BREDLI NOT EATING!

[bikiescum2003]

ok im starting to run out of options she is loosing condition now and still not eating.. i have now tried garden skinks, putting mutton bird oil on the rats-mice, braining, soaking in chicken stock, playing with temps up and down (over the past few months), also its now hard to get her to strike at the live rats, i dont wanna force feed for a couple of months yet hopefully she wont get that far, i have now got her in an enclosure with UVA, UVB for 15.5 hours a day hoping that maybe thats she might need it to digest calcium a bit (im a bit unsure about it but anything is worth a go at this stage)
when she does eat she only takes live food and she has been trouble ever since i got her
she is only eating 2 small live rats every 5-6 weeks
oh and she still has not shed for 4 months
can anyone suggest something that might help.
she is about 4.5ft now and a bit over 2 year old

 

[olivehydra]

2 small rats every 5-6 weeks isn't too bad. Keep with the live and try to introduce a freshly killed to wean it off live. I suppose you have tried offering multiple prey items once it is feeding? I once kept a live mouse which I gave regular "haircuts" to, collected the fresh cut hair, a bit of spit, and stuck it on the head of dead prey, slowly reducing the amount of fresh hair until he was "fooled". Worked a treat, and even returned the live mouse back to the petshop (very scruffy looking though :wink: ) Good luck.

 

[reptililian]

Or you can try much the same thing as OH was suggesting, but with some down off a baby chook.

It's frustrating, isn't it? I still get really nervous each time feeding-night rocks around incase this is the night someone goes on a starvation diet and never ever ever eats again!

Some of my fussier scalies won't eat unless their food is really warm. Goodluck

 

[bikiescum2003]

the only thing i have not tried is day old chooks. its not all that frustrating just worrying. just going out to the shed to give a mouse a hair cut see if that works... how did you get the petshop to take it back?

 

[reptililian]

Why, he just styled that mouse with a little product, and... voila!... Metro-Mouse! They couldn't resist it! Plus, recycling is so now!

 

[serpenttongue]

How did this all start? Did she just decide to stop feeding? Have you ever had a faecal examination performed to see if she's got internal parasites. even captive bred snakes can pick up worms from lab rats.

How does she react when offered dead prey, does she back away or seem slightly interested and holds her position?

 

[olivehydra]

Why, he just styled that mouse with a little product, and... voila!... Metro-Mouse! They couldn't resist it! Plus, recycling is so now!

:lol: :lol: Product is so out now reptilililian. I just told the petshop assistant that if they didnt want it, my snake would :wink: Kind of got attached to the little fella after a few weeks, but couldnt handle the smell. Its a bit stressful to the mouse, but rubbing the dead rodent on the live one before applying the hair transplant also helps.

 

[reptililian]

rubbing the dead rodent on the live one before applying the hair transplant also helps.

Yes. And I find that rubbing myself up against a corpse before trawling the streets for zombies yields success too

 

[instar]

Dont bother with day old chooks mate, might be making things worse. My darwin has been a fussy *** ever since i decided to 'vary' her diet. Now she wont touch rats, hasnt chowed in nearly 6 months cepting i caved and gave her a day/o/chook a month ago. Im contemplating live now.
Atleast yours IS eating, consider that a bonus. Maybe try a single larger food item?
i wish you good luck, if you stumble on something that actually works, please let me in on it.

 

[bikiescum2003]

this started from about a month after i got her so its been about 8-9 months. at first i thought it was just because winter was starting. she just turn down all food she just moves away from it. i have not had a faecal examination done on her yet im still waiting for the last rat to pass from 4 weeks ago.

 

[webby]

I have had a coastal carpet for about 3 years she was my first carpet,She was very fussy to and only ate live mice,and wouldn't even look twice at a rat.Alot of time spent offering food with the occaional hit all paid off, for the last 5-6 months cause she was keep on heat through winter she has been eating anything i put infront of her even 4 ,1 after another. At the start of this year she would only have been as round as a garden hose and 3.5 foot long ap 3 years old.After a while she just started hitting everthing we put in there.So just keep trying, But the parasite check would help just in chase.

 

[beknluke]

Hey Bikie
One of my guys will ONLY take live mice - live ADULT mice. Will munch down 3 in quick succession!
But, since I don't drive and my local pet shop rarely gets mice in, it's a bit of a pain to keep going on trips to buy live mice, and I hate keeping them in the garage as they end up dying from either the heat, or the cold!
I have tried to get mine on to rats since she has really outgrown the adult mice (hey - she IS eating 3 at once!) but the best that I can get her to do is kill it. Little SOB.
Good luck with it - I hope that your Bredli starts eating in a regular pattern for you
Bex

 

[Scale_Addiction]

JMO - i have gotten heaps of problem feeders eating via this - rub your mouse/rat on a wet day old chook, then offer, if taken, feed an unscented in straight after the chook, every feed try a un-scented first, then if no luck go with the scented. then another unscented till it takes an un-scented first up. if still no luck, (and last option only) let the animal bite the chook, (which i have almost never seen a snake NOT do). to stir it up, then wiggle a mouse/rat into the corner of their mouth replacing the chook, (then repeat above steps) i agree as said above, don't feed them chooks unless you must, as it is very hard to get them back onto rodents.

 

[pugsly]

At least it is eating though, as stated a couple of rats every 5 weeks aint bad, maybe only offer her food once a fortnight, if she doesnt take it wait another, with my coastal I found by trying to get her to feed every couple of days it just stressed her out, i waited 2 weeks and BAM, now its fortnightly and she hasnt had a problem..

Goodluck though

 

[junglemad]

My advice is don't give up and good luck.

 

[ihaveherps]

Azztech's weaning theory is gold and is succussfull, although i scent with whitebait from a fish market. It sounded strange to me when i first got told, but it worked for me. Stick with it, and best of luck!!!!

 

[Guest]

How big is the enclosure the bredli is in?

 

[bikiescum2003]

5ft long 2ft deep 3ft high with 4 hides right across the back

 

[reptililian]

Blimey, I didn't mean to actually GIVE her a sweet little day-old chicken! Just to pluck a few bits of down off it and stick them onto the rat's head! (Like I said, just like OH's idea with snipping some fur off a live mouse). Jeez, next you'll be saying that I told bs2003 to bite the head off the baby chicken, drink it's blood, say a prayer to the dark lord and THEN offer the chicken to the snake! :wink:

Goodluck bs2003.

 

[Guest]

BS2003, have you tried putting the bredli back into a smaller tub style enclosure? Might make it feel more secure and get it feeding again. Just sit the tub half way on a heat mat, as you would do with a hatchie, stick in a hide at each end and a suspended branch for climbing with a water bowl and that should do the trick i reckon.

The enclosure its in seems a bit big, it might be a little stressed.

I did post something pretty much along these lines yesturday but the post seems to have dissappeared.