Not eating.....Concern?

[rtcphoto]

My three foot Wandering has not eaten in approximatley a month and I'm starting to get concerned. She looks fine, but is not eating anything.
Is this a phase or can there be more to it?
Thanks.....BOB

[Lulu Bennett]

if she isn't loosing weight yet then she should be ok for another few weeks but just keep trying her

[garterking]

well rtcphoto...............I'm glad someone posted this as I was going to bring my old post back to see if I could get some more info. After my male last ate, he went right back to the hunger strike. I have seperated him from the female with no luck so far. My wandering also stopped about 3 weeks ago. Last year he ate a lot until the end of September then he changed. I had to hibernate him. Does anyone have an explanation that can help us?? If he's going to brumate again, you'd think he would be packing it in about now.

You can have a look at this thread I started last month, it might be helpful
http://www.thamnophis.com/forum/urgent-care/1524-expert-help-needed.html

Does this happen to others??

[joeysgreen]

It has with some other species (i unfortunately don't keep garters at the moment.)

Since hunger strikes can be so unpredictable, the only thing we can do is trouble shoot and monitor weights. A 10% weight loss in an adult animal is time to intervene. Very small/young animals are the exeption, don't wait so long, and other exceptions would be a female giving birth for example.

Ian

[Odie]

Hi, from Oregon, Bob/rtcphoto :)

[GarterGuy]

I wouldn't worry too much if the snake is doing well and still has good body weight to it. Sometimes these guys just do this. Is this a wild caught snake or captive bred and is it a new snake or a LTC? New or newly caught snakes may often not eat for a while as they adjust to a new situation. There acually could be a ton of factors why it's not eating, best thing is to make sure it's comfortable, can hide, can thermoregulate and has clean water to drink at ALL times. Also if it is a new snake, make sure it's in a quiet area and I wouldn't handle it for a while. Hope this helps.

Roy

[Ameivaboy]

parasites may also be an issue