Reptile & Amphibian Forums

OK guys I have a question so here is the setup. I have this female hypo coastal. She is a cb03 animal. I call her big hypo because she hatched huge and took pinks right out of the egg. For her whole life she has been a great feeder. Last year she vorosiously fed on two weanling mice per feeding twice a week. She came out of hibernation this year not eating, never, a good sign but when I offered her a pinkie she jumped on it and three more that followed. She has since been feeding pretty heavy on pinks but is resisting all attempts to get her to revert to taking fuzzies or weanlings. Even live are turned down. I've had snakes have off years before but with this girl the change in feeding behavior is so pronounced that I'm quite at a loss as to its cause. So any ideas what might be behind the change. All aspects of husbandry I can think of remain unchanged.

Tony, I have had problems with my own problem feeders but have had good luck with others. The common denominator? Shipping. I think nothing gets their juices flowing like being "abused" a little. Now you dont have to ship, but I have heard of snakes being put in pillow cases and into the trunk for a long drive down a rough road.....The other thing I would try is to bring on dessication, decrease the humidity(which also happens in shipping)to 0 for a few days. Then again, maybe she is too close to a male she doesnt like much. In that case I would say just send her to me because she doesnt like you anymore,lol. J

She needs a trip to south florida!!!
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i'm not over weight i'm under tall

I've noticed that shipping can suddenly spur a snake's appetite, too. Major weather changes have done wonders in the past, too.

-Cole

Would this particular suggestion fall under the "forget what you think you know" catagory? LOL

If it's any consolation Tone, I've had the same experience with a few young (6-12 mos) N.A. milks and even a couple of tropical milks which had been ravenous feeders then either refuse to feed altogether or accept only large pinks.
I've tried waiting it out, changing the temp a few degrees either direction, larger or smaller cages, different feeding times, etc....but finally accepted that the animals behavior has simply changed and will probably revert to the previous feeding behavior eventually.
But I still have to consider that there's something in the husbandry that is the root cause of the change and continue keep that suspicion in mind.
So she's eating pinks now and that's good news - breed her and see if that hits the reset button. And offer small brained fuzzy mice - another weird preference is for brained mice only.
I hear your pain!
Jeff
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The rich require an abundant supply of the poor. - Voltaire

I've noticed this in syspila, gentilis, and multistrata, too. Some animals will eat anything one year, and then refuse anything but pink mice the next. Some animals show a marked preference for pink rats (I have two pales who will eat nothing else). I just cater to their needs and content myself with the fact that they ARE eating! As for what causes the change in dietary preference, who knows?! I have noticed that a female who will only eat pink mice out of cooling, will suddenly take hoppers after laying eggs. I've seen the opposite, too. NA milks are quirky animals, aren't they?... but that's sort of what makes them fun, too...

-Cole

They would be called Hondurans,lol, joking

Tony this may sound stupid but since I don't know...I'll ask.
Do you raise your own mice? Have you "changed out" your breeders since last year?
If you buy frozen, have you changed suppliers?
All this intended to see if you may have a snake depending on her sense of smell and maybe something's different?
I have no idea why but I had a SK that "preferred" animals from one family of mice I had over the others.
Good luck finding an answer.
Maybe FR could shed some light here?
:Mark
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Surrender Dorothy!

crimsonking.piczo.com/

I have had a similiar experience w/ thamnophis. The entire adult colony eats mice and last year, about a month out of brumation (and after being bred), 8 adult (gravid) females stopped feeding about the same time. I tried feeding @ different times, braining the rodents, even scenting but nothing worked. I decided to try live minnows and all 8 went nuts for them. After they gave birth, they all went back to rodents w/ mo problem. Snakes have a way of giving their keepers fits lol.

Scott
Albino garter snakes

Mark, sounds like I would be FIRING lots of sk's! I do best to get them to work around my needs not the other way around....otherwise it can be like a bunch of teenage daughters and not enough bathrooms in the house. NOT from experience,lol.

Appriciate the input.

yo...tony
she's freakin' feeding....be happy 'bout that.....give her some time......toss a pink and a fuzzy in the cage at the same time,but i know you've tried that...its important to make sure that the fuzzies are in the cage with the snake.....just yankin' chains.......those temps i got from you are doin' great...hopin' that the pair tosses a striped hypo....