Reptile & Amphibian Forums

This female drives me nuts with her eating habits. Something changed about 18 months ago and she takes longer and longer to eat. She will constrict promptly...within 15 seconds every time. It doesn't seem to make any difference what is offered...she accepts anything from adult mice to large rats, live, f/k, or f/t. Then she proceeds to sniff and cannot figure out to start head first. As of recently only prey small enough to go butt first gets down. This means she's being fed 6 to 8 mice or 4 to 6 weaner rats. Even then it may take as long as 6 hours to eat. I prefer a single appropriate size prey per snake per feeding. She should be eating medium to large rats. As a baby and sub-adult she ate normally. I am certain she was never overheated. This seemed to begin after I wormed her with Panacur (single dose) by stomach tube almost 2 years ago for some type of strongyloides. I also found pinworms at this time and was primarily feeding f/k. She is CBB and I haven't done anything else to her besides moving her to a single larger enclosure. Could I have damaged her? Any suggestions on getting her to eat more appropriately? I don't care about feeding her whatever it takes, but big rats would be healthier I think.

Any suggestions? This pic looks like her eye is gone. It is there and works well.

One thing I have learned with my rainbows is that their feeding isnt always a guarantee like my redtails or corn snakes. I have a male that when little ate no problem then for about 2 or so months he didnt want food then for a while he would only eat if you put it in there and left the room then he went back to eating no problem and then he went off feed for a little while. But aslong as they are eating and are healthy I do not worry about it because I figure he knows what he is doing.
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1.1 Motley het butter corns
0.1 Snow corn
0.1 Okeetee corn
1.0 Anery mutt corn
0.1 Stripe Ghost corn
0.1 Amelanistic corn het carmel
2.1 Colombian Redtails
1.0 Hypo Colombian redtail
1.0 Brazilian Rainbow Boa
1.0 Anery Kenyan sand boa
0.1 Normal Kenyan sand boa

Linda, I don't ahve any advice for you right now but i am very curios as to how a CBB snake came up with pinworms. Do you have any idea how the animal picked them up?
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Mike Lockwood
www.tooscaley.com

....in Understanding Reptile Parasites "Mouse pinworms are often seen in stools of rodent-eating reptiles. These eggs came from the ingested rodent and the eggs are passed through the GI tract. Mouse pinworms do not cause disease in reptiles." p. 55

I always thought it was from feeding live and/or f/k. This is the only reason I stopped dumping the used mulch (unless composted) in my flower garden and around trees.

I have seen some literature stating that pinworms can cause problems in snakes if the load is heavy and I beleive they were associated with rectal prolapse?? I'll do more fecals on my cbb's in the next few weeks (or months) and post the results. I'm kinda odd....maybe you can tell. Fecals are interesting to me. No one at work really likes to do them except me. Through out the years I have found all sorts of stuff in them.

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When the student is ready, the teacher appears. When the student is ready, the teacher appears. When the student is ready, the teacher appears. When the student is ready, the teachers appears.

Not so odd, I've known many a snake freak who also suffered from fecalphilia. You're in good company.
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Mike Lockwood
www.tooscaley.com

I'm glad there's a name for that disorder. It's really bad when you don't fit in anywhere!

Linda,
I've got a BRB who is also a very picky eater. She is smaller than her litter mate and I don't think she'll ever be near the size of her mother and father or brother. Her thing is small rats; never refuses them. She'll eat a large or medium on occasion but just not a big feeder unless they are small. I think some snakes are just that way. Pretty sure nothing you did caused it to become particular (though that butt first thing is interesting).
Paul
P.S. Really clean looking Hog you posted over on the Boa forum; are you still as enamored with them?

I call it "appetizer / main course" feeding not sure if it has another name.

I have a female a little like her, would only take down and swallow small prey. Anything close to normal size would be constricted and left. I "tricked her for some time and now she's doing better and eating appropriate size prey on her own.

Offer an appetiszer, one of those snack sized prey items. You'll have to watch carefully. As the last part of the appetizer item goes in her mouth, chase it with a pre killed normal sized prey item (main course) by placing the head in her mouth right behind the snack item. Then as she finishes working in/down the appetizer, the main course will follow.
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Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC)
0.2 kids (CBB, selectively bred from good stock)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:
12.24 BRB
11.13 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

Except my BRB will only accept fairly small, LIVE rats, uugh...
Do BRBs have particularly nasty feces? This morning our whole place stank from her latest creation. This seems to happen when she goes in her hide box and there isn't much absorbent material in there...

nice.... I was just taking a bite of an egg an ham bagel. Should have known better.
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Mike Lockwood
www.tooscaley.com

I will try this next feeding and if it doesn't work I will ship her to you!

Now what did I do with your address.....

Thanks