Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok, so my dwarf burm (I call her that because she is a 4ft female who will be a year in July) has not eaten sice the first week of june and that was a pre killed rat. I have tried three times since and still no go. She has been a problem eater for awhile now, but she was consistently eating live, then I tried the pre killed and she ate it and now she wont eat it again. Do I cave and give her the live one or keep going pre-killed? I mean she already is a dwarf but this will be another one month hunger strike. Please let me know if I should cave?

Stun the prey instead of killing it.Take a blunt object (screwdriver,small hammer,etc.) and hold the appropriately sized rat up by the tail and smack the base of the skull.This doesnt kill them instantly so they will wriggle alot like live and stubborn feeders will usually take this when they are used to feeding live.Thats how i got a stubborn feeder of mine started on p/k rats instead of live.Feed live ONLY as a last resort not before.Its way to dangerous for the snake.With stunned they are still basically alive but after about 10 seconds of being constricted its over and done so its alot less dangerous to me and the snake than feeding live.After 2-3 feedings with stunned then try p/k and see what happens. Regards Bill McLeod

I don't have any burm experience, but I have a trick which works well on other python species.
Thaw out a rat, and then dry it out with a hair dryer until it's nice and fluffy. Concentrate a bit on the head to warm it up. Then dangle it above the snake's head with some hemostats/tongs. Sort of like the rat can fly, but is running away. If you're lucky this will elicit a response. I'm sure the stunning thing would work better, but you could give this a go too. I'm personally squeamish about stunning.

Three times in 18 days is way too often to entice her imo. She might get more stressed being introduced prey she doesn't care for that often than be in tune to her hunger (again imo).
Four feet for a year-old female is very small and I know you've brought this up before and have been told that but with her current size in mind and her history of not eating I would take a more drastic measure. In fact it almost seems that there is something not right about her environment or her prey. Burms will not willingly stunt themselves, given proper conditions. Here are a couple of thoughts:

1) At this point I think it is reasonable to try live. When feeding live you should stay and observe- if in 5 minutes she hasn't gone for the prey, take it out. Wait two weeks and try again. If she were mine I would be more worried about her gaining at this point than switching her to thawed or p/k. Also if she strikes once or more but doesn't attempt to constrict, she is striking defensively. Take out the prey - wait 2 weeks and try again. Her cage should be large enough so that she can get away from the live prey entirely if she wants to. Feeding live small to medium rats is a safe alternative as long as you observe and take out the prey in five minutes if not eaten. All of my snakes have been started on live and given a good start before being switched to p/k and many other herpers are aware of the value of giving a good start to their constrictor. Injuries and fatalities occur when herpers walk away from the cage and/or forget about the live rat. I had a boa constrictor several years ago that would not give in to any method to entice her to eat thawed or p/k rats. It was live that got her to eat and she went on to eventually switch all the way to p/k rabbits. Sometimes that she eat is more iportant than anything else.
2) Try chicks. Burms are suckers for chicks. Find a source for live chicks and p/k and offer- again on a 2 weeks schedule unless she takes to them. Give her all the chicks she wants. Again, my concern, if she were mine, would be to get her to gain before I tried to switch her to anything that others considered more appropriate. I have several giant constrictors that take full grown chickens and rabbits and I've found that chickens are a great nutritional benefit when rotated along with other prey. If you can't find live chicks or if you don't want to pre-kill them yourself, find a source that offers vacuum-sealed chicks- don't get chicks frozen in baggies.
3) In case you have not thought of these: make sure her cage is in a quiet -out of the way- place where she does not get stressed by lots of movement,lights, and sound vibrations.
4) You could always send her to me
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Marcia Pimentel
Tango River Reptiles
GiantFeeders