Fasting Ribbon- Please help?

[Lori P]

Kayti, you can try getting him to eat pinkies by scenting them with a goldfish for now (since he's used to the smell of goldfish) and then progressing onto scenting the pinkies with minnows or guppies, or trout, salmon, or tilapia from the store. You may find that if you put some guppies in a bowl of water with some pinkies, in his efforts to hit the guppies he'll grab a pinkie instead. Same for pieces of trout or salmon; put them in the water with live guppies swimming about. Ribbons seem to be harder to get onto pinkies, but it can be done. Keep us posted!!!!

[rafiki]

But he's not even eating his goldfish now. So would scenting work? I tried him with salmon tonight, first with tongs, then with the hand, then in his water, then just next to his basking rock, and NOTHING worked. He didn't even sniff.
Eating is usually his favorite part of life, I can't understand what has changed. I'm going to try feeder guppies tomorrow... any other suggestions?
Thanks for all your replies everyone

[Stefan-A]

Well, James did suggest a vet visit.

[rafiki]

I looked up reptile vets in my area, and the one that seemed to have the most positive reviews was "Phinney Ridge Animal Hospital". Anyone have any experience with herp vets in the PNW?

Does anyone have any idea how much this vet visit will cost?

[drache]

I'm afraid to use fish from the supermarket because I've heard so many horror stories about it. I'd really rather not go there, if there's any other way.

do make sure the supermarket fist is frozen and thawed to reduce parasites

[Lori P]

You might want to run a very fresh fecal sample to your vet (it's a good way to break the ice with them, and then talk about if he needs to be seen). He may have picked up parasites or bacteria from the goldfish. It would be a starting point...

[rafiki]

That stool sample idea sounds very do-able. Do you know what the vet would be looking for exactly?

Today we put a big fat guppy in his water, which he proceeded to catch, (!!) and then spit up into the coconut.
Does anyone know what this might mean?
He's obviously hungry. Could he have some kind of obstruction?

edit: If he hasn't eaten by tomorrow, I'll take him, and his poo to the vet.

[infernalis]

Any news on the vet visit??

I had to take my Puget to the vet, it was $65 for the visit, and with his medicine the whole trip was just under a hundred dollars.

and ignore anyone who thinks your nuts for taking that ribbon to the vet, pets are like family members

Hope you got that little fella (or gal) eating again.

Kind regards,
Wayne A. Harvey

snakes

[rafiki]

Hey, new update: I talked to my vet on the phone, and he said that 2 weeks is nothing for a snake to go without food. Is this true? Dose anyone know exactly how long I should wait to take him in to the vet? The vet didn't give me an exact timeline, he just said to wait until he looked noticeably less active/skinnier. Rafe is still very active, and I don't think he's any skinnier. I wish I had a gram scale. How do you tell if a snake is skinny? The neck area? Should his neck be skinnier than his head?
If I post pictures, can someone tell me if he is skinny?

[Stefan-A]

Yes, it's true. I have snakes that have now been without eating for over a month. As long as they still seem to be in good shape, it's not anything to worry about. Babies on the other hand are more sensitive.

With garters, you would probably know best by looking at the shape of the body. If you can easily feel the spine, or perhaps even see it, or if the body is very triangular, then it's skinny. Or you could weigh it and see how quickly it loses weight.