just wont eat

[liggitt]

hey all,
i currently have 4 snakes of which 2 just wont eat..
my black head and 1 of my coastals eat like champions but..
my other coastal and water python forget it
the coastal ate when i got her for the first month or so then just stopped..
its been 2 months for her i am only concerned because she is only 13 months old
and my water python.
was born nov 30th 09 hasnt fed on its own at all i force fed it after 2 months and still wont eat on its own.
i stopped handling both of them incase of stress, i dont want to force feed again coz im not really a fan of it...
any advice would be much appreciated.
thanks guys,
chris

 

[kkjkdt1]

my coastal was a great feeder until it got to about 11months old then didnt eat for 7 weeks, she just started eating pinkie rats 3 weeks ago.
i was worried about mine as well but everyone told me they can go age's without food.

 

[kensai]

Try braining your rats/mice.
I have also heard of people rolling the food in beaten egg.
Also try sticking some lizard shed to the mouse(wet the mouse)

 

[babba007]

Temps ok?

 

[Ronny]

hey i breed some diamonds bit ova 2yrs ago and had trouble feedin one of them, so i ended force feedin it pinkie mice, and bout 2 months ago it started eating on its own, its now eatin velvet rats without any hassels, think sometimes you just got to be patient with them.

 

[Jungletrans]

l have an 18mth Jungle that stopped eating a couple of months ago . Tried her on live today - BANG - shes back . l will go back to frozen next week .

 

[Zoltag]

For your Coastal, there are lots of things to try - wet food, dry food, small food, large food, live food, scented food, feathers (tiny ones, from day old chicks).

Dunno about the water python, though I would suggest maybe feeder fish.

 

[shaunyboy]

hello

i had a jungle/jaguar that didnt eat.when i bought her she was 4 month old.it was 10 month later before she started eating.so dont worry about it being 2 month,that time period will have no ill effect on it.i down sized its tank,to see if it was in too big a tank and stressing.i used what we call a cadburys box.it was just a small clear tub measuring.11" long x 6"wide 4 & a half inch high.i blanked out all the sides leaving only a 4 inch square window for light,etc.snakes can become nervous and stressed if put in a tank thats too big for them.i had tried every type of f/t food item possible.i even tried live food items,all to no avail.i was using a heat mat at the time.then a friend suggested trying a different heat source.so i then put the tub into the middle of a 2ft x 2ft x2ft tank that had a ceramic heat set up in it.i then set the 2ft tank to the proper temperature.THE ONLY TIME THE SNAKE HAD ANY CONTACT WAS CHANGING ITS WATER EVERY OTHER DAY.i left it in the quietest part of my house.i used to lay a food item in her tub once a week,still nothing.then i tried leaving it 2 weeks and laid another food item into her tub,still nothing.if she was out when i put food in i'd try her at striking,but not to the point she looked scared or stressed.i'd started to get a feel for her nature by this point.after 10 months of not eating,right out the blue she struck her food item as i was trying to lay it in her tub.what she eventually struck fed on was a mouse pinkie that had been heated up and de scented by putting it in just boiled water for 5 seconds.the second i took the pinkie out the water i applied 2 drops of lizard maker on the pinkie.lizzard maker does what it says on the label,it scents food to smell like a lizard.a lot of young wild carpets start their eating carears on lizards.she has never missed a feed since and is now pounding rat fuzzy's.she was and still is a very shy and quite timid snake.the ironic thing is i bought her as a display snake,but you hardly ever see her.give your snake plenty places to hide at both hot and cold ends of its tank.i hope this has been some help to you.feel free to pm me if ive not quite explained anything enough.you will most likely find that as quick as it stopped it eating it will start again.providing all your husbandary is correct.
cheers shaun

p.s. a picture of her the day i got her.

 

[Danish]

Ive got a pair of roughies,had them for 3 months,woulnt eat for me,was also near impossable to get them to strike,so i gave quail ago,they both smashed them strait away, From what i have read on here and also told by other breeders quail is a healthier option,if i can get them regular,will prob start offering quail to all my snakes,just to mix it up abit.