Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Do any of you have experience with hatchling or first year bairds rats suddenly stop feeding? I've had an 08 pair since the beginning of aug. They were both very entusiastic feeders(the female still is), then the male stopped eating. His last meal was a FT fuzzie on sept. 6th. He went into a shed after that and hasn't eaten since. I know adult rat snakes and other snakes stop feeding around this time of year, but I'm not sure it's the best thing for a hatchling. I know it hasn't been that long, but baby snakes don't have quite as much reserves as adults. I've tried most of the tricks, any suggestions would be appreciated. Temps. have stayed pretty much the same(mid to high 70's). Maybe I shoud add an area thats signifigantly warmer.

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Matt Kauffman

Every once in awhile, baby Bairds will start to refuse.
You should try adding a humid hide box and maybe a slightly warmer spot, but my Bairds have enjoyed being COOL.
I've had success by cooling them down to mid 60s.
Live pinks ought to elicit a response, but washed and rinsed F/T should work, too.

>>Do any of you have experience with hatchling or first year bairds rats suddenly stop feeding? I've had an 08 pair since the beginning of aug. They were both very entusiastic feeders(the female still is), then the male stopped eating. His last meal was a FT fuzzie on sept. 6th. He went into a shed after that and hasn't eaten since. I know adult rat snakes and other snakes stop feeding around this time of year, but I'm not sure it's the best thing for a hatchling. I know it hasn't been that long, but baby snakes don't have quite as much reserves as adults. I've tried most of the tricks, any suggestions would be appreciated. Temps. have stayed pretty much the same(mid to high 70's). Maybe I shoud add an area thats signifigantly warmer.
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>>Matt Kauffman
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Jack Jeansonne

Yeah, I thought they would enjoy being cool as well; the female has not seemed to mind. It hasn't really been that much cooler, except maybe at night. I have tried live and washing and braining pinks. I'll try the humid hide. I had used cypress as a substrate and switched to aspen, but he had stopped eating before that. The change didn't seem to affect the female. If he doesn't start eating by the end of Nov. I'm thinking of brumating him. What are peoples thoughts on that? Just when I get one back on track, I run into problems with another one. I guess I just haven't gotten all of the kinks out yet, as I've just started increasing my collection this year.
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Matt Kauffman

>>Do any of you have experience with hatchling or first year bairds rats suddenly stop feeding? I've had an 08 pair since the beginning of aug. They were both very entusiastic feeders(the female still is), then the male stopped eating. His last meal was a FT fuzzie on sept. 6th. He went into a shed after that and hasn't eaten since. I know adult rat snakes and other snakes stop feeding around this time of year, but I'm not sure it's the best thing for a hatchling. I know it hasn't been that long, but baby snakes don't have quite as much reserves as adults. I've tried most of the tricks, any suggestions would be appreciated. Temps. have stayed pretty much the same(mid to high 70's). Maybe I shoud add an area thats signifigantly warmer.
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>>Matt Kauffman

wow Matt
I'm sorry the male has quit eating.
I don't really know what to say.
I've never had that problem. With any of them.
Have you been feeding it fuzzies or pinkies?
If you have had it on fuzzies try a pinkie, if pinkies try a fuzzy. Just something diferent.
I keep them the same temps as my corns.
If it never responds, let me know. I will make it up to you.
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Corn snakes and rat snakes..No one can have just one.
"Resistance is futile"
Jimmy Johnson
(Draybar)
Draybars Snakes

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Hey Jimmy, I don't blame you at all. I know that all snakes can be somewhat fragile as hatchlings, no matter what the species. I couldn't have asked for a better pair. I think he will come around eventually, I'm not going to give up on him. It would be a real shame though, because they are already starting to show differences in their overall look. He is a bit lighter, more silvery, as his pattern starts to fade. She is a bit bigger, since she has been steadily eating like a pig and she is turning a darker color with some tiny white specks showing up around the edge of her blotches. I love the variation of this pair. One thing I did notice about the male, after a close inspection a few weeks ago is, his internasal scales are slightly deformed. But it is really hard to see, and I doubt it has anything to do with him not eating. It's not something I was ever really concerned with. Anyway, he has not been showing any abnormal behavior, other than the lack of appetite, so it's hard to tell what's causing it. I have tried live pinks and fuzzies, which he used to eat vigorously. One thing I did do(which I now regreat, and will never do again)was feed them both live anoles, which I caught in my yard. I do have one small stool sample from him. Maybe he got some internal parasites from the anole. I can take it to a vet for analysis if I have to. Hopefully everthing will turn out ok, but if not I'll know where to get another one. Love your animals. Thanks for the concern.
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Matt Kauffman

In years of breeding bairds I've never had one be a poor feeder unless the keeper had them in marginal conditions. I would check your cage temps and make sure he has a nice range of temps to select from as a first course of action. Bairds aren't terribly particular as a group so that the female continues to eat is not necessarily an indication that conditions are optimal for the male.

If you decide conditions are OK I would try a mix of live and or different sized foods for a couple more weeks and if that doesn't turn him around I'd just let him hibernate and see what happens in the spring.

If he doesn't turn by then you'll have to decide if you want to invest in some vet care to find the cause.
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Darwin Rocks!

Thanks Tony.
It is unusual for him to stop eating. I've never had a north american rat snake stop eating. I am currently keeping a pair of juvenile everglades rats as well, which are doing fine on the same shelf. I've got a pretty good variety a snakes, from arid to tropical species and I'm only having trouble with the male bairds and a female 08 Pituophis deppei jani. I can understand the jani, as they have a bit of a reputation for being delicate, but the bairds is kind of a mystery. Thanks for your suggestions, I was thinking pretty much the same thing. I'll keep my fingeres crossed.

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Matt Kauffman

>>Thanks Tony.
>>It is unusual for him to stop eating. I've never had a north american rat snake stop eating. I am currently keeping a pair of juvenile everglades rats as well, which are doing fine on the same shelf. I've got a pretty good variety a snakes, from arid to tropical species and I'm only having trouble with the male bairds and a female 08 Pituophis deppei jani. I can understand the jani, as they have a bit of a reputation for being delicate, but the bairds is kind of a mystery. Thanks for your suggestions, I was thinking pretty much the same thing. I'll keep my fingeres crossed.
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>>Matt Kauffman

Matt,
The anole kind of has me worried.
It is possible it picked up some kind of internal parasite.
That would be a bummer.

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

_____

Yeah Jimmy, that has me worried as well. I fed anoles to both my everglades, both bairdi's and my spec. kings when they were younger. That was before I got a good supply of frozen and I was being cheap. It finally occured to me, after several feedings, that wild, live anoles may not be the best thing for them. The bairdi in question doesn't seem to be losing an abnormal amount of body weight though, as would be expected with a paracitic infection. There is always the possibility that he could have picked something up that's affecting his appetite though. It was definitely a poor decicsion on my part. I sent you an email. I'll keep you all posted.
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Matt Kauffman