Help! Retic not eating!

[dastefster]

Hey guys, first off: I'm new to the forum so if this is not the right place to post something like this, I'm sorry!

Ok, so I recently got a baby super tiger reticulated python. It is a female (or so the breeder said, I have not had her probed by my vet yet to confirm) and she was born sometime early this year (not sure on the exact date). I'll give a little background just to help you guys out on giving me suggestions. Ok I've had her for about 10 weeks now. I was feeding her 1 adult mouse every 4-5 days. For the first couple of weeks after I got her, she ate like a champ! Very aggressive eater (compared to my Boas), she never turned down food! One day (about 6 weeks ago) I noticed she was fully submerged in her water bowl, after spending the weekend in there I knew she probably had mites. Took her out, and sure enough there were mites both in the bottom of the water bowl and on her. Took her to my vet and he confirmed, gave me 3 rounds of IVOMEC shots (1 every 2 weeks). Of course, I cleaned her cage WELL and sprayed it down with IVOMEC spray. A few days After the 1st shot, I fed her and she ate like normal. After the 2nd round shot, she was no longer in her water bowl and all evidence of mites were gone. Only problem is: she refused the food offered the next day. Thought it was weird but I let her be. Waited a week, she refused again but I noticed she was in shed so I figured that might be why. I let her shed and offered food again, still she showed NO interest. I went in her cage last week to check her out again for mites and she was ANGRY started striking at me like crazy (note: she never struck at me before), so I let her be for a week. Tried to offer her live food last night (as apposed to F/T that I had been feeding her) and she showed no interest in the live food, instead she ran away from it and struck defensively at it but not to kill. As of today she has not eaten in 25 days. She used to be active every morning when I woke up and every night when I went to bed, now all she does is hide in her hide. She obviously does not want to be bothered. I have no idea whats going on. It's not mites and it's not due to shedding...any suggestions?
Also just in case this helps here's details of her cage set up (which has not changed throughout the entire time I've had her): She's living in a 36" plastic tub right now, Large water bowl and hide, Temps are kept at around 82 on the hot side and 75 on the cool side. Ceramic heat emitter used for heat source NOT bulb.

Appreciate any and all help/advice! Tried to go into detail but just ask if you want to know anything else! Thanks!

[alessia55]

You are in the right place. :)

Someone should come by and give you some ideas/advice soon.

[ScalelessTime]

I have a snake that I got from the wild (long story) and she/he refused the food. It was a frozen pinky that I was feeding to a few weeks old snake. The way I figured out on getting my snake to feed was breaking open the thawed skin to reveal it's organs and wait it out until the snake showed interest. The snake went on without feeding the non-broken pinkie for about 3 weeks. When I tried it, the snake started to eat. It was comfortable with the habitat by the first week, just wasn't wanting to eat the food. I don't know how much this could help you, but if you are feeding frozen, try opening the skin with the prongs.

_____________
And welcome to the family!

[IW17]

The one thing that sticks out to me is your temps. 82 hot side is way to low. Bring up the warm side to 90-92. Also how are you measuring your temps? If you could post some pics of your setup it will help people on here get a idea of what might be wrong. Don't stress too much. 25 days isn't gonna hurt her.

[Tonka14]

I haven't had the issue with the mites with my retic so I don't know on that end but mine has done the same kind of things with eating in the past. He went close to 2 1/2 months without eating, I even tried small prey items live and f/t. Try getting him good and warm before you feed to see if you can get him a little more active. That was one of the things that worked for me, I now keep his hide at 95 and his humidity pretty high in his enclosure and he is a damn garbage disposal now.

[dastefster]

The one thing that sticks out to me is your temps. 82 hot side is way to low. Bring up the warm side to 90-92. Also how are you measuring your temps? If you could post some pics of your setup it will help people on here get a idea of what might be wrong. Don't stress too much. 25 days isn't gonna hurt her.

I'll have to get a different heat emitter to raise it anymore, but she is never up on her basking spot (raised area directly under the heat source) so I doesn't seem like she want's more heat. Also, the heat has remained constant the whole time I've owned her so I don't know why now she just would decide not to eat due to the temp. But i'll try it! My temps are being measured by 2 probe-style thermometers (one on each end of the enclosure). I'll try to get some pics up soon. Also, just an update: she was weighed 12 days ago by the vet and she weighed in at 470g, I weighed her today on my scale and she weighed in at 451g.

[dastefster]

I haven't had the issue with the mites with my retic so I don't know on that end but mine has done the same kind of things with eating in the past. He went close to 2 1/2 months without eating, I even tried small prey items live and f/t. Try getting him good and warm before you feed to see if you can get him a little more active. That was one of the things that worked for me, I now keep his hide at 95 and his humidity pretty high in his enclosure and he is a damn garbage disposal now.

Good to know! Did he not drop a ton of weight over that time? Also, how old was yours when this happened? Mine is a baby so I'm concerned. My full grown GTP went a few months without eating during breeding season(winter), which did not concern me. But my retic is a baby so she has less weight to lose. I will get my temps up ASAP.

[jpsteele80]

82 should be on the cool side of temps, I gotta agree with what was said, get those temps up to like 90 to 95 on the hot side, after he/she gets warmed up try again and I bet your problem is solved

[Tonka14]

Good to know! Did he not drop a ton of weight over that time? Also, how old was yours when this happened? Mine is a baby so I'm concerned. My full grown GTP went a few months without eating during breeding season(winter), which did not concern me. But my retic is a baby so she has less weight to lose. I will get my temps up ASAP.

I would say he was about 5 months at the time that he did it. He really didn't lose to much on the weight side he spent a lot of time not moving around so they don't exert all that energy so they don't burn off the body fat and muscle mass

[dastefster]

I would say he was about 5 months at the time that he did it. He really didn't lose to much on the weight side he spent a lot of time not moving around so they don't exert all that energy so they don't burn off the body fat and muscle mass

Sounds a lot like what mine is doing. Probably around the same age too. I'm raising the temp and I'll keep you guys posted! any other suggestions would be sweet!

[jpsteele80]

The most that can be said is what temperatures to be at, what the humidity range should be in, with out pics not much more can be said.

[shaunyboy]

imo,82F for your hot end is way too low to help a snake digest it's prey,if the mites are definitely gone,then raising the hot end temp should encourage feeding


also i would only go near the snake to change it's water,then leave it in peace and quiet,with NO handling until it's eating regular

pictures of your set up would help folk give an educated opinion


cheers shaun

[dastefster]

Hey guys, Thanks for all your advice! I got a larger heat emitter a few days ago and have raised the temp up to about 92-93 degrees. I'm definitely not handling her or bugging her at all, don't wan to stress her out. I took some pics but They are too large to post i think? How do I post them? Sorry I've never uploaded a pic to a forum before.

[sharthun]

Hey guys, Thanks for all your advice! I got a larger heat emitter yesterday and have raised the temp up to about 92-93 degrees. I'm definitely not handling her or bugging her at all, don't wan to stress her out. I took some pics but They are too large to post i think? How do I post them? Sorry I've never uploaded a pic to a forum before.

Register for a photobucket account and upload pics to photobucket. Then copy links to pics on photobucket and paste.

[dastefster]

Ok here are some pics: Like I said it's a 36 inch tub, which is obviously very temporary until she grows a bit. Using a ceramic heat emitter (100W) and misting in the morning to get some humidity throughout the day. Water bowl is large enough for her to fit in (for now). You can see the 2 temp probes one is for my thermometer and the other is for the thermostat to regulate constant temp. http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k286/Stefan_Hottel/photo1_zps8d168147.jpg http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k286/Stefan_Hottel/photo2_zpsd0a6c9f8.jpg

[jpsteele80]

Can you post a pic of the snake, curious of the size now

[dastefster]

Can you post a pic of the snake, curious of the size now

I will try when I offer food next (tonight or tomorrow). I'm trying not to disturb her. But just for your reference: she was 470ish grams before this fasting session of hers and I weighed her last week and she was around 450 grams. Have not measured her exactly but she is somewhere around 3-4 feet in length.

[IW17]

I'd offer a second hide on the Cool side. My retics actually favor the Cool side, only going warmer after eating. Thermo regulating is a must with reptiles, but with only one hide the snake might not move due to stress.

[dastefster]

I'd offer a second hide on the Cool side. My retics actually favor the Cool side, only going warmer after eating. Thermo regulating is a must with reptiles, but with only one hide the snake might not move due to stress.

Yeah, I have 2 hides for my motley boa...but he actually doesn't really go in either that often he just chills outside. But I've had him for awhile and he is a bit older so he isn't stressed by my everyday activities. I might have to get a bigger bin to put another hide in, I'm running out of space. My goal was to not buy a real cage until she was a bit older and I can buy one cage and be done with it. They grow so fast I hate to buy an "appropriate" sizes cage now and have to keep upsizing with her growth rate, which would be costly.

[IW17]

I don't blame you. I go cheap as I can while still being affective until I move them to their permanent home.

[dastefster]

Update: Ok so this morning I woke up and she was out of her hide for the first time (that i've seen) in a month! Thats good news (I think)! Since she's not too stressed to come out of her hide anymore I'm going to attempt to feed her again tonight or tomorrow night. Also, as some suggested I put another hide on the cool side of her cage. I snapped a quick picture for those who wanted to see her size, it's not the greatest picture in the word but Like I said; I'm trying not to disturb her as much as possible! http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k286/Stefan_Hottel/photo_zps91775e9a.jpg

[dave himself]

She's very nice mate, glad she's coming round for you. And fingers crossed for taking a feed for you :)

[dastefster]

She's very nice mate, glad she's coming round for you. And fingers crossed for taking a feed for you :)

Thank you! Fingers are crossed on my end too

[dastefster]

UPDATE #2: Just warmed up a mouse, offered it to her and BAM! She ate it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was kinda weird though, she missed the first strike, which has never happened, so I thought at first she was striking at me in defense like she did last time I went into her cage..but she struck again and coiled! First of all, I want to thank you all for your time and advice!!! It was awesome to have your support and knowledge. To kind of turn the tables without starting a whole new thread: I have 2 last questions for you all. 1.) I'm a bit reserved about handling her again..like I said previously, last time I went in her cage before tonight she was striking at my every move..completely out of control..how long should I wait before attempting to handle her again? and my second question is: Any tips for raising a big breed like this? I've had several 8-9ft boas but never anything like what she will be some day..and I don't want to have a mean un-handlable 17+ foot snake on my hands. Obviously this is a broad question, but any words of advice you wish you knew your first go-round? Thanks again all of you!

[dave himself]

Mate first of all congratulations on her feeding that's brilliant news :). And I can only speak from my personal experience with retics which is very limited but I'll try and help. On the point of her striking and missing the prey item, my girl does this I just put it down to her getting over excited and she lunges at everything with a heat signature lol. On the point of handling I would try tap training some people say this has no effect but with both our burms and are retic I do notice a major difference in there behavior when we tap them before entering their vivs. I help out in a reptile shop at the weekends and we recently got a baby GC retic in who was not the friendliest of snakes I've ever met but with short handling session and a few bites is calming down really well in the past few weeks. Sorry for the long reply I hope some of this helps :)

[Lankyrob]

I had an SD retic that would strike at EVERYTHING that could have a remotely warm signature when he smelt food. Ended up that when we fed him we just slid the door open and threw the rat in and let him find it rather than strike feeding him.

[millertime89]

Get her on rats asap. 82 is a little cool but I would go no hotter than 90. I stick to 88 and my snakes have no problem leaving me big brown piles. If you run all ambient with no gradient you want it 80-82.