Spotted not eating

[Dmool3]

Hi guys, My girlfriend has an 8 month old spotted which hasn't eaten in 4 month.
He had regular feeds with the breeder and the pet shop then once with us then nothing.
I have tried braining the pinkie, raising the temp in his enclosure, not handling him for a week or 2. wiggling the pinkie infront of him with tongs and he still wont eat.

my girlfriends at the point wheres shes freaking out coz he still wont eat, tried feeding him yest and still nothing.
Are there any other methods out there to get the lil guy to eat or do i have to just wait.
How long can a hatchie go without eating.

He is in a Hatchie box with a heat mat, cold side is 27'C or so and the hot averages 32'C sometimes gets to 34'C.

any help is appreciated.

also took him to the vet a month ago, he was weighed at 16grams and measured at 35cm long so the vet wasn't too worried bout him not eating coz he is a good size.

 

[webcol]

I have a spotted with a feeding problem, similar situation. What i have to do now is cut a fuzzies head if, open the snakes mouth, put the head in and make it get hooked on the back teeth, she will then throw it about trying to remove it, but it will eventully eat it. I have been to various vets, and tried every common method without success. Oh and she is 7-8 months

 

[pythons73]

Have you spoken to the seller-breeder,what have they suggested..Depending on where you are,once the weather warms up the spotted might eat..Some of mine have only just started eating again since April,as long as he-she is healthy enough you shouldnt have any dramas..Leave alone for a week or two with minimal disturbance,except to clean\change water,and make sure the temperatures are ok,then offer a pinky rat-mice.What was he-she eating before,rats or mice.Wiggle a few inches from the snakes mouth and hopefully it will grab it,if not try again in another week.Best of luck...

 

[wranga]

its not unusual for snakes not to feed at this time of year. most will start feeding im about a months time. if once the weather warms up and it still isnt feeding do as pythons73 said and contact the person you bought it from

 

[Dmool3]

Thanks guys, I live in Queensland and we feed him/her pinkie mice. We have contacted the place we bought him from and they weren't much help. Ill try the above suggestions and see how we go.

 

[Mangles]

Another trick is to put a small hide box in his tank, such as a panadol carton. Feed at night, and put the snake in the box with the pinky and close it up. It will then be dark and private and the snake may feel more comfortable and will eat.

Check after a few hours.

It has worked for some of my fussy feeders, but not all.

 

[TRIBULL]

well I have sented pinkies with skink urine and i have wet a pinkie with water both have worked for me.
Also let me guess you have got him in a tank, if so put him in a small click clack container inside the tank,
As baby snakes can freak out in a enclosure cause of the size .

 

[Dmool3]

the container is about 25cm wide / 25cm long / 15cm tall. he has a hollow fake rock inside it.
it might be a lil big for hiim. tried feeding him last night and still nothing.
ill give the panadol box a go, cheers guys

 

[Cheyne_Jones]

I think your temps may be causing some of the dramas.

27 on the cold side is way too hot, he doesnt have enough of a gradient to be comfortable IMO. You need to find a way to drop that temp back to 20 or so to give him half a chance.

 

[amy5189]

the enclosure size is fine, but are you thinking the hide maybe too big? the hides for my little spotteds/childrens are as small as they can squeeze into, like a pill box as mangles said, or even a tampon box.... sorry but i have used one before for my childrens and he fitted nice and snuggly! lol.
and leave the mouse in overnight, as sometimes this will work. it has for my fussy coastal as they might be too stressed seeing you standing there. lol

also it seems you said it came from a pet shop?? so in that case they probably did just throw the pinky in and leave it, as they wouldn't have time to stand there with everyone. this may be the problem solver for you! so give it a try and let us know.

BUT DONT GIVE UP!! lol. my coastal didn't eat for the first 6 months of her life and i was so stressed and wanting to give her to someone more experienced etc but i am glad i persevered cause now i have the most beautiful little snake!!

if this doesn't work, where abouts in queensland are you located? cuz you may be able to get in contact with a nice breeder or knowledgeable person willing to help you assist feed etc

 

[Locky]

Hi guys thanks for your suggestions, we have tried all of the above so far and still no luck. Have brought the temp down on the cool side and tried the pill box - Dazza does like hiding in this but hasn't helped with the feeding.
Have tried skink tails; scenting the mice pinkies; rat pinkies; chopped one in half; left overnight; put in pill box with Dazza, stopped watching him eat... and finally we have just tried force feeding but he won't bite down (got it about half way in) so it won't hook onto his teeth and force him to swallow. Just spits it back out.
He is drinking fine and very active and shedding fine.
I visited his siblings who have all been eating weekly and are substantially bigger .. obviously. The pet shop haven't been able to suggest anything else.
Off to the vet again this arvo hopefully Dazza starts eating again soon.. it's very distressing!
oh and live on Southside of Brizzy
Cheers for all your help

 

[webcol]

The one i mentioned previously, died last week. I sent her to a profesional to take care of, but it was just one of those cases

 

[Princexxxpython]

did he start eating again?
hope its good news!

 

[Locky]

The vet was able to force feed him with a lot of effort and has put him on antibiotics in case he has a bacterial infection so I'm giving him a needle every 3 days for 2 weeks. I have tried a couple of times to force feed him but i've have no luck as yet... the mice keep bursting about half way down... think i might be heating them up too long?
However he is a lot stronger already having some food in his belly so i will keep persevering with the force feeding until he starts taking them himself again.

 

[justbecausewhy]

my spotted (snappy) has the same problem...he wont even stick his tonge out to smell the pinky...where as my other spotted (spike) is eating like there is no tomorrow...2 x pinkies at a time...he is goin on to fuzzy next feed.
snappy loves to lay in the warm end so hopefully he will eat soon...just have to wait and see.

 

[AlexB]

Have you tried senting the pinkies?

day old chicken feathers work well as does a gold fish HTH

A

 

[Sami66]

I have a friend who has 12 hatchlings. She has a few who have not eaten well at all and one that hasn't eaten since April. She started with mouse tails and then moved onto mouse legs. She is getting there slowly. Maybe that will help.