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Posted about my gopher snake last year during fall. She's not eating. She had eaten live before I got her, but transitioned to FT readily, until she stopped eating completely last year. I even tried feeding her live again, she killed it and then left it. Was told to brumate her, so I kept her at 50-60 degrees for 3 months. I heated her back up on Tuesday. Steady temp of 78-82 on warm side and 70-75 on cool side. Two hides in tank. Have tried feeding her every day since.. Tried our old frozen mice 24 hrs after heating her up, no go. Bought brand new frozen mice yesterday, thinking the old mice had gone "bad", no luck. Today, I tried feeding her a small FT rat, since she stopped eating around the same time that I happened to get a few pet rats. I thought since she smelled them, she desired them. Yet again, no luck. I tried all of these methods wiggling the prey in front of her(which is usually the only way she takes it), and putting her in a pillow case with the prey item for 30-45 minutes. Neither worked. She struck at the small rat which is the best thing that has happened so far.. And then she let it go and left it alone. Any more ideas? ): She hasn't lost any significant weight yet, but aren't they supposed to feed really well after cooling?

My gophers wait about two weeks on average after they wake up until they show much interest in food, but then most of mine are wild caughts. Once they have their first meal or two, my males go into what I call "cruise mode" where they are active day and night for about a month or so. Probably that smell of females in the air in nearby enclosures. As the weather heats up towards mid spring and into early summer, they all feed like there's no tomorrow. Towards mid to late summer, off of feed they go again until I put them down for the winter. Some continue feeding into the fall but some don't and that's just the way it is with these Pits. I've had individuals stay off feed for six months and only lose a little body mass. My gophers nearly always appear more robust than many of the wild (Sonoran's) I see where I live. These desert gophers seem well adapted to periods of boom and bust in-so-far as food is concerned. They have slower growth rates on average than my pampered ones but that's life out on the desert.

Hope this provides you some relief. They'll eat when they are good and ready.

Jim
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"The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese."

For one, that is an excellent problem discription with all the right information! Great job.

I just woke up a kingsnake and it refused f/t offerings but finally took live. Also just had a recalcitrant suboc, off-feed for over 120 days (f/t only), go right at some live.

Could just take time like PitFan said...

btw, excellent, informative reply PitFan!

Brad
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See all my snakes at SerpenTrack.com

Have you been able to leave her completely alone with the lights out, when you try to feed her? In other words, try to provide as much of a stress-free enviroment as you possibly can. I would leave the food in the cage, and leave for the rest of the night. She may just simply be stressed. Some individuals really need to be left completely alone to calm down during the excitement of feeding. This is if you have not been leaving during feeding.

Also, how big is the cage? Is it very wide and very open, or is it in a rack, where it is constantly dark and giving the snake a hidden-away type of feeling? Some snakes do very well in big, roomy, and wide open cages, but some don't as well, feeling like they are too much out in the open. If her cage is really big, she just may be spooked, and I would move her to a somewhat smaller and more confined cage.

Keep us posted.
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Genesis 1:1

Before I posted this I had tried warming up all her meals under the heat lamp, because I had had some problems with there being holes in plastic bags and getting the mice wet. Well, after I posted this, I decided to try the same method I used to use - warming up the prey item in a plastic bag in warm water(it didnt get wet this time), and then she took the rat. Haha, either she knew I was posting about her here or theres something about that heating method that helps her eat. Thanks for all the helpful replies guys. Hopefully she continues to eat now.

Cynthia

Good to hear!
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Genesis 1:1

Congrats! Great job
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See all my snakes at SerpenTrack.com

if you are really concerned about getting a meal into your snake, maybe try day old chicks. something suggested to me many moons ago, and i had a very high success rate when i had stubborn feeders. they are cheap and a good meal, but be careful, sometimes pits get to prefer them over everything else.

good luck,
daveb

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odelay odelay odelay hee hoooo...
heeeeya huhhhh!
~Back in the saddle (Aerosmith)

I once had a San Diego Gopher Snake go 414 days without eating (the snake was in cooling for some of that time), then it started eating again regularly. Going off-feed is a pretty standard thing for some Pituophis.

I would not try to feed the snake every day. I'd attempt to feed a snake that is not eating every 7-10 days. Also, I've got a couple young Pine Snakes that were quirky eaters last year - the only thing I had much luck with was live mice. This year they're eating frozen/thawed rat pups like nobody's business. I've heard of other people having success with rat pups instead of mice, so it might be worth a try.

Tim

Third Eye

Good points Tim. Nice looking young P.c. catenifer (correct me if I'm wrong).

There's no substitute from lessons learned from trial and error over time, e.g. learning the feeding preferences of an individual snake. Most (but not all) of my gophers prefer to feed in the late afternoon or early evening.

As Tim mentioned, sometimes food preferences change from one year to the next. With decent care otherwise (availability of water, adequate temps, etc.), these are very hardy animals and seem to think little of huge time lapses between meals.

After several years, you'll reach something of a plateau and have your animals pretty well figured out. There may always be a few however that will keep you guessing. That's part of the fun of this hobby.

Peace of mind to all Pit owners.

Jim
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"The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese."

Jim,

Yep, that's a young Pacific Gopher Snake that I found in the Santa Cruz Mountains while vacationing in California last year. Here's a couple more that I found in 2010:

Tim

The middle gopher looks like a real hoss. Ever find any of the striped morphs? I look in those areas where they're found in the limited time that I have when I'm in that part of CA but have not found any yet.
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"The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese."

No, I've never seen a striped one, I don't think they're as common as some sources report them to be. Though I could be looking in the wrong area. I've found most of my CA gophers either in Los Gatos or on Mount Hamilton.

A Mount Hamilton Gopher:

A Los Gatos Gopher:

Third Eye

Here's a neonate that I found in Yolo County in 2009.

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"The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese."

Tim, what type of gopher is that? Integrade or montane san diego?

The pattern is light and low contrast with patterning on the head, reminds me of some montane pits here in kern co.

-Ryan
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6.7 pituophis c. annectans
1.1 senticolis t. intermedia
1.1 rhinechis scalaris
1.2 lampropeltis m. thayeri
2.1 pantherophis g. guttatus
1.1 lampropeltis t. campbelli

1.1 turbo corns
1.1 jungle corns
1.1 thayeri hybrids (het albino)

It's a Pacific Gopher. I found that one in Los Gatos, which is close to San Jose. I think it's far enough north to not be an intergrade.

Tim