Post-shed worry

[Zephyr]

Alright, one of my red-siders, Ozzy, recently shed. He's always had an amazing appetite. After he went into shed, his appetite just disappeared. He shed 2 days ago and still won't eat. I don't see his tongue either though. Has he yet to shed his tongue? Do you think this could be the cause of his lack of appetite?

[gregmonsta]

Not sure mate ,,, could he be off food due to wanting to mate?

[drache]

not all of my snakes want to eat immediately after shedding
maybe you're right about the tongue shed - never thought much about it

[Zephyr]

Not sure mate ,,, could he be off food due to wanting to mate?
He IS recently "matured..." It could be.

[Zephyr]

not all of my snakes want to eat immediately after shedding
maybe you're right about the tongue shed - never thought much about it
About how many days after would you say they get their appetite back?

[drache]

it varies - usually a couple of days to a week
i don't worry about it unless they miss several feedings

[gregmonsta]

If he is looking to get jiggy he might not eat until he next sheds ... or longer.

[anji1971]

Deejay wouldn't eat for over a week after her last shed. She was extremely hyper though, so I think the spring weather/mating season may have something to do with it. They were all kind of squirrelly for a while!
I wouldn't worry too much yet, Kyle.:)

[Sid]

Kyle, I agree with the earlier replies....wouldn't get worried yet.

[Zephyr]

Yeah, I tried the old "breathing on 'em" trick, and the butler's and the wandering garter both fled, but he just kept sitting there without flicking his tongue. I don't think he's shed his tongue yet.

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

I would check inside of his mouth, Kyle... I have never seen a garter that was unable to flick it's tongue at will unless it was dehydrated or something was going on inside it's mouth... even if they had yet to shed their tongue. I don't see how that would possibly stop him from flicking it. That skin is so thin and fine, I don't see how just that would stop him from flicking. If he has an infection of some sort starting in his mouth, it could be getting sticky and a buildup of sticky saliva or something else can be holding his mouth shut and making him unable to flick his tongue. I have seen this first hand. If you look closely at a snake that has this problem, you can see the muscles underneath his jaw contracting and it's lips curling slightly as they attempt to flick it. If a tongue stops flicking, I take it seriously. Pick him up and try to get him agitated enough to where he would HAVE to start flicking his tongue.

[drache]

good thing you pay better attention than I do, Shannon
how is he now, Kyle?

[Zephyr]

He's doing fine right now, I haven't offered food, but I don't see any of the lip moving or his jaw muscles contracting.
He has had problems shedding his tongue in the past; One time the old skin from his tongue was stuck so when he did flick his tongue the pronged part couldn't come out and you can see the white bit still stuck. :P

[Zephyr]

Alright, I'm a little worried now. I can see the jaws under his mouth moving like he's trying to flick it, but his lips aren't curling.
I opened his mouth up and I didn't see anything that looked unusual except for some dark area on the upper right of his top jaw.
Time for a vet visit?

[Snake lover 3-25]

yeah.... i'd say.... just to be safe...