My Black rat snake hasn't eaten in a long time...

AussieBSurfer · #1 (**permalink**) 12-12-2008, 04:51 AM

Please Help,

Last September I took in a wild black rat snake that a group of guys were going to let go in the principal's office. I convinced them otherwise and to just give her to me. I asked a friend at a local pet store what he recommended for lighting and bought everything he told me to. She used to dig at the bottom of her cage when I temporarily had stones in it, I quickly changed the stones to repti-bark, but she has a bruised nose and I think it was because of the stones. She ate (F/T) large mice fine for me the first couple of months, but these past 6 weeks she's refused to eat. I even threw a live mouse in to see if she would prefer life. She followed it around the enclosure but didn't strike or take any effort in eating it. I removed the mouse after leaving it in over night (as i do all the mice I've tried). I've been pleading with my parents to make an appointment with any veterinarian that works with reptiles. But they haven't made any phone calls yet. The only local veterinarian that we have that works with reptiles only works with very few. I took my iguana in a couple years ago and they put him down because they said he was suffering and there was nothing they could do. I'm not sure if it was because they didn't know what to do or if there literally was nothing that could be done. I'm afraid to take her to the vet because of the service they provide there. I don't want to release her because it is far too cold outside right now and I would hate for her to die of starvation... please help me I really care about her. I was planning on letting her go next summer once the weather got warm enough.

thomasito · #2 (**permalink**) 12-12-2008, 04:59 AM

Snakes often go on a short pauze.(break?) 6 weeks isnt really something 2 really worry about , i have some snakes that dont eat for 2 months and after that they eat like crazy , just give the snake some rest , check the humidity , tempreture etc etc , is she losing weight?Is she drinkin?

Btw ,, Leaving a live mouse over night is the worste possible thing you can do ,

Greetz,

AussieBSurfer · #3 (**permalink**) 12-12-2008, 05:04 AM

Her water dish is empty after about two days, but I haven't seen her drink anything. I'm not sure if its the humidity that's drying up the water dish or her actually drinking from it.
I've heard about live mice nibbling on the snake if the snake doesn't eat it. So I literally stayed up all night and made sure that didn't happen. Is that the only reason why leaving a live mouse in was a bad thing to do?

Special K · #4 (**permalink**) 12-14-2008, 03:39 AM

Check to see if all your temperatures and humidity settings are correct.
Has your snake been shedding for you? Has his/her skin come off in single or several pieces?
Check the water bowl for any floating black 'dots', and check your snake thoroughly to see if you see any black bugs crawling around. Sometimes a quick scan isn't good enough.. You may have to stare at a spot for awhile to see if anything's moving.
Those could be mites, and many snakes will refuse meals if they are infested simply because they don't have the energy and are very stressed out.

Leaving a mouse overnight does carry a risk of your snake being harmed. While it's good that you stayed up to make sure your snake wasn't hurt, all it takes is a second for the damage to be done. Just be very careful with your live feedings and never leave it overnight again, even if you're keeping an eye on things.
Try making the f/t prey you have bleed a little at the nose, or warm it up super hot to the touch. Another thing you could try is dipping the prey in chicken broth, then offering it to your snake.
There's a plethra of tricks you can do to get your snake eating, but try these few first.
If none of those work, shoot me a PM.

Hope this helped!

AussieBSurfer · #5 (**permalink**) 12-14-2008, 04:08 AM

Alright, thanks for that advice.
Her nose is healing up rather quickly - i just put a tad of neosporin on it to moisten it and it works great.
As for the shedding, she hasn't shed in a long time i thought maybe that was because of her not eating. But when she did shed before it was a whole piece. its pretty cool, hah, i hung it up cause it was so perfect. :P

luker3232 · #6 (**permalink**) 12-14-2008, 04:17 AM

Yea live feeding is not that great of an idea but a normal one. I did it, I regret it.

juSStin4171 · #7 (**permalink**) 12-14-2008, 05:49 AM

I've had the same problem with my BP lately. Right about 6 weeks as well. Maybe its a season thing? Does that affect a snakes' eating habbits?

Special K · #8 (**permalink**) 12-14-2008, 05:52 AM

I'd say it's quite possible that the season change has something to do with it.

FragginDragon · #9 (**permalink**) 12-14-2008, 03:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KarleyandBrad

I'd say it's quite possible that the season change has something to do with it.

I agree, if it's w/c it's quite likely that the reduced daylight hours are telling it that it's time to take a couple month break. I would suggest artificially brumating it for a couple of months once that nose wound is healed.

luker3232 · #10 (**permalink**) 12-15-2008, 06:45 PM

This is off toopic but can I see some gator pics?

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