Spotted Python not eating....

[Paul-Bufi]

hey everyone,
i have just signed up tonight to what already looks like a wicked forum because i need some help or advice about my 45cm spotted python.
Ok wel he/she is comeing up to a 1 year old and i have had some trouble getting him/her to eat recently.
When i first got him he wouldt eat so my mate suggested the introduced indonesian gecko's once they have been frozen for three weeks and he took it no worys.
Now my snake will not eat anythinn else but them ad live fuzzy mice. how can i get him to eat frizen mice?

I have read that they are ment to be one of the least fussiest snakes?
thanks, Paul

 

[cement]

with spotteds its usually a case of them not being warm enough. Up the temps and they start to eat again. It happens at this time of year with them as they feel the cold coming on and don't feed through winter with the cooler temps. Don't feed geckoes, get them warm and feed them mice.

 

[Lewy]

Where abouts are you Paul as all off my spotteds have gone of there food for the winter despite there heat being on


Lewy

 

[Jazza369]

rub a geko on a mice to it smells like a geko and then try that if no luck offer it the geko and the put the mice right it front of the snake right away you might be able to trick it lol. best of luck

 

[hilly]

mines gone off his food too and he's normally a ravenous eater. I think it might the photocycle for this time of year because the heat in his enclosure is consistantly 28-30 degrees

 

[Paul-Bufi]

Where abouts are you Paul as all off my spotteds have gone of there food for the winter despite there heat being on


Lewy

Hi lewy, i live in Cairns...where abouts are you...?
thanks, Paul

 

[Paul-Bufi]

rub a geko on a mice to it smells like a geko and then try that if no luck offer it the geko and the put the mice right it front of the snake right away you might be able to trick it lol. best of luck

I have tried the first option....no luck at all. And i didn't really want to try the second because he will strike straight away....there's no time to even blink lol.
I am litrally completly out of ideas, he last ate on the 28th of March and shed on the 15th of April.
I have left his heat lamp on for a while now and his tank is sitting at exactly 30, and still no luck... im starting to get really frustrated with him.
thanks, Paul

 

[gpoleweski]

So their feeding comes back in mid June? I got a snake from the Expo two days ago, and am letting him settle in for a week before I try and feed him anything. Do you think I should still try even though some have gone off their food, just in case? Because he hadn't eaten for 2 weeks before the expo, I was told by the breeder.

 

[shonny]

My Spotted's were fussy eaters when they were smaller I did the trick thing and followed with a pinky as suggested previously and after second time they both ate pinkies after that.....Give it a go it should work

 

[John_lisa]

hey im not very smart so im gonna probebly sound stupied hear seen as i know cairns and sydney are way off but my spotted is eating i feed her today and i had no truble is this normal or should she not be eating aswell cuz i have no idea seen as im new to snakes

and paul i noticed u said he/she takes live fuzzy mice um i may be wrong but from what i have read i wouldn be feeding her live as i have read it is rather hard to get them back onto frozen (once she startes taking them) other then that i have no help for u sorry champ id just give it time if everything else fails

good luck

 

[seumas12345]

That's completely fine johno799.... Alot of the time people only cool their snakes and stop feeding them for breeding purposes,. it can be difficult for those in cold areas to keep their snakes eating through winter because it can be hard to keep the temps up, and often the snakes will stop eating for winter regardless of what they do.... But we in the northern regions of Australia are lucky.. Our temps dont drop much at all around winter so we can just keep feeding as normal. it's only when you want to breed them that you have to stop feeding and cool them.

 

[John_lisa]

ok awsome cheers mate i have to start reading up on more snakes and there behaviours and about breeding cuz i am rather intrested in breeding atm lol but thats good to know cheers

 

[Paul-Bufi]

hey im not very smart so im gonna probebly sound stupied hear seen as i know cairns and sydney are way off but my spotted is eating i feed her today and i had no truble is this normal or should she not be eating aswell cuz i have no idea seen as im new to snakes

and paul i noticed u said he/she takes live fuzzy mice um i may be wrong but from what i have read i wouldn be feeding her live as i have read it is rather hard to get them back onto frozen (once she startes taking them) other then that i have no help for u sorry champ id just give it time if everything else fails

good luck

ok thanks mate, what i ment to say is my snake would only eat gecko's and wouldnt evengo near the pinkies/fuzzies, so to get him/her intrestd i tried it with a live and he/she smashed it. but since then it will only eat frozen gecko's or live mice....
cheers mate, Paul

 

[seumas12345]

Paul, I've encountered similar problems. I have a Darwin carpet that would only eat live (rats or mice)... Then once she was bitten by a rat, and now she will only eat live mice. I've tried everything, scenting the rat with a mouse, scenting with geckos, braining, and she still only eats live mice. Although it might be inconvenient, I think it's just one of those things... I would continue to feed her live mice for a couple of months, and then one day just try a frozen thawed mouse. It could be all the chopping and changing of what you are offering it that has it sketchy about what it eats. Get it into a routine and then try and offer it frozen.

 

[John_lisa]

hmm well i would probebly say go with what seumas12345 said seen as it does sound like a good option but i just wanna add in and i dont know how long u have been into snakes so u may know this but with feeding live just make sure u watch the snake till the mice is gone so that nothing happens to ur snake and sorry if u already know this and i made u feel stupied but alot of ppl dont think about the snake getting bitten by the mice there gutsie lil things them mice lol

ither then that good luck hope u can get it onto frozzen

 

[Paul-Bufi]

Paul, I've encountered similar problems. I have a Darwin carpet that would only eat live (rats or mice)... Then once she was bitten by a rat, and now she will only eat live mice. I've tried everything, scenting the rat with a mouse, scenting with geckos, braining, and she still only eats live mice. Although it might be inconvenient, I think it's just one of those things... I would continue to feed her live mice for a couple of months, and then one day just try a frozen thawed mouse. It could be all the chopping and changing of what you are offering it that has it sketchy about what it eats. Get it into a routine and then try and offer it frozen.

Ok thanks alot mate, i will give that a go, so tomorrow i need to buy a cage and a few pairs of mice and i will see if i can get them breeding. Thanks so much for all the advice everyone, i was on the verge of selling him because I had no idea what to do. I will feed live for a while and see what happens.
Thanks, Paul

 

[v_various]

Try getting the mouse as hot as you can too (with in reason), I've heard hair driers work well but haven't had to try that yet myself. As long as your snake isn't loosing a lot of weight, they'll be fine. Maybe he's just holding out for the tastier geckos...

 

[webcol]

My spotted has stopped eating for the winter, i think some snakes just do it no matter what you try. Also i dont think you should introduce lizards to the diet then go back to mice, for the reason that it is sometimes hard to get them back on mice , also some places have laws against feeding snakes certain things like lizards.

 

[Lewy]

My spotted has stopped eating for the winter, i think some snakes just do it no matter what you try. Also i dont think you should introduce lizards to the diet then go back to mice, for the reason that it is sometimes hard to get them back on mice , also some places have laws against feeding snakes certain things like lizards.

More to the point you dont want to be introducing worms to your snake

 

[amy5189]

maybe bump the spotteds temps up to 32-33. also make the food warmer too as was suggested. my coastal will only eat if the food is nice and toasty.
if it doesn't eat. let it starve. lol. that sounds mean, but if you let it go for maybe 3-4 weeks without food, then offer it a thawed mouse, it might be hungry enough to take it.
don't give up though. my coastal used to be a horrid feeder, and there were so many times i wanted to sell her to someone more knowledgeable, but i held in there and now she is super!!

ps. have you tried leaving the dead mousey in the tub overnight with the snake? that way its dark and the snake wont get disturbed etc....