Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Its been around five or six weeks now and my albino burm still refuses to even bite the thawed rats ive offered him. I definately cant afford the pet shop price and i already ordered a two month supply of rats so im not about to go back to pet shop mice. Should i be concerned with the length of time that has gone by or is this somewhat normal. Also are there any tricks that i can use to get him to eat. Plz respond. Thx
-----
-=Eddie=-
0.0.2 Burmese pythons. Boomer, Casper(albino)
0.0.1 Gold Tegu. Jacko
2.1.0 Dogs. Sam (boxer), Gizmo (yorkie), snowball(mix)
0.0.5 angel fish (don't last long enough to name )

If this is a young burm, there is probably something wrong with your set up (cage size, lack of proper hide areas, improper temps, improper humidity levels, improper substrate, etc....could be one factor, could be multiple factors). Since you didn't provide any information on how this animal is being kept, it would be remiss of us to even make a guess. But, with that being said, and, assuming (which I don't but for the sake of answering this question, I will), that you are providing the proper care of this snake, you might try the following (and don't use the "I can't afford it" excuse; you took the responsibility of owning the snake and now its your responsibility to do everything in your power to ensure that it is properly cared for):

1) Offer food IN the cage (hopefully you are already doing that)
2) Offer food when the lights are subdued in the room the snake is in.
3) Offer food only when the burm is inside its hide area
4) What did the snake eat the last time?...if it was a mouse, then offer a f/t mouse. If the snake accepts it, you can always trail a rat which is a very simple and effective technique
5) Try offering a quail (you can get them at rodentpro.com); burms LOVE birds and this is a great food source for stubborn feeders
6) Try offering live prey; this should be a last ditch effort but worth trying if all else fails

Once again, check all of the variables of your husbandry. Also, I would highly recommend doing a fecal check with your vet to rule out parasites or any disease it may have. Bottom line is, if this is a young burm, or hatchling, it should be feeding regularly.

Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center at Elawa Farm
City of Lake Forest, IL

Thanx Rob. Mine still won't eat. I moved him into the large cage and he was eating fine until the turn of the weather. I upped the heat and he still won't eat. I'll try a small fresh killed rat and chase with a rabbit to get some food in him.
-----
DZ
1.0.0 Burm, Moses
0.0.2 Ball, Chico & Chewy (rescue, many scars)
0.2.0 Cats, Merideth & Hannah
1.0.0 Black Chow, Pivo RIP Oct 23
Lotsa fish
1.4.0 Rats
0.2.0 Humans (a little obnoxious though)

How much larger is this new enclosure? Perhaps its too big for this particular snake and the old one suited it better. Snakes oftentimes prefer the tropism of close quarters over spacious surroundings; that's just the way they are wired. Just something to consider.

OK. First off the burm is around a year old. I do believe I'm taking rather good care of him...hes just being a bit stubborn. Hes never been too fond of frozens but has taken them before on rare occassions. And i didnt use "I can't afford live rats" as an excuse. We simply all cant be curators of a wildlife exhibit and have the luxury of all kinds of food on hand. Im simply trying to make the best of the food source Ive invested in. I will go ahead and try the trailing technique, which seems to be whats being recommended, seeing as I have tried all the other techniques and have no access to quail. If it is not too much trouble...I would like a response on how to properly do the trailing technique. If im not mistaken thats when you introduce the head of the f/t rat after the snake is almost done with the food hes eating (which will more than likely be live seeing as thats all hes been eating). Is this fine or do I have this wrong?
-----
-=Eddie=-
0.0.2 Burmese pythons. Boomer, Casper(albino)
0.0.1 Gold Tegu. Jacko
2.1.0 Dogs. Sam (boxer), Gizmo (yorkie), snowball(mix)
0.0.5 angel fish (don't last long enough to name )

Two things:

1) Being a curator does NOT mean I have the luxury of "all kinds of food"; far from it; we are cash strapped like many smaller wildlife facilities but we never compromise the health of our animals.

2) Although I am a curator, I also have my own personal home collection for which I obtain food with my own funds that costs substantial amounts of my family's money.

3) To answer your question on tailing, yes, it sounds like you have a good grasp of what the technique is. If your burm will take live, feed a live rat and once the rat is close to being eaten, and while the python's mouth still working it down, gently place a dead rat towards the back of the mouth so that with the next "gulp" the snake will lock on to the dead rat and continue to eat. Hope this helps.

Thank you for the advice. I did not mean to snap back if that is how it came across, I simply do not like people making the assumption that I am just another punk kid who just wanted a snake to impress people. I happen to love animals esp. reptiles, and I would do anything possible for them. However, I do not claim to be an expert, therefore am open to advice. Im sure there is always room for error when caring for an exotic species, but I want it made clear that I do what I can for my animals, which are in my opinion residents of my home, not just property.
-----
-=Eddie=-
0.0.2 Burmese pythons. Boomer, Casper(albino)
0.0.1 Gold Tegu. Jacko
2.1.0 Dogs. Sam (boxer), Gizmo (yorkie), snowball(mix)
0.0.5 angel fish (don't last long enough to name )

is 6 feet long, 3 feet wide and about 2 feet high. I removed the in ground tub and capped the opening until I can remove the top section and re-construct the floor.

My snake is 9 feet and 35.2 pounds so I don't think the cage is to big. He's eaten around 6 times since he moved in with no problems. I really think it was the temp drop when the first cold weather hit but I've corrected that by upping the temp in the room which brought his cage back up to around 87. He still won't eat. It's been 2 months now and when he's done shedding I'm going to try a fresh killed rat chased by a F/T rabbit. Hopefully this works because I've thrown away a whole family of jumbo's.
-----
DZ
1.0.0 Burm, Moses
0.0.2 Ball, Chico & Chewy (rescue, many scars)
0.2.0 Cats, Merideth & Hannah
1.0.0 Black Chow, Pivo RIP Oct 23
Lotsa fish
1.4.0 Rats
0.2.0 Humans (a little obnoxious though)