Snake Hasn’t Eaten In 13 Months

[NJHerp]

Hey everyone,

I’m at a loss here as to what to do next. I have an approximately 8 year old Blood Python that I have owned for 6 years. When I got him he was a typical sausage of a snake like Bloods are at about 16 pounds in 2009. The previous owner told me he would eat a jumbo rat per week.

Whether that was true or not since the day I got him he has not been a great feeder. He will go off feed for 4, 5, 8 months at a time then start eating again bi-weekly for a bit, then go off again. Very frustrating. Has no feeding response whatsoever. I have to leave the rat in the enclosure and he’ll eat overnight or the next day.

This last stretch has been 13 months and this time he has lost dramatic weight. The last weigh in was 10 pounds. I recently went to the vet and he said that there’s definitely something wrong. By appearance everything looks fine so he wanted to take blood. He had a few failed attempts and didn’t want to stress the snake out any longer so he asked me to come back to give it a try again next week. He also suggested tube feeding a carnivore mix next time to give him some calories.

What baffles me is that there is no change in behavior whatsoever. Same level of activity in and out of the cage, very responsive, drinks water regularly. Anyone here have any insight on this?

Husbandry- 4’x2’x15” enclosure 85 hot 78 cool, 60-70% humidity, hide, newspaper substrate. Have tried dipping rat in chicken stock, trying different size rats, you name it!

Thanks

[Albert Clark]

Wow! Sorry to hear about the long refusals. Do you think the warm side of the enclosure would be more comfortable for the animal at 90f? Usually refusals of food can be traced back to husbandry issues first. I would consider switching the substrate to cypress mulch also. Has this guy ever been bred or spent time with a female? I agree with the tube feeding but I would adjust my husbandry first. At the least, do the temperature change first. Good luck.

[Akuma223]

Try a more natural setup perhaps? Maybe put cypress mulch down and some fake or live plants across the length of the cage so he has something to slink behind from one side to the next? Do you have a hide on both sides of the cage warm and cool? Not sure if this would work but just a suggestion. Having plenty of cover always helps a snake feel most comfortable.

[NJHerp]

Wow! Sorry to hear about the long refusals. Do you think the warm side of the enclosure would be more comfortable for the animal at 90f? Usually refusals of food can be traced back to husbandry issues first. I would consider switching the substrate to cypress mulch also. Has this guy ever been bred or spent time with a female? I agree with the tube feeding but I would adjust my husbandry first. At the least, do the temperature change first. Good luck.

Hey thanks for the response. Since Bloods enjoy cooler temperatures I don't like to raise it too much. It's like he just all together dislikes the heat. He spends his entire time in the cool side.

He's never been bred or have I tried.


Try a more natural setup perhaps? Maybe put cypress mulch down and some fake or live plants across the length of the cage so he has something to slink behind from one side to the next? Do you have a hide on both sides of the cage warm and cool? Not sure if this would work but just a suggestion. Having plenty of cover always helps a snake feel most comfortable.


Thanks for the quick response. He only has 1 hide at the moment because when I had 2 he would NEVER use the one on the warm side and it made the enclosure very cramped.

The reason I haven't switched substrate is because he's eaten ok before and it was on newspaper as well. If it was a new snake I would probably be quicker to try this.

[Derek Roddy]

13 months is a good bit of time but, right now is the beginning of breeding season and most males will stop feeding during this time. So...any attempts at feeding him this time of year will most likely not yield great results.

That said, I'd also raise temps just slightly...maybe to 87 or so. Will make him a little more "active and alert" and might push him to grab a meal before it gets too cool outside for the season.

D

[NJHerp]

13 months is a good bit of time but, right now is the beginning of breeding season and most males will stop feeding during this time. So...any attempts at feeding him this time of year will most likely not yield great results.

That said, I'd also raise temps just slightly...maybe to 87 or so. Will make him a little more "active and alert" and might push him to grab a meal before it gets too cool outside for the season.

D

You're right and I'm afraid that's going to make it even harder for me to figure out what's going on because he never eats around this time. I'm bumping it to 87-88 when I get home and I'll leave it like that a few days before I try again.

[NJHerp]

I just got off the phone with my vet. Re-trying the bloodwork on the 17th. He seems to think that my snake is sick with something and it's beyond him not wanting to eat. I don't know why he is so adamant about that being that he's normal in every other sense, but I guess the bloodwork will let us know for sure.

[reptiledude987]

Your husbandry seems to be spot on. The seller telling you that it was eating a jumbo every week is way too much if it was even true. My blood isnt as big as yours and eats a sm- med rat every 2-3 weeks. He still sometimes even rejects it on week 3 but ends taking it on week 4 or 5. Youre right that this time of year is typically a challange with them feeding. When it did eat 13 months ago did you at any point get a bowel movement? What size was the last rat that it did eat?

[bigsnakegirl785]

Maybe try feeding him less? If I'm not mistaken, blood pythons have similar metabolisms to boa constrictors, if not slower, so maybe a jumbo a week is just too much food. Try spacing it at least to every 2 weeks when he starts eating, but 3-4 weeks would be better. I'd suggest as little as every 6 weeks, but I'm not sure how they compare to boa constrictors, I just know I'd suggest every 3-6 weeks for a boa constrictor of that age.

Maybe even bring him down to a large rat.

I used to feed my bp medium rats, and he'd only eat every 2 months when he was eating regularly. I bumped him down a size and he started eating every 2 weeks, so that's why I'm thinking it's possible he's just getting too much food. I don't really feed any adult non-colubrid more often than every 2 weeks nowadays, though.

[Cmwells90]

How do you measure your temps and humidity? are they digital gauges or analog?

[NJHerp]

Your husbandry seems to be spot on. The seller telling you that it was eating a jumbo every week is way too much if it was even true. My blood isnt as big as yours and eats a sm- med rat every 2-3 weeks. He still sometimes even rejects it on week 3 but ends taking it on week 4 or 5. Youre right that this time of year is typically a challange with them feeding. When it did eat 13 months ago did you at any point get a bowel movement? What size was the last rat that it did eat?

I want to say there was a bowel movement. So far back I'm not 100%. It was a jumbo rat.

How do you measure your temps and humidity? are they digital gauges or analog?

Digital and since I use radiant heat panels I have a temperature gun for more accurate readings.

[NJHerp]

UPDATE 11/17 Didn't eat again. I revisited the vet for blood work. Had 2 vets this time trying over and over and we couldn't get anything more than a couple of drops. We didn't want to try any longer for the day so we tube fed him and gave him a Vitamin B shot hoping for that to elicit a feeding response. This has been one hell of a rollercoaster ride.

[Albert Clark]

Congrats on getting the tube fed procedure done. I'm sure he needed that. Hoping everything falls into place soon with him.

[NJHerp]

UPDATE 12/24 3 unsuccessful visits to draw blood now. We tube fed again last night. Snake is behaving the same as always. 14.5 months now without eating. I've set up an appointment 3 weeks from today and we are going to be more aggressive with the drawing blood. Since the tail hasn't worked we are going to sedate him and try either his palatine veins in his mouth or the heart. This has taken such a toll on me.

[SnoopySnake]

This may or may not be a dumb suggestion, but I would try switching him over to a bioactive enclosure with plants for ground cover, leaf litter, bugs, ect. Maybe fake plants for more cover, since he'll probably destroy most other plants. Since you said his cage is too cramped with two hides, have you tried giving him a larger enclosure that can fit both hides?

Other than that I don't know what to try.. I hope he eats for you though. My white lip has been off food for the last 4 months and its unnerving, I couldn't imagine 14.

[NJHerp]

UPDATE 4/30/16 After going back and forth with the gut wrenching decision of putting him down I went one last time to the vet for a tube feed late March. The vet and I decided that we would put him down in May. Would you believe after 19 months HE ATE!.

I offered up a substantially smaller rat than usual as I have been doing (used to feed him jumbo, this was a medium). It sat in his enclosure all night and all morning until I was about to throw the rat out and leave the house when out of nowhere he started eating.

It's been a week since and he's kept it down. My vet and I are SUPER shocked. We are still both concerned that his blood work didn't look great, but it's a glimpse of hope. The doctor wants him to eat 1-2 more times then we can do a fecal test and more blood work to re-evaluate his condition to go from there.

Thank goodness I held on while the doctor and everyone else told me for months to put him down.

[Sylphie]

So glad to hear that! I can only imagine how happy and relieved you are :) Hope it'll be all good from now on, and a lot of good luck for you and your boy!

[macandchz]

they probably can't get the blood because he is so dehydrated. that's how it works with people. after a few more tube feedings it should be easier to collect the blood. hope things start to turn around.

[Albert Clark]

Wow! Congrats and i hope his bloodwork and fecal test come back normal. Phew!

[RAD House]

I am sure you know this or the vet told you but snakes take in water through their cloaca as well. If you are concerned about him being dehydrated leaving him in a warm water bath for a hour or so can help.

[Albert Clark]

THIS ^ ^ ^ ^ ^. Absolutely. Good point MC!

[NJHerp]

I should add we ended up getting blood through the heart a while back. I forgot to update. Blood values were all off due to not eating so long. That's why we want to re-check now if he starts eating steadily.

[macandchz]

DEAR NJ sounds like some progress is being made. can't believe he ate. maybe things will turn around now.

[Karilyne]

So scary! Hopefully you see a big turn around in his feeding behaviors. Please keep us updated!

[NJHerp]

UPDATE 6/4/16 Very glad to say he ate his 5th rat yesterday. He's even eating more frequently now than he was before he was sick! Poor guy was so emaciated that even with 5 rats in him you can barely tell a difference in his body mass. I can't wait to have him back to his fat sausage blood self. Thanks guys for all the kind words and advice. I will continue to update his progress to everyone in the community.

[brandonh]

Very Happy everything fell into place for you and your buddy! i can't believe 19 months that is crazy that he would just randomly grab a rat after that long. Very glad hear he is eating now! must post pics when he is back to sausage status!