad, then on the cool side and what not, cruising around, and has a great disposition.
(of course just no eating what so ever!)

the last time i gave him live mice (just to get the dude to eat!) he crawled in with them and hung out, with the blind fuzzies crawling on him while sat there and read a book.
Halp!

also its been 9 weeks now (feeding on 4 fuzzies about 3 weeks ago) ? and hes still looking pretty peppy, but i do worry lol
 
Before force feeding I would go back to what worked the one time. Throw some fuzzies in there at night and leave him alone. Maybe even add a F/T with some live and see if he'll eat them while he's in a feeding mode. It sounds like he's a pretty shy snake and handling to sack him, feeding tub et al. may just put him off feed. Better to go with what worked than to try to make him do it your way. Good luck and keep us posted.
 
Hey all! So its been months sense i last posted but i wanted to update!
So around a month after I posted this I FINALLY got him eating f/t mice! Mixing dead mice with the live mice helped them seem fresher and get him to forget that they were dead.

After working with him hes also switched from only eating small live fuzzies to finally adult mice!! this was HUGE for me! I dont have to worry about feeding him lots of little live mice now and can just throw 2 already dead adults down the hatch! It took a while but i got him to eat for me and it took forever! almost 6 months :p BUT we did it! For those who are working to switch snakes over, dont give up! it takes work :) thanks everyone for your help!
 
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