Snake not eating?

Degsy

Friend of mine has a Burmese Python which has completely lost interest in food.
It hasnt actually eaten anything in nine months and nothing seems to work.
Anybody got any ideas?

rachaelc

He might be getting ready to eat your friend :eek:

Silverfish

Snakes can stop eating if their environment isn't right - not warm enough - too warm, not humid enough, not dark enough, things like that.

But not to eat for 9 months is a bit much, might be worth a trip to the vet.

Is he fed live or frozen food, do you know?

Degsy

Silverfish wrote: »

Snakes can stop eating if their environment isn't right - not warm enough - too warm, not humid enough, not dark enough, things like that.

But not to eat for 9 months is a bit much, might be worth a trip to the vet.

Is he fed live or frozen food, do you know?

He's fed on frozen rats but nowadays he wont even eat mice.

buzz

That is one of two things.

1) the snake is not happy with his enviornment, as said too warm, or too cold etc

Or

2) he is saving himself for something bigger!

What size is the snake now?

What kind of enclosure is it in?

Degsy

buzz wrote: »

That is one of two things.

1) the snake is not happy with his enviornment, as said too warm, or too cold etc

Or

2) he is saving himself for something bigger!

What size is the snake now?

What kind of enclosure is it in?

Hi..the snake is 5' long and the enclosure is about 3'x 3' glass viv with a heat lamp a tree-branch type thing

Degsy

I've been talking to my friend..if anybody wants to swap the snake for a Bearded Dragon or similar PM me..maybe one of you can get him eating again!

caspa307

tell your friend be very careful when trying to feed him

Degsy

caspa307 wrote: »

tell your friend be very careful when trying to feed him

He's given up..gonna get rid of it before he dies

Cass

Had a common Boa Constrictor for years. He stopped eating for months also. I brought him to the vet and in fairness she was a little nervous and didn't do too much.

I built him a custom tank with new lamp, heat pad, water dish, covering/bedding, and climbing pieces. The old tank was 2.5' x 1.5' x 3'. The new one was 6' x 3.5' x 2.5'.

Within a forthnight he was eating again, but he did go "off" frozen mice and would only take live. He also became "moody" and hard to handle. A friend took him off me a year later as i was moving and with a young child in the house and him reaching 5 foot (the sanke, not the child ) i was nervous.

Honey-ec

Degsy wrote: »

He's given up..gonna get rid of it before he dies

Tell him to ring Ben in Reptile Haven in Fishamble St. and see if he'll take him. Please don't let him give him away to just anyone, the snake clearly isn't happy about something and is going to need an experienced handler.

One last thing that might be worth trying is to go back to much smaller food items. If the snake hasn't eaten in nine months, then his stomach will have shrunk considerably and he won't even consider taking larger prey. Your friend may need to go right back to wiener rats or even pinkies, depending on the size of the snake.

I really wouldn't recommend trying live prey, the snake is already stressed about something and putting live mice or rats into the tank with him is only likely to stress him out even more.

Degsy

Well i took the snake in the end..first thing i did was clean out the Viv...switched on the heat pad and changed the water.He seemed to be a bit wary alrite but had a good drink of the water.

i noticed he had been kept on the floor in the corner of a room which was pretty dingy and didnt get much natural light.
So i'm gonna leave the viv near the window where it tends to get a lot of sun(if we get any) and see does that improve his mood a bit.

caspa307

hope it works out for ya mate best of luck

Dutchology

Have you got any info as to the size of the enclosure and how it's heated? If it's just the heatmat, it may not be enough. With a heatmat, you will probably need a bulb in there as well to boost the temperatures as the snake will need a very warm basking spot. With both of these heat sources, especially the heatmat, you need a thermostat to control the temperature so as not to burn the snake.

Try a variety of foods - gerbils, hamsters, mice, rats, chicks.

Make sure the snake has a secure hiding area in there and to keep the humidity at a good level, mist daily and perhaps try bedding on repti bark if that's not already what's being used.

Don't handle the snake until it has eaten.

Best of luck and keep us posted.

tallus

I'd just make sure too that the enclosure doesn't get direct sunlight as it will heat up rapidly.

edit:
Fair play to you for "rescuing" the snake Degsy.
/edit.

Degsy

Dutchology wrote: »

Have you got any info as to the size of the enclosure and how it's heated? If it's just the heatmat, it may not be enough. With a heatmat, you will probably need a bulb in there as well to boost the temperatures as the snake will need a very warm basking spot. With both of these heat sources, especially the heatmat, you need a thermostat to control the temperature so as not to burn the snake.

Try a variety of foods - gerbils, hamsters, mice, rats, chicks.

Make sure the snake has a secure hiding area in there and to keep the humidity at a good level, mist daily and perhaps try bedding on repti bark if that's not already what's being used.

Don't handle the snake until it has eaten.

Best of luck and keep us posted.

He has a heatmat that i switched on this morning but it didnt seem to have warmed up at all by this afternoon.There's a heat lamp in there which is working fine and the snake is currently basking directly under it.

I'm using beech chips as bedding..are they sufficient?
I'll fashion somewhere for him to hide in later..at the moment there's only a branch and a climby-wall-type thing.

Should i leave him to settle in before trying to feed him or will i try straight away?


Here's a pic of the current set-up

Degsy

another pic

tallus

I'd cover at least two sides of the tank with dark paper if possible or at least put it into a corner, I'm pretty sure the snake must feel exposed with only one side of the tank/viv having an opaque backing on it, and no hide. Maybe a few more branches might help too.
Doesn't look to be too small for the snake by the looks of it.
I'd say adding a decent hide would be most important to be honest. (there may be one in the viv but I can't see it, so apologies if there is one)

Degsy

tallus wrote: »

I'd cover at least two sides of the tank with dark paper if possible or at least put it into a corner, I'm pretty sure the snake must feel exposed with only one side of the tank/viv having an opaque backing on it, and no hide. Maybe a few more branches might help too.
Doesn't look to be too small for the snake by the looks of it.
I'd say adding a decent hide would be most important to be honest. (there may be one in the viv but I can't see it, so apologies if there is one)

I'll sort out a hide as soon as i can..whats the best way to make one?

tallus

Degsy wrote: »

I'll sort out a hide as soon as i can..whats the best way to make one?

I used to use plastic tubs. Admittedly I had smaller critters, mainly geckos, but anything that can keep light out should suffice. Margarine tubs were pretty handy as they are usually pretty opaque, or the plastic biscuit containers are handy too, and it's easy to cut a hole into one.
You should be able to get a custom made one pretty cheapish in any of the pet stores.
I'd use newspaper as a substrate too.. it's easy to dispose of and clean & cheap. Plus, you get to see any "emissions" that come from the snake
Fair play to you for taking the snake on dude.
edit

You probably don't need a heat mat if you have the heating overhead dude... it's not that big a viv and shouldn't take too much to heat it up. Is the overhead heater a ceramic ?

Degsy

tallus wrote: »

. Is the overhead heater a ceramic ?

Yep..i expected it to light up like a bulb but it dont!

tallus

Degsy wrote: »

Yep..i expected it to light up like a bulb but it dont!

It'll provide ambient heat.

Apparently when the Burmese are young, they are semi arboreal and spend a lot of time in trees, so the heat mat wouldn't be a huge pre-requisite to be honest, and in a setup of that size, the ceramic should provide ample heat. I'd just make sure that the snake can't come into contact with it as it will burn.
If you could place it high in one of the corners, and surround it with chicken wire etc, to prevent contact it would probably be ideal. I'd say if you had a temperature gradient from about 21C at the bottom of the viv, to around 27-30C nearer to the ceramic, it should aid thermoregulation and digestion.

Just took a look at a Wikipedia Link they can grow quite large..and need a large enclosure.

Degsy

tallus wrote: »

It'll provide ambient heat.

Apparently when the Burmese are young, they are semi arboreal and spend a lot of time in trees, so the heat mat wouldn't be a huge pre-requisite to be honest, and in a setup of that size, the ceramic should provide ample heat. I'd just make sure that the snake can't come into contact with it as it will burn.
If you could place it high in one of the corners, and surround it with chicken wire etc, to prevent contact it would probably be ideal. I'd say if you had a temperature gradient from about 21C at the bottom of the viv, to around 27-30C nearer to the ceramic, it should aid thermoregulation and digestion.

Just took a look at a Wikipedia Link they can grow quite large..and need a large enclosure.

Sorry man..meant to say its apparantly a Ball Python..not a Burmese...sorry.

Cameron Poe

That looks like a corn snake in the picture.

tallus

Degsy wrote: »

Sorry man..meant to say its apparantly a Ball Python..not a Burmese...sorry.

Ah that's better so ... at least they don't grow as large as a Burmese.

They do have a reputation for being bad feeders.

Good link Here for general husbandry.

edit

yeah I thought you said Burmese in your OP.

/edit.

tallus

We could probably do with a sticky thread here detailing some of the basics regarding reptile husbandry.

tallus

Cameron Poe wrote: »

That looks like a corn snake in the picture.

I thought that myself too when I saw the photo's.

Degsy

He almost took a chick!! First time i was waggling it and when he went to strike i got a bit of a fright and dropped it..i tried again and he started to wind around the chick but didnt actually bite down..i may be getting there lol

Edit..

Tried a bit more and eventually he took,it,wrapped around it and wolfed it down!

caspa307

can u get a pic ofthe snake cos it looks very much like a cornsnake

Degsy

caspa307 wrote: »

can u get a pic ofthe snake cos it looks very much like a cornsnake

Okies here's a couple..sorry bout the quality i didnt wanna disturb him too much.

theg81der

OMG I feel sick after reading this thread thats me not going to sleep tonight! I saw the title and all I was going to say was if your friend has a kid or anything that size get them out of the house clearly getting ready to eat something.