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I have a female she is a runt always has been, she has been treated with panacure etc. even though she is captive born and bred. Well she hasn't eaten since before 10/17 (her last shed)i normally feed frozen thawed however she was refusing to eat them so i decided id buy her a live, i fed it to her side ways and she missed its neck and the rat bit her/maybe it was a nail, either way i treated the wound with hydrogen peroxide and neosporin. I was wondering how long i have to wait to feed again. Also if i put a new female in the cage would this have caused her to stop eating??? She is housed with two other carpets a carpet just 4 months older and one 5 months younger (shes a year and 1 month) and always has been housed with the older carpet. Sorry for this being so long any help is appreciated. Thanks Pat Malloy

>>Well she hasn't eaten since before 10/17 (her last shed)

You shouldn't be too concerned if she has good body weight. There are a lot of possible reasons she might not be eating including that she is not hungry.

>>i normally feed frozen thawed however she was refusing to eat them so i decided id buy her a live. i fed it to her side ways and she missed its neck and the rat bit her/maybe it was a nail, either way i treated the wound with hydrogen peroxide and neosporin.

If you buy live it is always good to kill the rat even still. She doesn't need the movement to stimulate her to eat especially if she established on frozen food.

>>I was wondering how long i have to wait to feed again.

Offer food as usual but don't worry if she doesn't eat for now. Snakes can go for months without food and still be ok.

>>Also if i put a new female in the cage would this have caused her to stop eating??? She is housed with two other carpets a carpet just 4 months older and one 5 months younger (shes a year and 1 month) and always has been housed with the older carpet.

Maybe but like I said before there are many possibilities why. Good thing to do is to start eliminating possible issues that might be causing her not to eat. Seperate her into her own cage, monitor her heat, make sure her humidity is at proper levels. If she still won't eat then try feeding her in a dark small enclosure, ect...You might want to read all the posts below for hatchling feeding problems for other possible solutions. Just be patient and keep at it.

As a side note, it might be good to seperate her anyways. Wounded and ill snakes(or any animal for that matter) should always be kept seperate so that they can be monitored and kept in the cleanest envionment possible...

Hope this helps,
Darci
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