Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have an albino burm who hasnt eaten in almost a year. He was eating lg chicks but the reptile stores here have stopped selling them. ive tried small chicks and rats of different sizes. nothing works. we have tried asst feeding i dont want to try live but i guess i may have to. If anyone can help please send me an email.
Thanks ahead for any help
Philip

If he hasn't eaten in almost a year, it sounds like he should have gone to the vet,IMHO. However, you have to do what you have to do to get him to eat. From what I read, you may be able to scent the rat with a little chicken broth. Never tried it myself, but some say it works, someone in here may be able to validate or oppose that.

Force feeding is an option, however, dont do it if you dont know what you are doing and if you can work around it then I would recommend doing so, because that process is very stressful on the snake.

Hope this helps,

Stan

First what are the temps like and humidity. Second is there a hide box for him. I know when my burm did not eat it was because it did not feel secure. It has been my experince that burms are easy to switch to differnet things. How big is he? Put him in a smaller cage if he is not to big. Crank the heat up to and the humidity up and the smaller cage will make it secure. Plus warm up the rat in a bucket of warm water. Put it in a bag when you do that. You can try to move it in front of him and then if no go just leave it, and come back later. How often are you trying to feed it. Trying to often only stresses you and the snake who does not want to eat.

Let me know and we will go from there
Jeff
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0.1 Rott
1.0 Super Tiger
0.1 Green Burm
0.1 Ball Python
0.1 Red Tail
0.1 Blood Python

You definately should see a vet. I've been told by my vet that if the snake has parasites it may not eat. At least a trip to the vet will determine if he's healthy or not. A year is a long time. If he is healthy, and your husbandry is correct, the vet can tube the snake. Feed it through a long skinny tube that is inserted into the throat. He can mix in a appetite stimulant that may help as well. If you don't REALLY know EXACTLY what your doing, like most of us who seek help on the forum, a vet is your best way to help your snake.
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DZ

"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." -- George Orwell

"If you don't REALLY know EXACTLY what your doing, like most of us who seek help on the forum, a vet is your best way to help your snake."

I love this quote!

wow, a year is a long time, I hate to say it but your doing something wrong; see the above posts as they are all great.

Most of us don't go to the doctor when we feel ill. We THINK we know what we're doing but we could be festering some illness we are not aware of. So when it comes to diagnosing our snakes, I would say most of us do not REALLY KNOW what we are doing. I would say the only one on here that does would be Mr. Carmichael or possibly Todd Becker. You know, the ones that have the answers, not the questions. If your on here asking questions then you don't REALLY KNOW exactly what your doing, you're learning. Not sure how you meant your post so I wanted to calrify. To some this may hurt their feelings however the degree to which one is offended does not change the facts. If it's an ugly baby, I'm going to say it's an ugly baby.
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DZ

"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." -- George Orwell