Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Does anyone deal with this species of ratsnake.. I have a blonde het for axanthic female 04.. that has went off of feed for too long it wont eat live or dead pinks.. anyone have any suggestions on turning this female around her condition is starting to show thanks.. David
Link

How long have you had her? How long has she been off feed? How warm is her cage? When was the last time she shed?

Mine will only eat if she can feed inside her hide, but I have had no feeding problems with her. I feed mine F/T mice.

I have a male Blonde phase who is now around two and a half years
old, and up until this weekend would only eat rat pinks.
This weekend he ate a very small rat.
If you haven't tried yours on Rat pinks, its worth a try.

thanks it is worth a try thing is when i first purchesed her she ate thawed then stopped sometime later.

Ive had her around 3 months, she is at room temperature with heat pad under half her enclosure. the male axanthic in the same enviroment is still eating she shed about 2 weeks ago. but hasnt eaten in a month.

Check your humidity levels. Judging by your website, I'm guessing you have a large collection, which leads me to guess that the snake may be housed in a rack. Is this true? If it is, I'd put the snake in maybe a ten gallon aquarium with a screen top or some other form of extremely well ventilated caging.
It almost always comes down to humidity with subocs. Good luck!

I think that this humidity thing is being over rated. I have a Trans-Pecos Rat Snake in Hampton Roads Virginia. The humidity is always high here, but my snake has never given me any problems. I have had her for over a year, and she is healthy and doing just fine. Her only demand is that she be in her hide when she is fed.

Two weeks is not a lot of time for her to be off feed. Give it a few more weeks before you think about going to see a vet. If your snake is basically healthy, she can go for months without eating.

Best of luck with your snake.

There's no doubt that some subocs do better with humidity then others, and perhaps you have on of those. Or, maybe you're keeping it indoors at fairly low temps. But I certainly would hasten to describe the issue as "overrated" based on just one snake. I've been keeping them for 10 years now, and from personal experience there's never been a problem that wasn't related to humidity.
I was talking with John Cherry not long ago. He was working with Don Soderberg on some subocs. He told me that he had to give it up because his snakes were withering away. I said "Was it because of the humidity?". And he said "It was because of the humidity." Just like that.
Point is, Do not discount the humidity issue.
Cheers!

I believe humidity can be and is an issue for many, however I would say that ventilation is an even bigger issue. Craig Trumbower is one of the most proficient suboc breeders in the country...and he has his collection in Florida where it is extremely humid and is breeding them like mice. At least, that is what Don Soderberg, Adam Sweetman and Dave katz have told me.
Mike Falcon also does well with them in Florida.
I have about 10 "Bogies" of all ages and morphs and they have all gotten used to the dense, thick humidity here in southeast Houston. A few of them were affected by it. A few of them were not. The ones that were bothered by the humidity all burrowed in the dry aspen to escape it. I found removing the water dish for a few days, adding more bedding, and placing a closed (but perforated) container of rock salt in the enclosure would lower the humidity enough to "introduce" them to it. A fan also helps.
Nearly all have gotten accustomed to it, and I no longer remove any dishes.
Oh yeah, I keep about half of them in a rack, but it is screened on the top. Mine do well in racks as long as it is screened.
Peace out.
Dusty R.

thanks for your response actually I have never lodged anything in a rack system till just lately and i only have two pais of animals in them deppei and a pair of brooks kings. everything else is in tanks and they are indoors under central air and heating not much humididty and i dont leave water dishes in with the more arid species.. Im hoping she will just get around to eating when the weather gets mild and the days get longer .. the curious thing is the axanthic male eats well.

Ok, tell me what part of a snake’s digestive system is influenced by humidity? A snake’s metabolism is controlled by temperature. There is a cardiac valve at the top of the stomach that stays closed until it is letting food or water in or out. For the most part, it is a sealed system.

If high humidity were a problem for desert snakes, you would expect to see it reflected in respiratory and skin problems. Those are the areas of the snake’s anatomy that are most exposed to the increased levels of moisture.

At this time, I keep both Trans-Pecos and Baird’s Rat Snakes. In the summer, I make no attempt to influence the temperature or humidity levels in the air. They are constantly exposed to high humidity levels with no ill effects. Since I have three Baird’s and one Trans-Pecos Rat Snake, I was not just talking about a universe of one when I made my comment.

I am sure that all those who are saying that humidity caused problems for their snakes are giving it their best guess. Still, they are making “this; therefore because of this” type argument. I am not saying that they are totally wrong, but I am saying that they don’t have any real data to prove their contention. If a real scientific study has been done and published on the subject, I would love to read it.