How long is too long?

[katach]

My step-son's snake Blade is not taking food. It's been about 3 weeks. We have offered night crawlers, salmon, pinkies, and salmon-scented pinkies. I'm just wondering how long is too long to refuse food? :confused:

[guidofatherof5]

Have you tried any earthworms or slugs?
My Northwesterns relish both.;)

[katach]

I've tried worms, but not slugs yet. The only thing she has had is a small live fish about 3weeks ago, and even then it was a challenge to get her to take it. I'm starting to wonder if there is some underlying factor... I'll try slug hunting this evening and see if she'll take one.

Cotton, Toothless, and Maria all took a scented pinkie with no problems today though.

[guidofatherof5]

Earthworms and night crawlers are not the same thing.
If you haven't tried earthworms I highly recommend it.
http://www.thamnophis.com/forum/general-talk/8569-earthworm-credit.html

[katach]

I've offered smaller worms that my husband dug up from the garden. They were different looking than the night crawlers we buy at the bait shop. They were not red wrigglers though. I'll go slug hunting this evening and see if she'll take that.

[guidofatherof5]

Slugs love and need dark damp places. Under fallen logs, branches and leaf clutter.
My Northwesterns love slugs. Wish I had more in my area.

[kibakiba]

Mama does this sometimes. Honestly, if she's healthy, she could go up to 2 months or more without food. It could be that she just doesn't feel like eating. My snakes go off food around this time, and again closer to winter and sometimes in spring.

Also, stay VERY clear of dark brown slugs, they put a yellow/orange thick slime that will suffocate the snake if they bite onto it. It happened to Ember, and I don't want it to happen to anyone else's snake. I had to pull the huge glob out of his mouth

[katach]

We are house sitting at my parents right now and there are a lot of slugs here. It's really wooded. Thanks for the tip about the dark ones!!

[kibakiba]

Not a problem. After getting Embers mouth all clean, we set the slug in a circle of salt. He died pretty quick ;) Those things eat my strawberries, so they deserve it. :D

[annulataarethebest]

In my opinion if the snake isn't eating, and it's not in shed mode, then the conditions it's being kept in aren't right... So the snake may either not feel safe enough to feed, it's shedding, it could be too humid in the enclosure, not warm enough, and also with garter snakes I've noticed a lot won't eat if they're thirsty.

[kibakiba]

That isn't always the case, if the snake is eating well for a long time, they feel comfortable to go without food. You can keep a snake in the perfect conditions, but it could still go off food. We feed snakes more often than they would eat in the wild.

[RedSidedSPR]

My adult just went off a 4 week food strike. It's normal. He'll probably start eating again soon. Dobt worry about it.

[katach]

I wasn't able to find any slugs that weren't dark brown. I think I'm going to have to buy some guppies. That seemed to be the only thing that interested her. Is there a difference between fancy guppies and feeder guppies, other than the price?

[RedSidedSPR]

No. But trust me, he's just "off food." he'll get over it.

[guidofatherof5]

I wasn't able to find any slugs that weren't dark brown. I think I'm going to have to buy some guppies. That seemed to be the only thing that interested her. Is there a difference between fancy guppies and feeder guppies, other than the price?

The fancy one are fancy and the others aren't:D Sorry, I just had to. Please forgive me.

Same fish. Fancy's are bred to look that way.

[RedSidedSPR]

A lot of the time there's not much difference in the price :rolleyes:

[katach]

Thanks everyone. I'll not worry too much, but I'll keep offering. She is otherwise active and drinking water. She is just as fiery as her coloring... :)

[katach]

Update: So I've determined that Blade is just a food snob! She will only eat live fish. She downed 2 guppies and a platy. I'll keep offering scented pinkies though, just in case she changes her mind.

[guidofatherof5]

Extra small pinkies are great to have around for switching snakes over.
They are easily covered with worm slime or fish scent.
Their size is less to deal with than the larger pinkies.
A little less economical but well worth it.

[katach]

We just bought some pinkies from the pet store. There were a good variety of sizes in there. I'll try one of the smaller ones. I scented them with salmon last time and most of them ate it. Is there a better scent to try on it?

[guidofatherof5]

If they are eating guppies than you can chop up a few to make a scenting mix.
A little gross but it can really help. The overall scent, blood, guts and fluids all work their magic.

[katach]

Ok, cool. Thanks!! I will try that next time. Guppies alone could get expensive since they are $1.79 each...

[RdubSnider]

That might be the wrong guppies. They should be around 15 cents each

[Kantar]

I had a little one that didn't eat for 5-6 weeks, I always offered food every week, he did his little tongue wiggle and seemed interested but just never took the pinkie.

How often are you trying to feed the snake?

Also, try a frog a small live frog if you have leopard or wood frogs there

[RedSidedSPR]

Don't. No live frogs. LOADS of parasites.

[guidofatherof5]

The frog can be used for scenting though.;)

[drache]

this has always worked for me when they stubbornly prefer fish:
I start out by feeding them their preferred food for a few feedings, so they're in good condition; then I offer no food for three times the amount of time I would normally put leave between feedings; then I toss a couple of defrosted pinkies in a shallow bowl with a couple of live fish; often the snake will grab one of the pinks by accident, and just as often they will not actually eat it the first couple of tries. I believe that they get a little bit used to the rodent taste when you stick to it, because sooner or later they'll just eat the pink. Then it takes a while before they don't need the fish, but I've had snakes prefer to eat the rodents pretty fast - just as long as the fish was there (and I did once get a fish to last through a couple of months of these feeding ordeals)

good luck with that - but mostly persistence

[snakehill]

What color should the slugs be? I see alot of tan ones where I live. Is that what you mean by brown? :confused:

[RedSidedSPR]

All i know is, if they extract yellow slime, they're toxic.

[snakehill]

Do you have to squeeze them?:rolleyes:

[RedSidedSPR]

That might be the wrong guppies. They should be around 15 cents each

What, is that your price!! That's pretty darn cheap for a feeder guppy...


The frog can be used for scenting though.;)

Forgot to say that

[RedSidedSPR]

Do you have to squeeze them?:rolleyes:

Don't think so... no idea.

[kibakiba]

Just picking up the slug would cause it to slime you, if it;'s yellow or orange, kill it with fire! Lol... Not really. Yellow slime isn't toxic, it's just thick and will choke the snake to death.

[snakehill]

I'm one of those people that can't kill a fly! I put them outside!:o

[katach]

That might be the wrong guppies. They should be around 15 cents each

All of the pet stores I've looked at either don't carry the feeder kind or they don't take care of them and they look ill.

I'll try the live fish and pinkie thing and see if that works. I have a fish bowl at home so if the guppy survives I'll keep him until the next time.

Thank everyone!! You guys are awesome!

[RedSidedSPR]

Yes, I am.