Will Snakes Starve Themselves

[mysteryman]

he yall,

just wondering if a snake will starve themselves to death?

i have a baby bino darwin and i'm now into the 3rd week of not eating, and she didn't feed 2 weeks before i got her.

i have scowled the forum after hints and tips short of doing an assisted feeding (i'm a noob so don't want to do that)

i've done the whole leave the food in the tank overnight, tried quail, tried fuzzy mice (what the breeder was feeding), tried leaving it in a dark undisturbed room for a week.

temps are fine in the tank (very much doubt it heat relevant)

tonight i'm going to try a fuzzy mouse rubbed against one of my lizards, unless someone else has a better idea.

if any one lives in the ipswich/lowood/fernvale area, i'd be more than happy to pay for fuel if they could come and help assist feeding her

 

[cleobhp]

Try dipping the mouse in egg yolk, I had a mulga that wouldn't feed a while ago, dipped the food in egg yolk and she came good, done that for about 3 weeks and hasn't looked back.

 

[mysteryman]

i guess i'm bein a bit premature with the assist feeding thing, basically i just want to know how long without food does it start becoming an issue?

 

[lynfrog]

how old is the snake? because that has a lot of bearing on it.
heat does play a part- and being left quiet most of the time helps.
when you do offer food, is it striking at it or just moving away?
what size container have you put it into? because upscaling an enclosure will freak out some snakes, and i gather you ;have just got it?

 

[mysteryman]

yeh had the snake for 3 weeks now, snake was hatched in nov 2010 so i guess she's 4 months old, she's about 400mm long and looks like a pinky rat would barely touch the sides. i had her strike at a mouse on the weekend but after 1 bite she didn't want anything to do with it.

my other 3 attempts, she smelled it and moved away.

she is currently in a plastic tank 400mm long x 150mm wide x 200mm high.

 

[zard]

if her enclosure is too big and she has nowhere to hide and feel safe in other workds if shes not happy with where she is it will also make a difference.
have you tried using a feeding tub?

drill a small home into the head of a pinky, squeeze a small amount of fluid out (refered to as braining) and leave her with it over night in a small area (i use lunch boxes for littleuns) i also use tweezers from the chemist (disposable ones) to feed my snakes so i leave none of my scent on their food.

good luck

 

[Elapidae1]

is it about to shed

 

[scorps]

Im gathering after what you said, you have purchased a non feeding albino (alot of these have been going very cheaply now)

If so, why did you do that if you have no expericance with these issues, if I'm wrong and you purchased the snake feeding (which if you did how come it hadnt been fed for two weeks when you purchased it) ask the breeder what he/she was doing to make the animal feed

Ben

 

[REPTILIAN-KMAN]

how much handling have you done since you purchased it !

pythons will need to be settled before eating if your getting out too much and handling all the time then this can do it as well !

i never handle mine for about one month after hatching or purchasing so handling will effect your python !!

let them settle in and they will accept . but as someones said about there are non feeders going around ask breeder for feeding records of it you can tell if its a nonfeeder or your handling or conditions kept ( no hides and feels unsafe )

 

[mysteryman]

i doubt it is due for a shed, very hard to dell with bino's isn't it?

the breeder was SR, so i have the utmost faith that the feeding records are true.

handling: i handled it once since i've had her and that was only because she made a bolt from her tank along the windowsill and my snake rod wasn't doing the trick.

i would not have bought a non feeder, and SR supplies alot of the pet shops around my area so i didn't see the difference. i wouldn't cheap out on my pets, just ask my credit card.

any way this seems to be getting off topic, i've read lots of post on hints and tricks to get snakes eating (seems to be a continuous problem) and my main worry is when to stop trying to feed to move to the next stage.

will a snake starve itself to death? and how long should i wait before going to a vet or a pro for some assisted feeding?

 

[NickM]

Yes, on rare occasion neonate carpets will starve themselves to death. Its rare, but it does happen. There are almost always a few very stubborn starters in every clutch. With much persistence almost all of them will eventually start to feed. On very rare occasions I have had babies take nearly a year to begin feeding regularly, and unfortunately some never do. Its one of the realities of snake breeding that most breeders are reluctant to admit.

After all domesticated mice are not a natural prey species for any Australian species.

Good luck

Nick

 

[Waterrat]

After all domesticated mice are not a natural prey species for any Australian species.

Very true. I am sure many baby chondros would die if I left them to their own devices (not sure what goes on in the wild). When they starve, here is a point when the digestive system is so weak that it can't handle the food even if the appetite was there. I have got a number of neonates in every clutch that I have to force-feed to avoid their demise. The tricky part is to realise when is the time for intervention.

 

[killimike]

That I think is the OP's question Michael.

 

[tigerbudgie]

definately try the egg yoke. i've never had to do it myself but i've heard quite a few people have really good success with it. maybe see if you can get some live pinkies.

 

[Albs]

The card you have with it should tell you exactly when it shed last. Young carpets at this age should be shedding every 4-6 weeks. I would be ckecking with SR and asking them all your questions first.

 

[sarcastocrat]

Try a pinkie rat instead of a mouse perhaps. My snake will not touch rats, never has, we have to feed the bugger two jumbo mice at a time because of this. Yours may be mouse-ist.

 

[mysteryman]

Ok,

i've tried egg on a mouse, i've tried egg on a rat, i've tried leaving it the tank overnight (4 times now), i've tried quail, i've tried pretending to eat a rat myself to show her how it's done "nom nom nom", i've tried braining.

how do you guys / gals defrost ur rats? (could that have something to do with it?) i use water from the kettle and then i cool it off with hot water from the tap.
so it's warm all the way through but not too hot to the touch.

my last effort was sunday night.

starting too worry as i don't want any of my pets to have eating issues, especially this one, she's supposed to be my flagship snake (quite a cutie)

should i start looking into assist feeding. i live in fernvale qld and would love someone with experience to come and show me or come and assist feed at my place. i will gladly pay for fuel

i don't think a visit to the vet would do any good as i'm sure that would add more stress to the little bugger.

please help...

 

[Sezzzzzzzzz]

Ok,

i've tried pretending to eat a rat myself to show her how it's done "nom nom nom",

Im sorry but i am sitting here giggling at that!!! i am suprised she didnt start eating straight away! Sorry. And im even sorrier that i dont have anything useful to add.

 

[dangles]

when i defrost i just use hot tap water otherwise you can poach rodents and end up with a mess. One of my jungles wont take a wet rat so has to be defrosted in a bag then fed

 

[Serpentess]

i've tried pretending to eat a rat myself to show her how it's done "nom nom nom"

Hahaha. Oh man, you are awesome. :lol:

how do you guys / gals defrost ur rats? (could that have something to do with it?) i use water from the kettle and then i cool it off with hot water from the tap.
so it's warm all the way through but not too hot to the touch.

I defrost my rats in a bucket of warm-hot tap water. If it feels warm enough to keep my hand in the bucket comfortably, then it's not too hot. The rats then sit in there until they're all warm and soft. The amount of time depends on the size of rat but usually 10 mins for pinkies and fuzzies.

As dangles also said, some snakes don't like to eat wet food, so you could try a dry defrost. This involves putting the rat in a snap-lock bag and then placing that in the bucket of hot water. This will take a bit longer that just dropping it straight in the water.