Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Greetings! I have a Leucistic Texas Rat that hasn't been eating regularly at all. I THOUGHT that he had finally decided to eat again after a very finicky winter season, but he just doesn't seem interested. The times that he's eaten have all been by the "tease-feed" method where I have to bump the pinkies (yes, he's STILL on pinkies and small fuzzies) into his snout to finally get his mouth open to eat. I have 2 corns and a Florida King that eat hoppers... but are smaller than he is. His mouth could easily stretch over a hopper, but when I get him eating, its only on pinkies and small fuzzies.

One person suggested that if he skips meals, let him skip until he finally gets hungry enough to eat, but I don't want him dying on me either, so I give in and tease-feed him a pinky every other week or so. He hasn't eaten on his own since before the new year... its all been by teasing him.

Any help would be appreciated! He used to be my "longest" snake, but others are passing him by because he isn't eating properly.
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4 Corns - Aphrodite (Normal), Freya (Normal), Peyton (Amel), and Royal (Lavender)
2 Florida Kings - Thor (Axanthic Brooksi) & Lilith (Normal)
1 Leucistic Texas Rat Snake - MacLeod
1 Taiwan Beauty Snake - Mushu

Some snakes just don't seem to have the zest for a good meal that others have...That's for sure! I have a "flame" texas rat that a breeder/friend gave to me as a starving hatchling. He said, "If YOU can get him to eat, he's yours!" I finally got him started with decapitated pinks, and now he eats weanling mice, but he's never been the feisty diner that so many of my snakes are. He's undersize for his age, I usually have to put the mouse right in front of his face, and he skips meals. But he EATS!

Will yours eat a second fuzzy once he's downed one? Or even a third? In other words, can you get a reasonable amount of food in him if you try, even if the items are undersized?

As with my picky eater(s)...At least he's eating. He may grow out of it...or he may not. Keep trying to offer a larger item every so often. The nice thing about having multiple snakes is you can offer a hopper & if it is refused you can offer a fuzzy and give the hopper to someone else. Good luck. Duffy

Thanks for the help. I appreciate the fact that I'm not alone in this mess (hence the call for help). I guess I'll keep trucking along and doing the pinky/fuzzy thing for him for awhile. What I don't look forward to is having to do this when he's much larger and can as easily grab my hand as the mouse that I'm using forceps to feed him with. If that happens, I guess I'll have to get longer tongs! LOL.

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4 Corns - Aphrodite (Normal), Freya (Normal), Peyton (Amel), and Royal (Lavender)
2 Florida Kings - Thor (Axanthic Brooksi) & Lilith (Normal)
1 Leucistic Texas Rat Snake - MacLeod
1 Taiwan Beauty Snake - Mushu