Help! My blood isn't eating!

[Bionicrooster]

She had a minor respitory infection when i got her, which thanks to the vet has been cured, but she still won't eat. I have been force feeding her.... I tried offering live, and freshly killed... Any suggestions or did I just get an un-cooperative blood.

[gilles]

Hi,one of my bloods didn't want to eat when I got it 3 years ago.I had to force fed her during one month and then she started to feed by herself.She's now 5 feet long and eats 2 dead dwarf rabbits per meal...So don't worry but first,be sure that the respiratory infection has been totally cured.Try all kinds of prey (baby rats,mice,hamsters,chicks),dead or alive.Of course keep an eye on the heat in your cage and avoid any source of stress for the animal...

[Bionicrooster]

Thanks Gilles! Thats encouraging....

[FishTool69]

Have you tried just setting the fresh killed food in front of the hide without disturbing the snake at all? I tried several things before I did that, none worked. Two minutes after setting the dead rat in front of the hide, she was out and gobbling it down.

[KLG]

How is the snake set up? How old is it, etc, etc? Details, man!

Stop force feeding - at this point you're probably putting extreme stress on the animal & doing more harm than good.

K~

[Bionicrooster]

Thanks Ryan, I will try that... I had tried placing a dead rat in the cage before but it just sat there for hours... I will try again...

[TrowaIkari]

Give some details on your setup and there may be a few more suggestions. Give her some time to adjust, it won't hurt her to miss a few meals. I've had some go for months without eating and for whatever reason decide that eating is a good thing. Make sure her setup is optimal and just give her some time.

[Bionicrooster]

Tro, she is in a 30 gallon terrarium, good hide which she rarely leaves, big water dish with low sides, plenty big enough to soak in, which she does on occasion.... substrate is indoor / outdoor carpet, humidity is around 85%, and I keep it around 90 degrees during the day in the middle of the habitat, 85-ish on the edges, 80-82 at night... Heating is done with a heat lamp above her cage...Let me know if you have any suggestions! Thanks.

[dwb70]

do you know how old it is?or if you can tell us how big she is.an open 30gal. tank is way to big for anything less than a sub-adult.with bloods less is usually better with cage size.i have a pair that was imported from bushmasters last april that just started to eat on their own last month.but only live,then i decided to try mulch instead of newspaper.first shot i got them to take a thawed gerbil.kara is right if you aren't experienced at force feeding the stress can be overwhelming.it is even when you are good at it.try putting the heat source at one end of the cage.then observe where she spends her time.

[fishkiller]

Just curious what kind of lid are you using on top of that cage.Also curious how you are keeping 85% humidity with just using indoor/outdoor carpet in a glass enclosure.Force feeding your snake more than likely put a lot of stress on her and will take some time to feel comfortable again in the cage and willing to eat.I would give her some time with out handling her for atleast two weeks- a month and try feeding then.Try feeding what she was eating from the start.Are you sure her infection is totally cured.Sounds like your cage, temps, humdity is good. I would now just give her some time.

[Bionicrooster]

I am not sure how old she is exactly, she is about 18-20 inches long. The tank is 30 gal, but it is 30 gal tall, so I though it would be ok, plus she has 2 great hides, one just a little bigger than her and the other bigger than that... the lid is a form fitting plastic lid with a rubber gasket and clamps holing it on, the hunmidy ranges for 78% to 85 % , the lower end at night and higher end during the day.

As for force feeding I am very experienced having owned several snakes before, including a big burm who had an eye infection when I 'rescued' her and had to be fed several times before she would eat on her own.

This blood looks like the picture of health since the last vet visit when the doctor declared her "cured" from the respitory infection. Very active, very friendly. I think I may try leaving the dead mouse in front of the hide like Fishtool suggested, I am starting to think she may just be hesitant to eat when disturbed... I was in the habit of removing the hide while feeding my burm as she ate live and I needed to be able to watch her, I am thinking that may be the problem...

[Bionicrooster]

Oh yeah, thanks everyone for the help, i am going to try to feed her this weekend as I haven't handled her in 2 weeks now and I will let everyone know how it goes!

[Bionicrooster]

Well, I finally tried feeding her agin, just put a live mouse in the tank and sat back expecting the worst, but she was HUNGRY! Finally! Sh took care of business in minutes and is digesting peacefully as I type this! I am one happy Blood owner! I will try to get some pics once she digests and get them on here....