Snake still wont eat

[The-Guy]

Hey,

My female Stimsons python, about 5 yrs old, hasnt eaten in 5 or 6 months,everytime i offer her food she rejects it. I noticed some unshed skin under her head and proceeded to remove it, i think i got all of it, but if i didnt would this be the reason for her not eating?

Also looking for hints to get her to eat, she has never taken a mouse left in the cage and has never taken a brained mouse after rejecting a standard, so i find it unlikely that these will work. But any other ideas are welcome

Thanks

The-Guy

 

[FAY]

Have you gotten her warm enough to want to eat?

 

[voodoo]

My diamond and some of my coastals still arnt eating. Still a little cold for them.
How are you heating her enclosure?.

 

[The-Guy]

i have a ceramic heater on a thermostat set to 28-32, but lately it hasnt been turning on, but ive never seen it lower than 25 and it is usually over 27. right now it is 30.1

i didnt used to not have heat(as the globe blew and i never got around to replacing it) so i was used to her not eating in winter, but it has been heated for about 2 months now.

 

[voodoo]

Just keep the hot end at around 30-35 deg. And keep trying every few days. Even try a freshly killed mouse.
This guy below just ate last night, after 5 months.

 

[The-Guy]

yeah, ok, ill see what i can do, BTW nice snake there.
Don't have the facilities to kill a mouse, i buy them frozen, or is this your way of suggesting that i feed him a live one without breeching the rules of the site?

anyway, i'll just keep trying

how long do i have before she will starve to death? do i need to worry any time soon?

 

[Radar]

No, I think he means kill one using the 'wack' or 'dislocation' methods, neither needs more than a pencil or a table edge. Im NOT trying to start an ethical debate here everybody, just clear up a point.

 

[The-Guy]

Ok then, i might give it a try if things get desperate, main thing is, is there is no where to buy mice around where i live axcept standard pet stores, and they chage like $2.80 for frozen ones. No where near me sells live mice for food, but will the pet ones do? is there any difference?

 

[Radar]

You will need to ask (and make sure you would ask someone who knows, check with a senior staff member/manager) if the mice are bathed in anything (ie, stuff for mites, etc). This may kill your snake...one of my mates lost almost his entire collection because the mice he bought, from a pet store he works at, had been bathed by a new employee at the same time as the non-food mice. He started with about 11snakes, ended up with 2 bredli and a blonde mac.

 

[The-Guy]

yeah, ok thanks.
I would still like to know how long i have before she will starve. So how long can they go? im not even sure how long ago her last feed was, at a guess i think it was about 6 months but im not sure. so any info on how long they can go would be appreciated.

Thanks
The-Guy

 

[dansfish4tea]

get your misses to try. haha, our little coastal wouldnt eat for ages so i thought id give it a go and well she ate straight away. then she wouldnt eat again she got out the other day and i found her then put her back and feed her she ate straight away and then again that arvo. (they were tiny new born pinkies way to small for a meal but thats just all we had at the time) (dans misses here)

 

[Radar]

lol, thought dan was havin a personality crisis.

 

[The-Guy]

get your misses to try.

Im 13...

anyway, thanks for the help, i might try that.

 

[jay76]

Try a live adult mouse. just drop it in with the snake and 99% shore it will take it

 

[Bob2]

Have you tried her on a rat. One of my stimmies seems to get get sick of mice and will only eat rats. When she goes off her food again I just put her back on mice.

 

[bobchic]

maybe give it a fish... one of our snakes would only eat feeder fish for ages...

 

[channi]

rub some chicken skin on the mouse it might excite her

 

[GSXR_Boy]

i have a ceramic heater on a thermostat set to 28-32, but lately it hasnt been turning on, but ive never seen it lower than 25 and it is usually over 27. right now it is 30.1

i didnt used to not have heat(as the globe blew and i never got around to replacing it) so i was used to her not eating in winter, but it has been heated for about 2 months now.

I don't get it, you might have to explain this (i'm tired, and you may need to use finger puppets ). Sorry if i'm wrong.

Does it have access to heat at all or is the whole cage temp 30.1?
It sounds like to me from the description that there is no heating at all and there is no hot end/cold end.Am i correct in assuming this? If so you'll have to move it to another part of the house where the heating system can function a bit better.

You really shouldn't turn the whole thing off in winter, just limit the temp or hours.

 

[The-Guy]

I didnt turn it off, the globe blew and i never got around to reaplacing it,,,

and, sorry, the hot end was 30.1, it is an old thermostat and i dont know how to turn it up i think i have to pull it apart lol. Ill see what i can do about it as it only seems to like staying at 29 most of the time...

 

[Ricko]

try dipping the mouse/rat in no name chicken noodle soup and see how it goes. has worked for me and alot of other members here