Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I had gone to the hamburg show, i believe in September but i honestly dont remember the date without checking. i was going there with the intention of getting a juvenile albino burm since the het albino i got at the show prior to that one didnt survive the night despite everything i had done, i never did find out what was wrong with it. anyway, i ran into a normal burm that was about 6.5 foot long and i fell in love and the idea of getting a juvie was pushed to the back of my mind. after finding out from the breeder that the snake was on live rats, i reluctantly bought a live rat and decided to switch to frozen after that feeding. so i took the new burm home and he instantly ate a very large rat. a week later i tried offering a f/t and he refused. i repeated this for quite a while, tried every trick in the book and every person i asked for suggestions just told me that burms are "the garbage disposals" of the snake world and should readily take f/t. after about a month and a half went by without him feeding again i decided to suck it up and give him a live rat just so he had something. but it never fails and as soon as i did that he grabbed the rat, coiled, and got bit in his face by the rat and didnt even get a chance to eat it. i was so upset due to the fact that i always preach about why you shouldnt feed live for the exact reason and now i have a snake that has been bit.
but it gets worse...
after another few weeks i start noticing what i believed to be an RI, so i made an appointment with my vet, took him in and and got injections i had to give him every three days. i also raised his temps and put a humidifier beside his cage. now, it is late march and he still has not fed, i am not sure if it is because he was bit by a rat, the stress from the RI or because of the season but i could use about any advice i could get. Thank you all very much in advance.
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*Third Dimension Reptiles*~"a new dimension in exploration"

1.1 green iguanas
1.0 sudan plated lizard
1.0 bearded dragon
0.1 leopard gecko
1.1 golden geckos
1.1 green anoles
0.1 cuban knight anole
1.0 asian longtail grass lizard
0.0.2 gold treefrogs
0.0.1 leopard frog
1.1 normal ball pythons
1.0 het. albino ball python
0.1 gulf hammock ratsnake
0.1 eastern kingsnake
1.0 albino striped california kingsnake
0.1 hedgehog
2.3 rats
0.1 husky
55 gal. freshwater aquarium

Hi there!
I've got a hunch that something's not quite right in your setup. Good husbandry leads to a healthy snake, a healthy snake will eat you out of house & home. Now, I'm assuming that you've tried feeding it a live rat recently instead of F/T but it still won't eat.

If you'll tell us what your hot end & cool end temps are, along with the humidity level within the cage we can make sure we're all in the same ballpark.

Some snakes lose appetite with an RI and some don't. The RI, if still present, could be a factor. As far as "the season" being a factor, if you're referring to breeding season, it's not very likely due to the size and assumed age (2yrs old?) of your Burmese Python.

Depending on the setup, a humidifier in the room might help but it's the humidity within the cage that's the most important.

As far as getting it switched from live to F/T, most Burmese Pythons are fairly easy to convert, but not all. I've got a "problem child" myself that I'm still trying to get switched over. A 4yr old male that went 6 - 7 months without eating during breeding season last year but still refused F/T as his first meal, and refused it again two weeks later. I caved in and gave him live and I couldn't put 'em in there fast enough for him (gobble, gobble).

It's been just over 6 months since he's ate due this breeding season and he surprised the heck out of me last night by readily taking two F/T rats right from the start. But that was it, he wanted nothing to do with 3rd, or 4th, and he's still hungry. I'm going to try to outlast him this time, though. He didn't get any live rats last night.

My breeding female switched to F/T years ago, without a hitch. In fact, I believe she'd try to eat one that was still frozen.

Don't give up on getting it switched over, sooner or later it will happen, though I'm still waiting after nearly 4 years. Ha!

Post your temps & humidity levels and let's see what's going on.

Have a good one!
HH
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Due to political correctness run amuck,
this ol' hillbilly is now referred to as an:
Appalachian American

I agree with Hillbilly, make sure your temps and humidity are correct. The cool end of the cage needs to be in the low to mid 80's and the hot spot should be in the low 90's. The humidity should be 40% to 60%. If all is correct, I would try getting him to eat a live or stunned rat. Once you get him eating again try rubbing the frozen/thawed rat on a live rat. This is called "scenting" and it usually works pretty good. When we have done this in the past our rats freak out wondering why we are rubbing dead rats on them. HaHa

I think the main difference between a f/t rat and a live rat is the smell and by scenting the f/t rat it will smell more inviting to the snake.

Randy
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Randy and Michelle
Art In Scales
(719) 439-4199
info@artinscales.com

when i get home i will check my temps and put them up im not sure what the temps are off hand. although, on the hot end i have an overhead heat lamp, a zoomed uth on the bottom and another on the side, i have cage carpet as the substrate, a log hide, and a litter pan full of water, i also occasionally will lightly mist the tank.

i have tried scenting f/t with him and it didnt seem to help, i have also used lightbulbs and a hair drier trying to heat them up right before offering them to him. at this point i wish i could just get him to eat anything. i have been trying to find somewhere to get a young guinea pig but unfortunately all of our suppliers(i work at a small pet shop) only have adults for sale and they are too big for him.

btw, he has shed and has even defecated a few times(i thought that was strange) since he finished his RI meds.
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*Third Dimension Reptiles*~"a new dimension in exploration"

1.1 green iguanas
2.1 bearded dragon
0.1 leopard gecko
0.1 normal ball pythons
1.0 het. albino ball python
0.1 gulf hammock ratsnake
1.0 albino striped california kingsnake
1.0 Burmese Python
0.0.1 Black Rat Snake
1.1 Red Eared Sliders
1.0 Eastern Box Turtle
0.1.1 Savannah Monitor
0.1 Goffin Cockatoo
1.0 Cockatiel
1.0 Ringneck Dove
1.0 Mini Lop Bunny
0.1 hedgehog
2.3 rats
3.0 Cats
1.0 Betta

The only thing I can think of that I have yet to try is "de-scenting" a F/T rat. It's a method some people use to get finicky newborn snakes to eat.

I believe the most commonly suggested soap to use was something very mild, like Ivory, and use very little of it to wash the rat and rinse thoroughly in warm water for both, cleaning and heating, the F/T rat.

HH
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Due to political correctness run amuck,
this ol' hillbilly is now referred to as an:
Appalachian American

wow i never heard of that one, descenting a rat, what is the theory behind that? i can only imagine someone walking in on me giving a dead rat a "bath"

oh and my ambient temps are about 86 but i know it is warmer than that directly over the uth i just cant get an accurate reading right against the cage carpet.
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*Third Dimension Reptiles*~"a new dimension in exploration"

1.1 green iguanas
2.1 bearded dragon
0.1 leopard gecko
0.1 normal ball pythons
1.0 het. albino ball python
0.1 gulf hammock ratsnake
1.0 albino striped california kingsnake
1.0 Burmese Python
0.0.1 Black Rat Snake
1.1 Red Eared Sliders
1.0 Eastern Box Turtle
0.1.1 Savannah Monitor
0.1 Goffin Cockatoo
1.0 Cockatiel
1.0 Ringneck Dove
1.0 Mini Lop Bunny
0.1 hedgehog
2.3 rats
3.0 Cats
1.0 Betta

"...imagine someone walking in on me giving a dead rat a 'bath'"

Ha! Ha! Your life would never be the same.

The idea behind descenting F/T rats is to eliminate or reduce strong odors, some of which can be caused by rats urinating on theirself or each other while being put to sleep, their being kept in poor caging conditions (laying in urine & feces), etc... Also, maybe, just maybe, a dead rat smells different than a live one. Especially one that's been frozen for very long of a time.

So it's been 2 1/2 - 3 months since your snake has eaten? If it appears to be in good condition, not too skinny, scraggly looking, 3 months w/out food isn't reason to get too worried just yet. I would definitely still be wondering why but I wouldn't be too worried about it as long as it still looked to be in pretty good health.

Sounds as if your temps shouldn't be an issue. Humidity level within the cage could play a part. Make sure it has plenty of fresh drinking water and if it's in an aquarium with a screen top cover the majority of the screen with something non-porous, like aluminum foil, plastic, etc... If you suspect low humidity level you can increase it some by placing the water bowl closer to the UTH.

Has it been active, crawling around much, or just laying around?

If the cage is in a high traffic area, move it to a low traffic area. Provide a nice, snug-fitting hide if you haven't already. You might try leaving it alone for two weeks except just to peek at it here & there, momentarily, just to make sure it's doing OK.

Have you checked it for mmites? Given it a good looking over to make sure you don't see anything at all wrong with it?

If you handle it every day or pretty close to it you could be stressing it out.

I don't have much to go so I'm basically throwing all the basics at you, just to make sure they've been covered.

Hang in there!
HH
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Due to political correctness run amuck,
this ol' hillbilly is now referred to as an:
Appalachian American