I need a little help, and an opinion.

[Elliot]

Ok, so my male ribbon snake has been going on a hunger strike for the past 5 weeks. In this time he's only eaten one fuzzy. Today I fed him and my female live fish, but he wasn't interested at all, even when one was flopping around all over on top of him. I noticed a few minutes ago that he was laying on top of her and kind of had his tail wrapped around her's. Do you think he may be trying to mate with her and he's to distracted to eat? I'm not worried about him yet, but I just thought I'd see what you guys had to say about it.

[enigma200316]

it sounds very possible and its not uncommon for them to not eat until there done,however I'm not total experianced with this but it is my opinion.....Elliot

[Elliot]

Ok, I got a few pictures to see if it could help you out. Stanely isn't about to shed, but it looks like his eyes are blue in one of the pics.

http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/medium/mating2.JPG

http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/medium/mating1.JPG

They've been like this all evening, I got a closer look at them and it looked like his tail may have been twitching a little bit. (I'm not sure though)

[enigma200316]

I'd say after they are done try to feed him and only him say by using tweezers or by isolating him.....and see if he eats.....like I said it is possible they are,but the big thing is getting him eating.......:)

[Elliot]

The tweezers scare them (lol) but they'll usually eat out of my hand so I'll give that a try tomorrow.

[enigma200316]

The tweezers scare them (lol) but they'll usually eat out of my hand so I'll give that a try tomorrow.
well try that and if he doesn't eat give it a little while longer,but you'll have to start thinking about forcing,but only as last resort........

[Elliot]

It'll probably be a month before I even attempt to force feed him. He's definately not a young snake, so he'll be ok for now.

[Josh]

hopefully they are mating.

[GarterGuy]

Not sure what's up with your little guy, but I definitely think it'd be best to wait quite a bit longer before I'd think about force feeding. He may be just "in the mood" and not thinking about food at the moment. As long as his body weight looks good and all is well with him, I wouldn't worry too much.

Roy

[enigma200316]

yeah if he doesn't eat just wait a while longer and see what happens....:)

[adamanteus]

From what you're describing, Elliot, it sounds like your male is just feeling amorous!;) I wouldn't worry just yet, not unless you start to notice other changes in his behaviour, and I certainly wouldn't contemplate force-feeding him.

[Elliot]

Ok, sounds good guys. I thought they had mated earlier in the year, it sure looked like they did, but I guess they didn't. So that would explain why he's not eating at least.

[Elliot]

Well he isn't eating today either. This will make one fuzzy in 6 weeks. I guess I still don't need to worry though.

[garterking]

Well he isn't eating today either. This will make one fuzzy in 6 weeks. I guess I still don't need to worry though.

Elliot, Mine is doing the exact thing that yours is. He chases her everywhere and the tails have been wrapped a few times. In the last 2 months, he's only had 3 worms. I seperated them last week and still nothing so I'm just as worried about him as you are about yours.

I don't want to sound negative at all but I did read something I didn't like on a site. Males (in the wild) usually only live half as long as females. Towards the end of a males life, they mate often so they have the best chance to pass on their genes. We both have adult males doing the same thing. I hope what I read was wrong, and I'm still as concerned as you. Good luck to both of us and anyone else having the same problem

[Elliot]

Well, ribbon snakes only have an expected life span of 5 years, and I got Stanely as an adult 1 1/2 years ago, and I'm sure he was wild caught. He did eat today, I cut open the belly of a pinky and he ate after about 2 hours. Hopefully you read it wrong, but it's very possible. :(