Reptile & Amphibian Forums

so dixie my big guy has not been eating great lately. he has been showing signs of hunger but when feeding time roll around the is no response, almost like he shys away from it. so for a few months what i have been doing is kinda locking him in is hide with a rat covering it to block light and leaving him over night. 9 times outta 10 the rat is gone in the morning, so at least he is eating just the lack of enthusiasm for so long was getting me a little nervous. so the other night it was feeding time for everyone and of corse i got one for dixie in hopes... only this time i got a large rat instead of a jumbo only one step down but huge size difference. so a good thump and a snap i offered from the tongs, he was curled up in is hide at the time but it was enough coax him out a little and WHAM!!! snapped it up and took it right into his hide... well in the mean time my little teardhead jake decided that he wasnt hungry, so i took his small prekilled rat and offered that to to dixie as well and same thing snatched it and re-killed and ate it all in his hide. now this is good because like i said there have been many feeding and a few refusals with no responce at all.

i dont know what cause the lack of response before and i dont know what changed, (and this is where dave chimes in saying how important it is to keep records.... i know i know lol i am gonna building some kind of microsoft excel sheet right now just for all kinda of snake records.....) but i have offered smaller rats before and no response even though he still ate at some point. and i know he can handle a jumbo he has done it before but maybe just prefers something a little smaller?
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-Stephen-
-Step-
-Steve Lightning-

0.1 soon to be wifey (hopefully)
1.0 rotwiler/chow (Boomer-wifey's pooch)
1.0 norm corn (Jake aka grumpy old terdhead)
1.0 col redtail boa (Switch, formally known as Dixie)
0.1 ball python (Bella- wifey's baby girl)
0.1 Brazilian Rainbow Boa (Saphira)

hopeful for not to distant future:
--Brazilian rainbow boas
2 or 3 more? maybe a breeding trio or two pair
-- something for the wifey... my list got to big...

It is important to keep records

You don't need a fancy spreadsheet. I made up a half sheet record card. Each of my snkes has their own and I record all feeds, sheds, breeding details, occasional weights and any other thing I think is importnat. Mostly I never refer back to them but can be invaulable when trying to figure out something wrong.

And adult males do not need to eat often nor a lot!!
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Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:
26.49 BRB
20.21 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

Maybe it was just the smaller rat that made the difference. It might also be caused by a change in temperature. If your snake room is a couple degrees cooler during the winter the cage heater will be on more, assuming you use a thermostat. The cool end of the cage will be cooler and warm area around the heater would be warmer. This may be a better temperature gradient for the snake and may have stimulated it's appetite.

>>so dixie my big guy has not been eating great lately. he has been showing signs of hunger but when feeding time roll around the is no response, almost like he shys away from it. so for a few months what i have been doing is kinda locking him in is hide with a rat covering it to block light and leaving him over night. 9 times outta 10 the rat is gone in the morning, so at least he is eating just the lack of enthusiasm for so long was getting me a little nervous. so the other night it was feeding time for everyone and of corse i got one for dixie in hopes... only this time i got a large rat instead of a jumbo only one step down but huge size difference. so a good thump and a snap i offered from the tongs, he was curled up in is hide at the time but it was enough coax him out a little and WHAM!!! snapped it up and took it right into his hide... well in the mean time my little teardhead jake decided that he wasnt hungry, so i took his small prekilled rat and offered that to to dixie as well and same thing snatched it and re-killed and ate it all in his hide. now this is good because like i said there have been many feeding and a few refusals with no responce at all.
>>
>>i dont know what cause the lack of response before and i dont know what changed, (and this is where dave chimes in saying how important it is to keep records.... i know i know lol i am gonna building some kind of microsoft excel sheet right now just for all kinda of snake records.....) but i have offered smaller rats before and no response even though he still ate at some point. and i know he can handle a jumbo he has done it before but maybe just prefers something a little smaller?
>>-----
>>-Stephen-
>>-Step-
>>-Steve Lightning-
>>
>>0.1 soon to be wifey (hopefully)
>>1.0 rotwiler/chow (Boomer-wifey's pooch)
>>1.0 norm corn (Jake aka grumpy old terdhead)
>>1.0 col redtail boa (Switch, formally known as Dixie)
>>0.1 ball python (Bella- wifey's baby girl)
>>0.1 Brazilian Rainbow Boa (Saphira)
>>
>>hopeful for not to distant future:
>>--Brazilian rainbow boas
>> 2 or 3 more? maybe a breeding trio or two pair
>>-- something for the wifey... my list got to big...