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I received a wild caught 5' Yellow Ratsnake back in early April who started off life in captivity as a great eater. He used to eat about 6 frozen thawed mice a week until the middle of May when he went off feed. From that point on he has refused food, until mid July when he took a live rat. After that he has refused any more adult mice and adult rats I have offered him until last night when I was feeding some young kingsnakes frozen thawed fuzzy pinky rats. I had just sprayed his cage with a handpump mister that I filled with hot tap water when all of the sudden he crawled out of his hide box. Since he was out I offered him one of the fuzzy rats from tongs and he took it straight away. He proceeded to eat 6 of these before retreating back to his hidebox. In between these feedings I tried an adult mouse, which he smelled with slight interest before going back into his box.

Do you think this snake is so sensitive that he requires higher humidity in my desert climate to not be too stressed to accept food and then only fuzzy rats??? This snake is extremely thin and I am hoping that he will be able to gain back the weight he has lost since May. Does anyone have experience with a tempermental ratsnake like this? Any suggestions of what I could do to help him get back to health?

He is being kept in a large cage by himself, of course, that is 3'x2'x2'. Day temps are about 84 and nights are about 75. He has a warm basking spot also.

This snake is gorgeous and with a very interesting personality. I would hate lose him.

Thanks!
Chris Anderson

>>I received a wild caught 5' Yellow Ratsnake back in early April who started off life in captivity as a great eater. He used to eat about 6 frozen thawed mice a week until the middle of May when he went off feed. From that point on he has refused food, until mid July when he took a live rat. After that he has refused any more adult mice and adult rats I have offered him until last night when I was feeding some young kingsnakes frozen thawed fuzzy pinky rats. I had just sprayed his cage with a handpump mister that I filled with hot tap water when all of the sudden he crawled out of his hide box. Since he was out I offered him one of the fuzzy rats from tongs and he took it straight away. He proceeded to eat 6 of these before retreating back to his hidebox. In between these feedings I tried an adult mouse, which he smelled with slight interest before going back into his box.
>>
>>Do you think this snake is so sensitive that he requires higher humidity in my desert climate to not be too stressed to accept food and then only fuzzy rats??? This snake is extremely thin and I am hoping that he will be able to gain back the weight he has lost since May. Does anyone have experience with a tempermental ratsnake like this? Any suggestions of what I could do to help him get back to health?
>>
>>He is being kept in a large cage by himself, of course, that is 3'x2'x2'. Day temps are about 84 and nights are about 75. He has a warm basking spot also.
>>
>>This snake is gorgeous and with a very interesting personality. I would hate lose him.
>>
>>Thanks!
>>Chris Anderson

It may be a good observation.
The humidity where they are from can be pretty high.
What kind of container is he in?
try a larger water dish.
I know you said the size of the enclosure but what type of enclosure is it?
-----
Corn snakes and rat snakes..No one can have just one.
"Resistance is futile"
Jimmy Johnson
(Draybar)
Draybars Snakes

_____

He is in a showcase cage, which has glass fronts, two screen vents. It is a molded plastic cage. His current water dish is about 10" squared and 2 inches deep.

He has spit up on of the fuzzies today, and looks to be in quite a bit of discomfort. The food seems to remain very much in the first third of the body instead of being spread out through his length. I hope I didn't allow him to overindulge.

Thanks for any suggestions you may have.

Chris

>>He is in a showcase cage, which has glass fronts, two screen vents. It is a molded plastic cage. His current water dish is about 10" squared and 2 inches deep.
>>
>>He has spit up on of the fuzzies today, and looks to be in quite a bit of discomfort. The food seems to remain very much in the first third of the body instead of being spread out through his length. I hope I didn't allow him to overindulge.
>>
>>Thanks for any suggestions you may have.
>>
>>Chris

It's very possible he has some blockage and can't get the food all the way down.
I think a trip to the vet may be in order if you can swing it.
-----
Corn snakes and rat snakes..No one can have just one.
"Resistance is futile"
Jimmy Johnson
(Draybar)
Draybars Snakes

_____

Thank you Draybar. I think you are exactly right. Has has now thrown up all but two of the pinky rats and they still appear to be stuck in his top third.

I will take him today.

-Chris

I got my snake to the vet today and she performed several x-rays but was unable to find any blockage. There was only one remaining rat that could be seen. She has given him anti-worming and anti-protozoan medication. She wants me to also soak him in tepid water for as long as he is willing to stay in the water.

I will be really sad if he doesn't make it. But I will keep up on him and see if I can just get him to take rat parts or a fuzzy rat every few days and keep him warm and humid. I will give him fresh water everday.

Any other suggestions? I appreciate your help, please hope the best for my poor yellow ratsnake.

Thanks,
Chris

Here is a photo of him taken before I purchased him. He was once such a beauty. He has a really neat personality too; he's nervous but not aggressive.

>>I got my snake to the vet today and she performed several x-rays but was unable to find any blockage. There was only one remaining rat that could be seen. She has given him anti-worming and anti-protozoan medication. She wants me to also soak him in tepid water for as long as he is willing to stay in the water.
>>
>>I will be really sad if he doesn't make it. But I will keep up on him and see if I can just get him to take rat parts or a fuzzy rat every few days and keep him warm and humid. I will give him fresh water everday.
>>
>>Any other suggestions? I appreciate your help, please hope the best for my poor yellow ratsnake.
>>

I'm glad you got him to the vet and you now have a course of action.
Not really any sugestions I could offer except follow the vet's instructions and keep your fingers crossed. I would go longer between feedings or feeding attemps, though. Don't want to stress him out too much. If you get him to take a fuzzy rat and keep it down give him a week before feeding again. He won't starve to death and it will give his body time to recover without too much stress. One good thing is older snakes are a lot more resiliant then hatchlings. Good luck and keep us posted

-----
Corn snakes and rat snakes..No one can have just one.
"Resistance is futile"
Jimmy Johnson
(Draybar)
Draybars Snakes

_____

Thank you very much. I will keep y'all informed in a new post. I will just keep an eye on him, and try to get small amounts of food down him if possible. I think it's going to depend a lot on how strong his will to live is. The vet wants to see him in 14 days to see if he has improved. Yesterday he weighed a pathetic 0.34 kg. It would certainly be encouraging to see some weight gain. Thanks for the kind words.

-Chris

He was just too stressed and to far gone to be saved. He died yesterday. I hope he's in a better place. At least I think he had a good long life in the wild, since I got him in April he has only shed once. He must have been quite an old snake.