Should I put my 1 year old Stimson back in Click Clack

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gilesm89

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Hi,

I have been doing a bit of reading regarding the issue of pythons not eating and have found the following:
- Pythons can go off food when the weather changes (gets colder)
- Pythons can go off food when the environment changes

I put my 1 YO stimson in a full enclosure about 6 weeks ago. It ate after two weeks in there after one refusal. Now I have had a month's worth of refusals and am getting a little worried. I am not panicking as I know snakes can last a long time without food but it isn't yet an adult so I don't know whether this changes their resilience.

Anyway, as well as changing the enclosure I have also upped the food size to a adult mouse (which it has eaten one of as mentioned previously).

Which of the following do you think I should do:
1) Return it to its click clack
2) Get some smaller mice
3) Continue to offer a mouse weekly and see how it goes

If (3) how long should I give it before trying something else.

Thanks!
 
(4) ensure the snake is basking and still reaching a good temperature, ideally check that its body temperature is reaching around the 30C mark not how hot the basking spot is, then give a few weeks and try feeding again.

Wing_Nut
 
Thanks

The warm end is about 32 degrees on the ground. This temp achieved through a tile with heat cord underneath. The snake tends to swap sides daily.

How do I check the temp of the snake itself?
 
heat gun.....snake needs to reach body temp of 32....stimson pythons usually stop feeding now until the weather heats up again,even if enclosure temps are constant.don't worry it will be fine going a few months without food
 
i also have a Stimmy approx 15 months old and has never missed a feed and have had him since July 14 when he was 6 months old - keep temp highish 29-32 with lowest overnight temp no lower than 27 -
intro into enclosure leave in container but without the lid - your snake will know when it is safe and less stress on him/ her - just ensure heating is adequate
i was advised if something seems outside the norm with your snake always ensure temp is warm enough / appropriate for the species - not always the answer but you can rule out environment and then move on to trying the next options
hope this helps
 
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Id go back to offering food once a month, both of my wheatbelts go off food as soon as it starts getting colder, the girl that i have had for 4 yrs has done it since a yearling my male thats 2 is the same. If your still wanting him to eat id offer monthly just to see when he is hungry. Or if your really wanting to try a quial, not often they will knock one of them back
 
what food size where you offering befor the large mice,?

Before it was on hoppers. I know I missed out wieners but I was speaking to a local breeder and they informed me that it would be easily big enough to have adult mice.
 
Alot of stimmys are going off thier foods atm with the cooler weather.
 
Alot of stimmys are going off thier foods atm with the cooler weather.

Thanks for feedback. This has put my mind at ease.

I find it interesting that in these colder months my stimmy isn't always at the warm end and does spend a fair amount of time at the other end. If I take it out it feels quite cold to touch. Anyone know why it wouldn't want to keep warm?
 
Reptiles are very sensitive to ambient temperatures, and they are able to sense the change in seasons. Most lizards go into a brumation cycle about this time of year.
 
My stimmy has been spending alot of his time at the cold end of his tank too
 
How big is he? just curious because my stymie is on hoppers and is 1.5 years old he's about 55cm is that normal size?????
 
It might sound clich?, but the animals always know... our stimmy is now cooling herself for the third time in as many years. She practically doesn't eat for close to 5 months. Started going off food about 2-3 weeks ago, which we thought was odd, as that's earlier than usual. 2-3 weeks later and we've had a cold snap and it seems winter is pretty well here. She knew what she was doing. My advise is what we do; keep the lights and temp consistent with what you normally do. Only handle about once a week IF they are already out and about and maybe try offering food every 4 weeks or so. Oh, and change the water weekly. As soon as it starts warming up again she starts smashing them down. I'm sure yours will be the same :D
 
What size is he on? Or how often? Maybe iv been feeding smaller than i need to [MENTION=40170]gilesm89[/MENTION]


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
What size is he on? Or how often? Maybe iv been feeding smaller than i need to @gilesm89


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I think hoppers would be a reasonable size for 55cm although it is mainly about the width of the snake. If the width of the snake at its widest is about the same thickness as a hopper than that's fine. If you are just feeding one each feed then you can try giving two. Mine would frequently take two when on hoppers. And I would always do one feed a week.

The amount of food you give your snake is directly proportional to how fast it will grow. That's why wild snakes grow so much slower.
 
yea i feed him every 7 days, but he's not eating lately
 
Anatresia species in particular are known for going off their food during the winter half of the year, despite heating being maintained. Snakes can detect changes in natural day length and some will respond to this, irrespective of temperatures.

It does not sound like the change from a click clack or the increased food size has anything to do your snake not eating. If these changes had been responsible for stressing the snake then you would not expect it to have eaten at all.

There is a good reason why temperatures (heating) are recommended as the first thing to check if a snake stops eating. Snakes require heat to properly digest their food. If there is insufficient heat, then the food can rot inside the gut before it gets digested and this can poison the animal. Snakes therefore tend not to eat if they are kept too cool.

Ideally the thermal gradient should be about 25[SUP]o[/SUP]C to 35[SUP]o[/SUP]C. A 15W heat cord under a 30cm[SUP]2[/SUP] slate or ceramic tile (about 2cm between loops) should get to around 35[SUP]o[/SUP]C. This temperature was reached by a 15W cord looped through a 30cm[SUP]2[/SUP] piece of coreflute, placed on an open bench in an unheated meeting room, mid-winter, in Perth. A sheet of thin wood, such as MDF, with channels sawn into it and placed underneath, will not only hold the cord in place but also act as an insulating layer to reduce loss of heat through the base. Contact heating is more efficient than radiant heating where there high ventilation.

Snakes will seek cooler temperatures to conserve their body's resources. Lower body temperatures mean less activity and lower metabolic rate, so less use of food reserves. If a snake is not eating, then it will likely want to conserve what reserves it has by becoming less active and slowing its metabolism. A good example of this is what happens in the tropics. During the dry season it is still warm enough for snakes to be active but there is little to no food around for them to eat. So they tend to seek refuge in cool retreats and remain inactive until the wet season arrives, bringing with it plenty of prey.

Blue
 
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