my coastal wont eat- help

[kkjkdt1]

hi all,
my 1 year old coastal(SHAR KHAN) normally eats every sunday night(frozen mice) but for the last 4 weeks she wont eat. ive tried her with smalller mice and live but she has a sniff and leaves them.
she shed 2 weeks ago, has no mites, temp is right,enclosure clean,water changed every day.
i have a pair of 2.5 year old jungles and a murray darling that feed with no probs.
i have been told by another keeper not 2 worry but 4 weeks seems 2 long.
please help even to tell me this is normal or to give advice.
thanks all and be safe over xmas

 

[AMY22]

4 weeks does seem long time but snakes can honestly go months without food and be completely fine. Obviously there should be concern but don’t panic that she is going to starve. It’s only when she starts to show obvious signs of weight loss that you really need to worry. Have you recently changed her food? Have you tried leaving the food in for a few hours to see if she takes it? Have you tried increasing the temperature of the tank by a few degrees just to see if it makes a difference? Has her behaviour changed in any way i.e. decreased activity? If she shed 2 weeks ago and hasn’t eaten for 2 weeks before and after then it MAY have something to do with it perhaps.
As for attempting to feed live, what state do you live in? I’m not out to cause more debate on the subject because the law varies from state to state, but if you live in SA it is illegal. In other states I think it is different and I think it’s okay (I only know the laws here), but I know a few people in SA who think it’s still legal here.

 

[kkjkdt1]

my coastal wont eat

her behavior hasnt really changed, she still loves to be held.
i only tried live because she wouldnt eat frozen,i warm her food up before i give it to her and tried cold defrosted still no go. not to get into the live/frozen debate but i dont feed mine live normally as my kids(ages 2 to 9) help with the snakes and i dont want them bitten as this will turn them off. im from victoria.
tried turning the temp up etc.
hopefully its just a fase and she gets over it(PLEASE)

 

[AMY22]

her behavior hasnt really changed, she still loves to be held.
i only tried live because she wouldnt eat frozen,i warm her food up before i give it to her and tried cold defrosted still no go. not to get into the live/frozen debate but i dont feed mine live normally as my kids(ages 2 to 9) help with the snakes and i dont want them bitten as this will turn them off. im from victoria.
tried turning the temp up etc.
hopefully its just a fase and she gets over it(PLEASE)

Yeah I don’t want to cause a debate on the subject because I know if everyone starts it’s going to go completely off topic, just wondering if you were from SA. But aaanyway, have you tried moving the food around to make it look alive? I’ve had to do that once or twice with Monty in the past.

 

[Chris1]

have u tried gently tapping her in the face with it to annoy her and encourage her to strike,...?
...just a thought,....

 

[kkjkdt1]

Coastal wont eat

tried tapping her, she has never tried to strike even without food-very placid snake.
left food with her for a while,tried to make it look alive.
im out of ideas.
just have to hope she will eat when she is ready

 

[jinin]

One of my 2 Coastals is a fussy eater, i just wiggle it around (Let it hang in the air by its tail) and boom, takes it down!

 

[Jungletrans]

1 of mine just had its first feed in 7 months , no reason , it just stopped . l tried every couple of weeks then 2 days ago it ate . l figure that if everything is good , temp , humidity , food etc and it doesnt want to eat who am l to argue ?

 

[redbellybite]

have you checked inside her mouth to make sure alls good in there ?
If this is out of wack with her ,and you have ruled out all obvious senarios
then it may pay to take her to a good reptile vet and get a once over ..at least then it will give you some peace of mind with her ...keep us posted

 

[aaron70]

my spotted did not eat for 7-8 months, my daughter found some seagull feathers in the park the other day, so scented a mouse with them and she ate straight away!!!

 

[Sock Puppet]

1yr coastal on mice, maybe try rats?

 

[eamonn]

One of my new Costal's hadn't had a fed since june up until today. Nothing to worry about should be fine.