Stimson not eating :(

[Rachel]

Hi, sorry I'm sure this has been asked before but I'm fairly new to this so just a bit worried - I have a 10month old Stimson who hasn't eaten in 5 weeks. He was eating fine when I got him then has just stopped & isn't interested in the food at all.
I have tried all the things everyone has suggested on other posts, leaving covered, feeding in cage, even cutting the pinky mouse a bit to expose the scent for him & he still doesn't seem to give it any notice.
He seems to be fine other wise still shedding, pooping & quite active but just not eating. Is this normal for a Stimson at this age? Should I take him to a vet to see if anything more serious is going on?

Thank you so much

 

[Mack86]

It's normal for them to go off food in the cooler months and some can take a while longer to start again. If it gives peace of mind, my then 5 month old stimsons went almost 6 months without eating! I was extremely worried as you can imagine. It was a combo of the cooler weather but also some husbandry issues I needed to fix. Hopefully you have him in a tub or small enclosure that's fairly simple in its set up with heating on point. In the end I had to leave my little guy completely alone (I bothered him so much due to my worrying) and had him in a tub that was really dark and warm to get him to start eating again. I wouldn't worry too much, you'll likely find by November or later this month he will start eating again.

 

[Rachel]

It's normal for them to go off food in the cooler months and some can take a while longer to start again. If it gives peace of mind, my then 5 month old stimsons went almost 6 months without eating! I was extremely worried as you can imagine. It was a combo of the cooler weather but also some husbandry issues I needed to fix. Hopefully you have him in a tub or small enclosure that's fairly simple in its set up with heating on point. In the end I had to leave my little guy completely alone (I bothered him so much due to my worrying) and had him in a tub that was really dark and warm to get him to start eating again. I wouldn't worry too much, you'll likely find by November or later this month he will start eating again.

Hi Mack86

Thank you so much for your support, yeah I have him in a small tub & temp seems to be OK but you've put my mind at ease a little bit.
I have been handling him about once a week (cause he's just so cute!) but like you've suggested I might leave him alone for a bit haha
I can't believe yours went 6 months without eating! You must've been so worried! Did you still just try feeding at your regular feeding time each time?

Thanks

 

[Mack86]

I did and honestly I was just going way over the top with it. I had a lot of advice from members here to just leave him and offer in a few weeks to a month but I just kept hassling him. My best advice is to really listen to anything you're told here especially from the more experienced members. Try and leave him for a couple of weeks and only bother him if you need to change his water or clean things. Dont even interact with him, keep things dark and warm and then I think you'll find in a few weeks he will be back to normal. You're lucky in that he was eating fine before hand. Mine was a fussy feeder from the get go and had only eaten maybe 6 times prior then went 6 months! Don't stress they can go long periods without eating. They are reptiles after all. Much different to mammals etc.

 

[Rachel]

I did and honestly I was just going way over the top with it. I had a lot of advice from members here to just leave him and offer in a few weeks to a month but I just kept hassling him. My best advice is to really listen to anything you're told here especially from the more experienced members. Try and leave him for a couple of weeks and only bother him if you need to change his water or clean things. Dont even interact with him, keep things dark and warm and then I think you'll find in a few weeks he will be back to normal. You're lucky in that he was eating fine before hand. Mine was a fussy feeder from the get go and had only eaten maybe 6 times prior then went 6 months! Don't stress they can go long periods without eating. They are reptiles after all. Much different to mammals etc.

Thanks again, I'll leave him alone haha

 

[Sdaji]

Hi Mack86

Thank you so much for your support, yeah I have him in a small tub & temp seems to be OK but you've put my mind at ease a little bit.
I have been handling him about once a week (cause he's just so cute!) but like you've suggested I might leave him alone for a bit haha
I can't believe yours went 6 months without eating! You must've been so worried! Did you still just try feeding at your regular feeding time each time?

Thanks

I had a Spotted Python choose not to eat for over 2 years. He'd fed well his whole life, was a good breeder, then suddenly stopped feeding. He stayed in good health, bred each season (three breeding seasons between feeds), did lose weight but didn't become unhealthily underweight (and was never overweight in his entire life) then one day decided to eat again and fed enthusiastically for the next 10 years or so before dying at a ripe old age.

That was what he just chose to do, not the limit of what he was capable of. Many large pythons, especially if they start out a little overweight, could easily go 3-4 years without a feed and probably some could go significantly longer.

Many people don't understand the biology of snakes, their low metabolic rates or their extreme efficiency. If there is something wrong which increases their metabolism they can require feed more often, but specifically in the case of pythons (most boas are actually even more extreme, though colubrids and most elapids generally have higher metabolisms, not to mention other snake groups), if they are in good health and condition, they can go a very long time between feeds and in many cases it's perfectly normal for them to go quite a few months without feeding entirely by choice without it indicating any problem. I have a lot of snakes which haven't been offered feeds since around April this year, and it might be November or December before they get anything offered to them. With youngsters under a year of age I rarely leave them more than a month without the opportunity to eat, but it's generally no big deal if they don't want to; as long as they're not underweight they're welcome to fast until they change their mind. They're snakes, not mammals (and even hibernating mammals can go over six months without a meal or a drink of water).

 

[Rachel]

I had a Spotted Python choose not to eat for over 2 years. He'd fed well his whole life, was a good breeder, then suddenly stopped feeding. He stayed in good health, bred each season (three breeding seasons between feeds), did lose weight but didn't become unhealthily underweight (and was never overweight in his entire life) then one day decided to eat again and fed enthusiastically for the next 10 years or so before dying at a ripe old age.

That was what he just chose to do, not the limit of what he was capable of. Many large pythons, especially if they start out a little overweight, could easily go 3-4 years without a feed and probably some could go significantly longer.

Many people don't understand the biology of snakes, their low metabolic rates or their extreme efficiency. If there is something wrong which increases their metabolism they can require feed more often, but specifically in the case of pythons (most boas are actually even more extreme, though colubrids and most elapids generally have higher metabolisms, not to mention other snake groups), if they are in good health and condition, they can go a very long time between feeds and in many cases it's perfectly normal for them to go quite a few months without feeding entirely by choice without it indicating any problem. I have a lot of snakes which haven't been offered feeds since around April this year, and it might be November or December before they get anything offered to them. With youngsters under a year of age I rarely leave them more than a month without the opportunity to eat, but it's generally no big deal if they don't want to; as long as they're not underweight they're welcome to fast until they change their mind. They're snakes, not mammals (and even hibernating mammals can go over six months without a meal or a drink of water).

Hi Sdaji

Thanks so much for your reply, it has definitely made me feel alot better. As it's my first snake I was just worried/want to make sure I'm doing everything correctly. Everyone here has been so kind & helpful & it's really appreciated

 

[Mack86]

Many people don't understand the biology of snakes, their low metabolic rates or their extreme efficiency.

This here is what I wish I understood more before starting because it took me so long to get my head around it or even to "believe" and it would have saved me a lot of stress.