Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a year and a half old milk that won't eat, hasn't for about a month and a half. We had been feeding it live pinkies/fuzzies and it has always been a good eater. The terrarium temp is currently 78 on one end (heat pad), closer to 80 on the other (heat rock) and it seems to prefer lounging in the middle against the glass. I don't know if it's a male or female, I'm not confident to pop it myself.

Any suggestions? Should I start panicking? You all have great experience so I'm hoping for some help here!

Help!!

I don't have much milksnake experience but since noone else has answered.
First of all heat rocks are not the best source of heat, many snakes won't use them. You could try burying it in calci-sand or use a heat pad instead.
The snake should have a cage with a background of room temp. about 72 and a hot spot of about 84. It's ok if the air temp. in the cage drops into the high 60s at night as long as there is a hot spot. I think most snakes prefer some fluctuation in temp., they certainly get it in the wild.
There should be at least two hide spots in the cage, one over the hot spot and one on the cool end. The hides should be small enough that the snake fits tightly inside, roomy hides don't make the snake feel very secure. Without appropriate hide spots the snake can get stressed and go off feed. This is the most important thing, the snake must have access to secure hides in it's prefered temperature range. If not the snake may seek out hides where it's too cool or too hot because a snakes first need is to feel safe.
The snake should have access to clean water 3 days a week. If you are using a screen top enclosure you can leave water in 5-7 days a week.
If you are meeting the snakes temp., hide and water needs and it still doesn't eat you can try various food offerings:
live fuzzies
frozen/thawed fuzzies
split-brain fresh-killed or frozen/thawed fuzzies
tiny baby rats
lizard scented fuzzies
as a last resort live or frozen/thawed lizards
Keep in mind lizards can carry parasites and the snake can get hooked on lizards.

Thanks for taking the time to reply Aaron

I think I've provided as ideal a habitat for the bugger as I can, I'm going to try baby baby pinkies when I can find some and maybe I'll try to find some lizard scent. I'll brain one if I need to.

Just wondering when I should start worrying about it not eating, it's been about a month and a half now, the snake is very active and cruises the terrarium a couple times a day. Makes me think he's (she's?) hungry but..??

When to start worrying depends on the temps. At the high end of their prefered temp they will burn their fat reserves faster. First the tail will get skinny then the backbone will start showing. Then you really need to worry.
Being sure the snake is hydrated well is very important during a fast.
The snake may be off feed due to natural instincts, milks in the wild go off feed in the summer when it is dry. Or it may want to hibernate. Offering alternate foods can tempt a fasting snake enough to eat again.
What are you using for hides? Paper towel tubes are not very asthetic but snakes love them. A brained pink or fuzzie placed just inside the edge of the tube while the snake is in there at night might do the trick. Doing it at night when it's dark and quiet might help.

Thanks Aaron - I tried a couple different things (to no avail) and finally ended up braining a pinkie. When I did that, I smeared a bit of goo on a live pinkie for another experiment. The dead pinkie went in the sack with him (her) overnight and was eaten. Later this afternoon I stuck the live goo smeared pinkie a sack with him and he ate it too.

Makes me feel alot better, that was his usual appetite was 2 pinkies every week.

I think I have a pretty decent setup for the critter but might remove the heat rock and replace it with a heat pad and maybe another hide (I think the old hide is a bit small although he does cram himself in there).

Thanks again

You're welcome. That's great. I have a small New Mexico Milksnake that I caught in Texas last June. It had only been eating brained pinkies and today it ate live unbrained one.