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00fathead00

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ive got a blonde spotted hatchie who is now 3 months old and still wont eat :/ he ate once about 2 months ago. can anyone give me any advice please. his brother/ sister has eaten every week since we have had him and is a fair bit bigger than him/ her now :/ im really getting worried as it has now not eaten in so long and no vets near me deal with snakes. what can i do. does anyone have any tips on force feeding as he wont take pinkies when we try force them to him. please someone help me
 
what are his enclosures temps, how is it heated, how often handled, and do you have a photo of the setup?
What're you feeding? what other things have you tried? what is your feeding method?

otherwise the question is too open ended


if you go into herp help, there is a thread on this called "Help, my snake won't eat!" or something similar.
 
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his temps are 30-32, it is heated by a heat cord which is placed in between two lots of tiles.
i am feeding pinkies. have tried force feeding him and strike feeding him (dont know the real name lol) but we smack in on his mouth and he wont strike.
he wont even strike when we are fast around him in his tank we have tried numerous times to make him strike in hope he would bite us then start eating.


what are his enclosures temps, how is it heated, how often handled, and do you have a photo of the setup?
What're you feeding? what other things have you tried? what is your feeding method?

otherwise the question is too open ended


if you go into herp help, there is a thread on this called "Help, my snake won't eat!" or something similar.
 

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I think he is stressed now. Moving fast around his tank and hitting his food on his face has probably scared him quite a bit. Leave him be and only go near him to clean his tank, give him water, etc. Monitor his temps at the cool end as well as the hot end (what is the cool end sitting at btw?) and make very sure they are correct. Try him on a pinkie once a week. If he doesnt take it, wait and try again later. Young snakes are very nervous creatures and it takes them awhile to settle back down whilst stressed.
 
have you tried not hassling it at all with the food?

the darwin hatchy i got last year just wouldnt strike when i dangled the food in, id hassle her a bit, then leave it in with her and she wouldnt touch it,..so after a few refused attempts i didnt open her click clack all week except to change water. then an hour before feeding i turned a red light on so the room was dimly lit and she was used to it, then quickly opened the click clack, dropped the mouse in and went away.

20 mins later i came back to see the tail disappearing down her throat.

i really think my hassling turned her off the food, and it took her a long time till she actually started to strike at her food when i offered it.

anyway, just something else to try,..its so frustrating when they dont eat!!

good luck!! :p
 
my spotted didnt eat for a while and i found that sticky mentioned before really helpful. i ended up covering his tank for a few days, only checking to make sure he had water etc. after like 5 days i took off the cover and got him out..and he tried to eat me...so i tried to feed him but he doesnt strike out and attach properly so we just left the pinkie in his enclosure and left. he didnt touch it for an hour or so, so i went to get it out and he was curled up around the lock mechanism on my tank and he just reached out and took the pinkie from the tongs. tried him with a second one and again he didnt touch it for awhile. went to get it out ( he was still on the lock) and he ended up reaching out and taking it from my sisters open palm.

morale of the story. i left him alone in the dark with no contact and he eventually chose to eat.
 

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ok i forgot to mention anywhere here that they share there tank. the two hatchies. could that be a problem also?
 
Mm..inexperienced keeper tries force feeding. That's going to end well. Aanyhoo..have you talked to the seller, or got feeding records for him? Did he eat for whoever you bought him off?

Not that sellers would ever palm off a non-feeder onto someone. Cough.
 
niether of them had eaten before we got them. and thats not a very nice comment, we may be inexperienced now but thats why i am asking so we know what to do! dont have to be so nasty about it. maybe i should find somewhere else to ask questions. i just wanted to know if there is anything else (that i havent tried already) to try before taking him to a vet! which i will be doing now that i know i have tried everything possible. both of our families have always had snakes but none of any of their snakes have been non-eaters. sorry for asking a question and being "inexperienced"
 
Problem feeders are such fun! Had my fair share. Only panic when they start to look dehydrated and lethargic. I know it's hard, one of mine didn't feed for 9 months. Definately try what everyone has suggested and I would seperate them. You can feed the larger and leave the smaller one be. Try braining the pinkie, leaving the food warmed and infront of the hide and walking away. Move them to a quieter room with less activity, if any activity at all. The poo will be tiny if any with no feeding so only top up water. Putting them in the dark helps to de stress too. Try them all and something will give. I had one snake that would only open his mouth if his food smacked him on the face too. Good luck and keep us posted
 
maybe he is finding the big tank a bit over whelming, and trying a click clak for a bit - just a thought, i realy hope he picks up for you, good luck and fingers crossed
 
Set up a small tub,make sure it is nice an warm 32/25C stick him in it and wait a week or so then try and feed.
 
There could be a number of reasons for this snake not to feed.
Just from reading this thread i think that there is a couple of thinks that you could try.
First of all the snake might feel insecure housed with the other snake, sometimes one snake can be more dominant than the other causing one of the snakes to maybe not eat & hideaway. Try moving one of the snakes to another enclosure, for long term trial.

Another one is that the snake might prefer a different food item, I know it sounds silly, but i have on many ocassions had to change from pinky rats to velvet or fuzzy mice to get hatchies to start feeding. so try a fuzzy mouse instead of pinky rat.

Also as someone else said there is some great info allready put together about a lot of this, it can be found in the Wiki section of this forum. Definately worth a read.

Cheers
Ian
 
First thing I would do is halve your sensitivity prescription. There was no nastiness there,just a comment that you really should not be trying to force feed. Harden up.

Have you talked to the breeder about the snake? They might have something useful to tell you..hopefully you've learned not to buy non-feeding snakes in the future, there are occaisionally a couple in a clutch that never feed, no matter what you try.
Downsizing to a click clack, upping the temp/humidity and scenting with other prey items (egg often works really well) are all good ideas..if you've tried all those and still had no success, the vet is the next stop- make sure though that you use a vet who knows reptiles (D-bay vet), and not a puppy specialist. Chris Brown would probably prescribe you mange cream and flea shampoo.
 
Python Legs that is a bit grumpy, blunt & straight to the piont. At least i had the good will to suggest checking out the wiki site.
I wonder how many people even know it is there & how many use it.

cheers
Ian
 
Firstly I would try what every one else has suggested. One thing that i have found helpful with hatchies that won't feed is scenting the fuzzy with a gecko skin if you have access to any. But (and I'll probably get crucified for saying this) at some point you're going to be left with the choice to assist feed or watch it starve itself to death. I'm not saying you're at that point now. But if it still wont feed in the next couple of months you're going to have to try. If you don't have someone to show you how to do it just youtube it. If you end up needing to assist feed you've got nothing to lose by trying.
 
Firstly I would try what every one else has suggested. One thing that i have found helpful with hatchies that won't feed is scenting the fuzzy with a gecko skin if you have access to any. But (and I'll probably get crucified for saying this) at some point you're going to be left with the choice to assist feed or watch it starve itself to death. I'm not saying you're at that point now. But if it still wont feed in the next couple of months you're going to have to try. If you don't have someone to show you how to do it just youtube it. If you end up needing to assist feed you've got nothing to lose by trying.

I understand your piont in saying the worst, but hey this situation is a long long way from that yet.
I am pretty sure that it will work out once a few things are rectified & different methods tried.
Some hatchies can go for a long time without feeding & then it is like someone turned the light on for them. I have heard of hatchies going 9 months without a feed, now this is at the extreme end of the scale.

OOflatheadOO I would love to see you seperate first & then if this does not work try mice or rat whichever is opposite to what you are doing now.
Even scenting with chicken just like scenting with gecko can work.

Personally as a seller i would never even give away to a new commer a non feeding snake. But all will work out you just need to work out what is going wrong. One thing you will learn through the reptile hobby is to have pacence.

Cheers
Ian
 
Set up a small tub,make sure it is nice an warm 32/25C stick him in it and wait a week or so then try and feed.

Do what Rams has suggested above.

Don't worry about force feeding or talking to the breeder..
 
In my opinion the first and most important thing to do is Do Not Panic.

I agree that assist feeding is not really something for newbies but I understand you trying. Many experienced keepers will tell you this really is the last resort as it can harm the snake. In my honest opinion its not the last resort I reserve that place for the pinkie pump.

There has been lots of good advice on here but please dont be too shocked if it doesnt eat until Spring! If thats the case you will need to quickly learn about wintering your pets as it will burn off its reserves quickly if not wintered.

Definately agree with the suggestions about seperation and keeping the tank covered to grow the youngsters confidence. This is a big learning curve to go through so just try to be methodical and write down things you try.

Is the tank heated at night? What is the night time low temp? Currently its quite cold and he may have decided its too cold for him to digest. Also try adjusting temperatures up & down a little and leaving for a week before attempting to feed again. Brained pinkies is a great suggestion as is scenting with other potential food items. If you dont have a lizard handy try scenting with fish and rinsing under water before offering. The fish scent I am reliably informed is very similar to that of a lizard.
If everything else fails go back to the breeder and ask for help. He may rehouse it for a while till he gets it feeding.

Good luck and dont stop trying but dont be too impatient.
 
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