Reptile & Amphibian Forums

At the beginning of February I adopted a gorgeous 2 1/2 old Bubblegum rat. She's calmed down leagues since I've had her and with the exception of a few days hasn't been overly defensive towards me at all. Aida's about 3 feet long and 310g. Since I've had her she's eaten 2 mouse fuzzies, one every 6 weeks (her choice, not mine). I've taken care of plenty of other snakes at the wildlife sanctuary I intern for and I know it's not a big deal to have a snake refuse food. It's just a bit different when the snake is my pet. I try and feed her a small F/T mouse every two weeks but she's never been interested in it at all. She's not losing any weight and she's never been particularly active when I'm awake unless I put her in a tub and let her go swimming (which she seems to really enjoy). I'm just wondering when I should start worrying about her. Her tank is set up about 82F on the warm side but she spends nearly all day in the hide on the other side of the tank, she's mostly nocturnal.

if anyone is in New England and is interested, her sister (same age and approx size) is still up for adoption from NEARR

Thanks!
~Sarah

NEARR

Hmmmm maybe this picture of her will work...

Hi!,..that was also me who responded to your posts several months ago.
Well, she looks real good, and the weight sounds right.
but usually feed much more often(as you obviously know)than she has been. This could be many things. Have you been warming(VERY slowly)the fuzzy so it's about a normal rodent temp?. many times if they are too cold, or warmed up too fast, it can smell funny to them. I thaw the prey totally, then put the mice/rats on a large piece of screen over a "clamp lamp" with a low watt bulb to slowly warm them, giving them a turn every 15 minutes or so until they "feel" right, just like a grill, only barely any heat, or you can put them in a plastic bag, and drop them into warm water(not hot), as this will affect the integrity of the skin making sometimes not smell right to the snake(not to mention, fall apart).
Also, have you tried changing the prey from mouse to young rat?. Keep in mind, you don't really know what it was used to eating when the other person owned it.
You could try jiggling the prey with a pair of tongs in front of it,as this many times "triggers" a good feeding response from an otherwise reluctant eater.
And if none of this works, I would probably try "cleaning" it up with a dose of Flagyl(Metronidazole) at a dose of 50 mg/kg (repeated in 14 days)to see if any bacterial problem was causing it not to feed much. Since it's holding down meals when it does eat, it might not be bacteria caused. But it can't hurt, and the drug is very well tollerated by snakes.
Also,...try not to let the cat I saw in the photo lurk around the cage, this can make her very nervous as well, and contribute to not feeling comfortable in the environment.
Better yet, put a towel over the cage so it covers the front, many times snakes will feed in seclusion, rather than being "on display" in front of lots of movement.
Oh, and like I said before, that is a VERY pretty example of a "Bubblegum" Ratsnake. It would put many to shame!
anyway, try these tips and see if things change for the better! best regards,
Doug
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Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!

Thanks!
I'll try a few more things with her. The lady that I got her from said she used to catch live mice but would take F/T mice and rats without a problem, that she wasn't very picky. I've thawed the mice out on my fridge and heated them under the heat lamp before, as well as putting them in warm water, leaving them in her cage with her overnight, putting her in a nice dark corner to feed her and leaving her alone...none of it really seems to make a difference. She doesn't strike at her food when she does eat, she just ambles on over to it, opens her mouth and sucks it down. Then when she's back in her tank she glues herself to log under the heatlamp of about an hour then goes back in her hide to chill. I leave her alone until she defecates and then we're back to normal. I'm hoping that she's still just adjusting to me and her new home. The black rats we have at the sanctuary eat once a month and they almost Never refuse...both of them inhale 4 large mice and look around for more (they're both much larger than my rat though ~4ft).

As for my cat, she's not actually allowed in my room. Occasionally she does get in and the two of them are more curious about each other than aggressive. I've never seen Aida get defensive or my cat get aggressive. They both just stare at each other for a couple minutes. But it's a rare occurence that they're anywhere near each other.

Oh, and another quick question. Are everglades rats swimmers? I'm just curious because of how much Aida like to sink her head under the water and take off in loops around then rubbermaid tub (the water's room temp, if a couple degrees warmer).
~Sarah