Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Is it common for greens to go a long time without eating. Mine is about a year old and 3 feet because the last 2 months it's only eaten 1 mouse. Each time I give it a fully thawed out mouse, it just ignores it for a whole day. I tried giving him a live one, thinking maybe he will have a stronger feeding response, but no, the mouse just crawls all over him and he doesn't care. Is this normal, or is he sick? If so, with what? Thanks for your help.

Just to get some background as to better answer your question. What are the caging conditions, as in the environmental parameters - temps, hide box, substrate, humidity, etc. Additionally, is it WC or CB, what is the feeding record since you have had it, and how long have you had it. Thanks,

Kelly

He's in a 75 gallon with 2 lamps on a 12 hour cycle creating ambient temp between 80-90. I have 2 live plants, a spider plant and an amazonian plant, pretty sealed lid that keeps the humidity around 60-90%. I use eco-earth expandable substrate mixed with jungle earth about 3 inches deep, he ALWAYS seems to just bury himself if he's not in the water. He does have a half-log to hide in next to the water bowl, which is a actually a kitty litter pan. I don't know if he's WC or not, I got him from a local pet shop and I actually don't know the sex. When I first got him, he pounded 2-3 live mice a week. Did that for 3 months. When I tried to go to f/t in Jan. he ate one no problem the first time, but then for weeks after that he wouldn't eat. Finally, I had to practically dangle one in front of his face with tongs and set it in his mouth for him to take it. Now it seems, he has not eaten in over a month. Every week I lay dead mice in there, dangle them for him, but he doesn't eat. Just tonight I tried the live one, but no results. His appetite used to be a lot stronger. I bought him in Oct. 2005 and he is maybe 6-8 inches longer now than when I first got him. Am I doing something incredibly wrong here, please let me know. I know if anyone can help me, it's you Kelly, thanks for personally responding to my situation.

-Chad

Are you ABSOLUTELY sure the first FT was completely thawed? Even though the outside of a FT feels warm it doesn't mean it's completely thawed. It sounds like your problems started with that first FT so I would wonder about that meal.

Try rats.

Laterz
Me

If your temps are measuring what you said at the substrate level, I don't see a problem there. But if that is the air temp of the cage, I would check and make sure that the surface temp of the substrate had a range from 80 to 90 from one area of the cage to another. Many times these natural substrate materials are considerably cooler than the air temp when using overhead heat. You may even try some under the tank heating at one spot within the cage. Your humidity range is alright, and shouldn't be the source of any problems. He is probably WC if I had to guess, seeing that he was a pet shop snake. I think it would be a good idea to take a fecal sample to the vet for analysis just to rule out any parasite problems. The issue is that he was feeding well in the beginning, and then the response faded off later. Most greens this young that develop a good feeding response usually don't lose it and go off feed like this. Later, when they begin to mature, they will sometimes go off feed for short periods. Check the substrate temps as that could be critical, and have a fecal run, and then let us know what happens. If the only thing you have done differently before he went off feed was the f/t feeder, I don't believe that would have caused the problem. If he still doesn't start feeding, then please get back with us and we may need to re-evaluate the situation. Thanks,

Kelly