Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Do male black milksnakes go off feed in spring? He has always eaten f/t. At first I would have to tease feed but then he started eating without help. He isn't terribly thin but hasn't grown as fast as I would hope or think he should. He was bought in 4/04 and is around 2'. The last 4 weeks he has refused f/t. After teasing failed, I would put him in a dark closet with the prey overnight and it would still be there. Finally put a live crawler (eyes closed)in with him and he still wouldn't go for it. If the mouse got too close he would strike defensively or zip away. After about an hour he finally realized - hey I might be hungry and this could be food. Once his feeding response turned on, he struck and coiled perfectly (3 coils the entire length of the mouse no overlap)then finally ate. Just seems like its taking a lot to get his feeding response to kick in. Would've taken a picture but didn't want to jinx it. He is kept on the bottom shelf with temps between 65 and 72. His future female companion eats readily but only live prey.

Sumguy,

I have never had a Black Milk go off feed that long. Is he maintaining weight?

You might try a pinky. See if he snaps at that. Also try braining one see what happens. I have noticed that sometimes pinky mice entice the stubborn feeder.

I have had them refuse while in shed. Some have stayed in shedding mode for two and three weeks. How long ago was the last shed?

Also, I would start switching both of them to F/T. That is once you get your male back on track.

Take a poop sample into a vet just in case. Eliminate the parasite possibility.

One last question. Do they have lots of hiding room? I keep mine on news paper with a couple of layers of papers on top (crumpled up and then laid out flat). These guys like to hind and feel secure under cover. I also use shoe boxes with several holes cut around them. I see them crawling in and out of the holes. Like a little jungle gym for them.

Hope this helps….Dann

thanks. forgot to mention he was in shed cycle part of the time he was off feed. typically it takes 2-3 weeks start to finish. Fed him the live crawler the day he shed. Seemed like I waited an hour for his feeding response to kick in. He used to eat 2 f/t crawlers weekly. He seems slender but not emaciated - no ridges or skin folds. On 11/22/04 he weighed 98 grams, just a bit ago he weighed 140 grams. He is currently housed in a 45qt rubbermaid snap top with about 3 inches of aspen, 2 hides and a water bowl. When he grows a bit I will move him to an Iris VE-175 tub. I'm trying to be careful not to feed oversize items but do you think I should increase prey size?

Sumguy,

What I do is start with small (pinky or fuzzy) mice.

I put a pink or crawler in and once the feeding response kicks in the next mouse is a hopper or small mouse (4 foot and 5 foot Blacks) I have no babies. Once the response is activated I can get three or four mice in.

I’m like you I don’t feed large pry items just three or four smaller sized at a sitting. I believe the older the mouse the more vitamins your snake gets but I do not push size.

I have noticed that some of my Blacks will not eat during shed, period. Some will.

I would give him a day or so and try tossing in the pinky.

Let me know how he comes along. …..Dann

I've been curious about their sheds in general. Mine also seem to take a lot longer to go through a shed cycle than any other colubrid I keep, guess thats just normal.

While your around, thought I'd ask your opinion on something. I've gotten a new rack. Background temps in my cellar are steady 68- 70 degrees. To keep the ambient temp in the rack for the BMs at 75 I have to make the hot spot around 82. I was keeping my 04's without heat and they've been fine, recently put them in the rack since they've grown.

I think you told me you don't use any heat a long time ago. Any thoughts. Hope all is well.

Bob.

Bob S,

Good to hear from you Bob. Things are going very well thank you.

Bob, I don’t think that heat will bother your Blacks. When I first started keeping Black Milks I used a heat source. I didn’t want my little red, white, and black treasures to be uncomfortable. Talking to others and reading everything I could on Black Milks and the region there from made me remove the heat source. I still raised my first pair up on some heat. My rack was set on 78 degrees in back and ranged to about 72/ 73 in front. Never had any problems with them and I would actually see them near the warm end sometimes. I use no heat at all now plus there in large Vision cages.

I am going to breed two of my Black Milk to a large male I got as a baby from Steve Emerick. This year I will also try breeding my Drys!! I have lots of Maalox and Tums.

Hope all is well Bob, Take care….Dann

I should have mentioned that the light sources in my cages (25 watts) do put out a little heat. I have seen them under it from time to time. It does hit 78 degrees under them during the day.

My snake room is kept at room temperature because of my Dry’s. Those monsters have light source heat (60 watt) for basking.

I'm up to eight now. Picked up a 2000' male from someone downsizing. Beautiful solid black,glossy, Mellow camper,around 4', acts like the lap snake you said they would. He's very inquisitive and seems to enjoy checking things out when hes out just like you said they do. Feeling real good about going for them.

Good luck with the Easterns. The pic of your male was nice. Getting an Eastern is not in the cards for me because of where I live but I've been maybe thinking of a Black pine as a consolation prize but from the posts I've been checking, getting a solid black is perhaps impossible. Maybe if I save up someday I can get one of those Rubidis that you DRY guys rave about. They lokk just like an Eastern to me.

Good to hear from you.

Bob.

np

n/p