Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Does anyone have any idea why a 13 y.o. pyro, after 8 years of eating frozen, would switch off and only eat live? His last real meal was a frozen baby rat (the petshop was out of mice; I'm surprised he got it down) on December 15, 2012. I let him brumate for the first time while in my care, (because he wasn't eating much…), and now he won’t eat frozen mice. (And braining doesn't seem to work either.) He needs to get some weight back on, so I tried fuzzies in the interim, while still trying frozen food as well. He'll only take the fuzzies, and even then I have to put his head near them. On the last go, they gave me weaned fuzzies instead of the ones that become totally content and out of it when sleeping near a heating pad, so I had to deal with baby mice running all over my apartment. The snake only ate one. I think he may have gotten distracted by the 3rd fuzzy leading to regurgitation of the second one. (So I kept the last live one, got him a friend, and now I have two live junior mice.) The original one was already traumatized by the snake; I have no idea what to do about feeding.

Totally stressed out, driven to tears, losing sleep and at my wit's end. Nightmare about it, even. Any advice? He was warmed up in late March and has only had 5 fuzzies since then. His original owner is telling me I should try scenting with anole skin, but I can't find a source of frozen lizards. (And the petshop didn't like that idea, sternly warning of parasites.)

In the spring after coming out of brumation my male pyros often only eat a few times in March, then go straight into breeding mode and will not eat again until breeding season is over, generally in early May. In fact, one of them did not eat at all after coming out of brumation, but went directly into breeding mode, and finally commenced feeding again May 10.

I feed mine live fuzzies and pre-killed hoppers, so cannot address the frozen versus live issue. I'd suggest feed him what he wants, and stun food that can run around first. He will likely want to go off feed again in the fall, so now is the time to offer as much as he will take. Also, presentation matters. Put the food in his cage and let him come out and get it without feeling exposed or stressed.

One of my males enjoying a post breeding season feast of fuzzies.
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Bob
Pyromaniac AKA Greatballzofire
Keeping cats allows man to cohabitate with tigers. Keeping reptiles allows man to cohabitate with dinosaurs.

Thanks Bob! According to my records from last year, he should have gotten back into the swing of eating by late May. He didn't brumate last year, but he still had "mating distraction".

There were complications in this year's brumation. After going for a few months, I tried warming him up gradually, but when I let him out, he found the coldest darkest place in my efficiency apt. I let him stay there a bit, which was a bad idea. To my surprise he got too cold. I took temp readings. He was limp and I lost it. (This also coincided with finding out that my father unexpectedly passed away. So, I had to warm him up faster than I wanted to, but still did my best to do it gradually.) He came to at room temp. And I don't think I used a heat lamp while I was away with family, maybe just undertank heat on one side, so that he wasn't too challenged too quickly. I'm worried this mishap is what's caused the switch off from frozen mice somehow. Nerve damage? Gut floral/faunal imbalance?

Even when I do feed him live fuzzies, it's a challenge. He tends to ignore them. Or if he does kill them, he'll ignore the rest after he eats the first one. I end up having to point his head at them to get him to eat them. He needs to put on weight; he must be hungry. He even tracked a bird's nest near the air conditioner on the floor, and was pressing his nose against the wall trying to get at it. But if he's hungry, why is he sometimes ignoring even live food?

I can't stun mice. I haven't been taught, and my nerves would probably make me mess up and injure them. I'm already a mess over the live fuzzies. When I first took him in (I'm his 3rd owner), I knew I wouldn't be able to handle bonking adult mice, so I tried live fuzzies (and realized just once was enough; it was awful for me) until I figured out the frozen situation. When he took frozen, I was elated, and that's what he's been eating for 8+ years. But his change has totally toppled me and I don't know what to do.

First off, my condolences for the loss of your father. Unexpected tragedies like that can impact everything else in one's life and make even small challenges like feeding one's snake seem more complicated than normal.

I'd suggest keep your snake at mid 70s F with a hot spot in the 90's F and continue to offer the food you have had success with. If he even eats just one at a feeding that is headway.

A way to kill mice that is easier than bonking is put the mouse on a towel on a firm surface, and while holding it with one hand by the tail put a pencil over it's neck with the other hand and give a firm sharp tug on the tail, dislocating the cervical vertebrae. If all this is just too gruesome (my partner would have to feed my snakes ice cream and cake, he is so squeamish about such things! LOL!) just stick with the frozen thawed.

The main thing now is to remember to relax.

Zane, one of my breeder males, relaxing on a hot day.
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Bob
Pyromaniac AKA Greatballzofire
Keeping cats allows man to cohabitate with tigers. Keeping reptiles allows man to cohabitate with dinosaurs.

I agree with Pyro. Feed him what he wants and don't stress about it. Snakes don't always do what we want them to. Also remember that snakes can go a long time without eating. Make sure he has a cool hide as well as a warm hide. He may choose the cool hide to conserve energy if he isn't eating much.
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Kent

I meant to mention that my male gray-banded king does the same thing as Pyro's males. Sometimes after his breeding season fast, it takes live fuzzies to get him eating again. Then he resumes feeding on f/t like usual.
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Kent