Reptile & Amphibian Forums

my blood is still not eating! now his eyes are very cloudy and hes gotta shed soon...but he has looked like this for awhile. last time he shed (which was the first time i witnessed) he ate just fine. this is the 2nd mouse he has not eaten and its been about 2 weeks,a little over that. i toned the temp down so its at about 90 (becuase i did get a hotter bulb a few weeks ago, even though it didnt seem to bother him then, it is a variable) and i have been soaking him in water to ease his shedding process which seems like its taking extra long. keep in mind hes never been a stubborn eater, besides only eating live mice, and now he will eat no mice!

any suggestions?

Mine never eats just before or during a shed. As soon as she starts to turn a little blue, she stops eating. I don't even try to feed her until after the shed is completely over. Even then, it sometimes takes a couple days for her to want to feed again.

My advice: stop trying to get her to eat. Wait for the shed to run its course, then try again. She can go a LONG time without eating and still be fine. It's insane how long they can not eat and still be fine.

It is a very rare occasion that a blood will eat during a shed, no big deal.

However your cage is definately too hot, get the ambient temps down to around 82-84 with maybe few more degrees on a hot spot if the cage is large enough. I dont use temp gradients on babies and just keep them in 6qt rubbermaids. Lamp? Im guessing your using a heat lamp which isnt very good for bloods because it will dry the air out. Bloods need humidity around 70 percent or so. Please let us know some details on your cage, and snake so we can give you some more help.

Jordan
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"It's my snake, I trained it, so I'm going to eat it!" - Mad Max, The Road Warrior

I don't have tons of experience with bloods, just a couple of years. But my Borneo seems to have the hardset time when he sheds. It takes alot longer and is harder than alot of my other snakes. I agree that 90 is to hot. I keep the air around 80 with a hot spot. maybe the heat might be making conditions drier which is making it harder on him to shed. I also soak my snake in the sink at about 75-78 degrees for about 20-30 minutes once a week, more when he is shedding as well as keeping a water bowl big enough for them to get into in their enclosure. You can buy a cheap aquarium thermometer gage at like Walmart, Fred Meyers for a couple of bucks. I don't trust just trusting it to my hand. It's always hotter than I am thinking it is. Hope all works out for you

Best,