Jungle Feeding Pattern....

[deebo]

Gday,

My female jungle has me baffled with her feeding. She is about 20 months old or so and has always been a bit of a finicky eater. She would always eat mice with gusto and then I had her onto rats for a while and then she went off them, then I had her on day old chicks for a while and now she doesnt seem to want anything - Mice, Rats or Chicks....
Her feeding shedule for the last little while is as follows:
10/6
30/6
28/7
6/8
3/9

and she just shed on the 17/9 and has not been keen on food since then. She is still prowling her cage at night and hangs down in strike position but is just not interested. She has gone a while without feeding before and I know she will eat when hungry but its just frustrating. She weighs abut 650grams( after a big poo). Temps are good in her enclosure and the night times in brissy have been much warmer recently so I would have thought her apetite would be increasing.

Is there anything anyone can suggest to maybe try and get her feeding better?
or should I just maybe only try and feed her everything 3 weeks or so?
or is there something I should be looking for?

Thanks,
Dave

 

[notechistiger]

Have you tried braining the rat/mouse (pushing a pin or needle through the skull so that some fluids come out) or slitting its throat so that the snake can smell it's insides? It's not particularly nice, but I've always found it effective when trying to get picky eaters to feed.

 

[deebo]

yeah have tried that.....she smells and smells and smells but nothing. Have also just tried quickly opening up her enlcosure and leaving food in overnight but still no luck.

When she does decide to feed she normally does so without hesitation and strikes at the item hard but there is a lot of times where she comes out all interested smells it and goes away....

 

[disasterpiece7.0]

What's her attitude to the food offered? does she smell it then seem uninterested? Does she ever strike at it but not coil? How often do you handle her if at all?

 

[notechistiger]

Has she always been like this? And how long have you had her?

 

[Aussie Python Lover]

David my female is doing that at the moment I live in ippy so I know what u mean about the heat she hasnt eatin much since winter and the heat is just right I thought she would eat too but I also have a 4yo male in with her so maybe thats why mine isnt eating due to the breeding process, leave her bee for about a week or two then try her if not just leave her try not to stress her out much by offering her food... Relax she will eat again..

 

[tomcat88]

i use a vitamin spray that i brought from the local pet shop but not only does it provide extra vitamins, i have found that when i use the spray his feeding response/willingness to strike and constrict aggressively is much much stronger than when i dont use it. cant think of the brand of the top of my head im at my gf's house. could be something worth trying as not only is it a vitamin supplement for your snake but it seems to be scented with something that gets the snake VERY interested in feeding.

i'd prob be looking at feeding a snake that age twice a month instead of once especially as its getting much warmer unless you are feeding large rats/chicks.

 

[deebo]

disasterpiece - she will smell it then just slide away. She doesn't strike at it then leave it. And she is the most placid snake I have handling wise but I would probably only handle her once a week for a quick cleaning session and thats about all.

notechisitger - She has always been a bit finicky but would normally eat mice if offered. I have had her since a hatchling.

As i said, im not really worried about her as she does eat but it would be nice to be able to get a bit more food into her on a regular basis.

 

[Aussie Python Lover]

Tomcat could you get the name of that spray cause my female is very fussy and I have tried everything to try get her to eat pm me when you can with the name of it thanks mate

 

[deebo]

Aussie Python Lover - thanks....I try not to bother her too much with food. If she doesn't eat I just leave her be till the next feeding time. I can also remember a while ago someone saying that if you put a bit of chickenstock in the water when you defrost them that can help - might try that myself.....
Cheers,
Dave

 

[jasontini]

Hi Dave, have u tried quails..?

 

[deebo]

Jasontini - No I havent. Do you know anywhere local around brissy that sells them. I have never seen them for sale at the petshops I have been to.
Thanks,
Dave

 

[Jungle_Freak]

Sounds like the jungle is stressed out and has gone off its food, or its a male ,
usually females eat very well all there life.
Where is some males can be picky feeders and stop feeding during mating season.
Another thing is that males are more active during winter and females usually dont move around in there cages much in cooler months .

Roger

 

[jasontini]

..u can PM PythonKing (a member here)..
I got my quails from him...ranging from day olds to adults..Hes over at Bundamba...
My snakes luvvv them, i have one coastal, shes the smallest n most fussiest eater, simply refused mice,rats..
but now a regular on quails n chicks...hope this helps..!

 

[disasterpiece7.0]

Sounds like the jungle is stressed out

Roger

That's what I was thinking. Seems to be a similar thing to what my two little jungles have been doing. Smell it forever and then just don't go.

 

[deebo]

Jungle_Freak - I had thought that she might be stressed but cannot think of anything that has changed for her in a long time to cause her to stress. I hate trying lost of things at once but was thinking that if she doesn't come good then maybe housing her in a biggish plastic tub as opposed to her 1200x600x600 glass fronted enclosure to try and make her feel more secure. But then again she has a couple of hides in her enclosure but is always out and about - even during the day - so I cant see her feeling "safe" an issue as I would have thought she would hide a lot more.

jasontitni - thanks - will give him a try if needed.