Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My female Lavender Motley laid eggs in late May and hasn't eaten since. She was eating f/t mice prior to laying eggs. I just tried a small live mouse and she constricted it but didn't eat it. Then I tried a gerbil with no success. Then I tried another live mice with no success. I'm a little concerned. It's been 2 months since laying eggs and still not eating.

Any ideas?

Allen Lloyd

In desperation I would try live fuzzies....and even pinkies. However when in this sort of situation I always have a few f/t mice just a little smaller than the average they ate before going off feed handy...because sometimes when they take that first fuzzy the feeding responce kicks in and they will take a few rodents one after the other. Many people will say do not offer the snake pinks or fuzzies because they can suddenly have a preference for them. However if it is a breeder get it too eat, and eat a lot before winter and chances are it will be its old self come spring and eat just fine. Tom Stevens

check and make sure she doesn't have an egg or more stuck in her yet......

she should have eaten by now...I get them to eat the same day they lay if at all possible .I use deer mice or hamsters if they won't take a mouse out of my hand....

she may also have a second clutch in her by now and won't eat till they are laid....by then she will be very skinny and very hungry......when was first batch laid ?.....if it's been 60 to 80 days after this......she may not have a second batch..they usually come about 60 days after the first..not always..........but usually......

.....so see if there is an egg blocking her up......

and if she doesn't take a gerbil or hamster.......and isn't blocked........wow...you have a problem......

let us know........
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................Yea.that's what she said............................zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

if it has nothing to do with stuck eggs, another clutch, and the fuzzy idea doesn't work, I usually give a few liquid meals to build her up. I have had some females (and even an occasional male) after the breeding season that go into a downward spiral of either regurging or not eating, and they can die from it. My unproven theory is that once they get rundown, the "bugs" that are always around (Salmonella, who knows what else?) multiply and take over, becoming pathogenic. By giving tiny, frequent meals (fuzzies or liquid), they build themselves back up and the "good" microbes again start to outnumber the "bad guys". I have brought a number of them back from the brink by doing that over the years, and I have lost some that I didn't start working with soon enough.

If they won't eat fuzzies, I usually use a ground up canned cat food, mixed with water and fed through a tube. I start with just a few ccs of watery gruel to get them started, then mix it heavier as the feedings progress. Since I have started adding Nutri Bac to my arsenal, I have better success than earlier, which to me reinforces my whole theory. After a few weeks go by of twice weekly fuzzy or liquid feedings (plus Nutri Bac), I start trying them on their own, and increase food mass.

I am not a vet or microbiologist, but this is what has worked for me, and the experience that has led me to form my theories.

sounds logical.......I've had those downward less healthy snakes at one time or another.....I am too lazy to force feed and they have died if they wouldn't eat at all.......or regurge all the time..............and others I have had to use deer mice (or other odd rodent) in small meals till they get well enough like you said...to begin eating "normally"

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I wish snakes spoke English or at least could type......

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you know there Roy I do believe I can still smell xxxxx............