Cali refusing to eat!! Help!!

[Fishandsnakelov]

My Cali is refusing to eat. The last time it ate was 6/10 it's been a month. I've tried f/t nothing, I have a live fuzzy Gerbil and it struck but then went to hiding. Could it be sick? Any info would be appreciated.

[Ace]

First we need more info.....how old is it? What are it's temps? how big is it? what was the last prey size it took? have you changed anything in it's enclosure lately? The more info we have the more we can know about what might be going on ;) .

[Fishandsnakelov]

Not sure on the age. Temp is 88 at the moment. It's almost 12 inches. The last it ate was a fuzzy mouse. Nothing in the enclosure has been changed. It always has water. Which it was soaking in lately. Thats about it.

[Ace]

Soaking is sometimes a sign of mites. I'm not sure if mites change their eating habits though (anyone?). I've never had to deal with them (knock on wood).
I'd offer a smaller prey size and see if it takes it. I found that they will take smaller prey more readily when fasting then normal sized prey.

[BrandonVeenstra]

You may just have a problem feeder. My cal is being a bitch right now....and hes 3 years old now.

[Joe]

sometimes when they are going into shed they will soak also, give it a week and see what happens, then put him in a small margerine dish with the frozen thawed prey, put it somewhere dark and leave him alone for the night...good luck!

[ChunkyMunky]

You could take a chance and feed it a live one, Im almost certain he'll go for that.

[Fishandsnakelov]

Thanks for the replies. It doesn't have mites. It's been soaking on and off for weeks with no shedding. I'm worried because it's starting to look thin. Wish I knew what was wrong.

[Joe]

try what I said to do with the feeding, even try braining the pink or fuzzy first!

[Classic]

Contact JWSporty on this site. He specializes in Cal Kings and should be able to give you a few pointers.

Brian
HighWaterHerps

[Vengeance]

If it has been soaking on and off for weeks with no shed, how do you know he doesn't have mites? Take a look in the bottom of the water dish, if you see any black specs of any kind, try and push on them and see if any blood appears. The one time my python had mites I saw some specs in the bottom of the water dish after he had soaked I thought they were just little bits of substrate but after i pushed on one and blood came out I knew I had mites.

Mites will effect eating habits because the animal may feel too stressed to eat with the constant itch and biting from the mites.

[jwsporty]

Fishnsnakelov;

A few things to watch for:

When was the last time he shed? Is it possible you missed the hazing stage and he is about to shed. Kings normally are 5-7 days after hazing before they lose their skin. As well as what Vengeance has mentioned.

Otherwise, here are a few feeding tips

1. small container, in a dark area over night with the food item
2. present food with tweezers or hemostats instead of fingers
3. wash the prey item in Ivory dish soap, then dry thoroughly.
4. keep the food items onthe smaller size
5. try live pinkies or fuzzies, stay away, they are safe that this size. Stay away from gerbils, if you get them hooked, you will have a hard time getting them switched back to mice or rats.
6. try a juvenile rat tail.
7. drip a few drops of rodent blood on the mouth to entice appetite. I have had good success with a pair of finicky knoblochis this way.
8. taking the water away, a day before feeding, sometimes helps.
9. stick to your regular feeding regime whether is it eating or not (don't keep trying every day)

and

10. Don't stress yourself out too much. Be patient!!

I have an albino that went off food for 3 months before it decided to start chowing down again. And come to think of it, the size was about the same. He will come around again.

If however he shows signs of dehydration then it may be necessary to administer a small amount of pedialyte or get him to the vet for a check up. Maybe there is a parasitic issue that needs to be dealt with. But as long as he is active and alert you should be fine. Being skinny is one thing, being dehydrated is something completely different.

Good luck, and keep us posted

Cheers
Jim