Dumeril's not eating

[lovemyskittles]

We've had Rhino since 9/19/10 and he has yet to eat on his own. We have taken him to the vet (more than once) and they continue to say that there is nothing wrong with him that should cause him not to eat/want to eat. We have altered our cage temps as the vet said, put a humid hide in there for him if he wants, she had us give him "humid spas" for a month because he was dehydrated when we purchased him.

We have tried everything we can think of (fyi: when we purchased him the man said "he's feeding fine, but on live mice") - so when he wouldn't take F/T at first we decided to see if he would at least take live but that was unsuccessful as well (we've tried live twice, we hate it and since it wasn't successful the first two times so don't see a point in trying again). We've tried killing the mouse right before giving it to him - nothing. We've tried different sizes of mice. Leaving him with the prey for hours (even over night last week). We've skipped trying to feed him. We've tried to feed him in his cage (more comfort) but nothing has worked with this snake. The vet had us go ahead and force feed him a few times but he really fights with us now. The first two times we force fed him (after trying to let him eat on his own of course) we just put the head of the mouse in his mouth and he gobbled it up. After that he would spit it out and then slither away from the mouse.

Our two first snakes are great and amazing feeders and we've never encountered a problem with feeding and we've tried everything the vet(s) has told us and what other people say work for them. Anyone have any idea what to do with this snake?

BTW - he's active, usually always out and about in his cage (which makes me think that he'd want to eat).

[Lankyrob]

That seems a lot of things to try in just two months? It may be worth leaving him be for a longer period of time to settle with no disturbances bar changing water before any further feeding attempt is tried.

[marvelfreak]

How big is he?
Have you try scenting with a lizard?
Or washing the mouse with light dish soap and rinse really good to remove all scent?
Can we see pics of your cage set up?
My bredli carpet went almost 9 weeks before eating for me when i first got her last year. I finally didn't offer in food for 3 weeks left her totally alone. Then when i offer food she ate. Hasn't missed a meal since.

[hauntedone]

Leave him alone for a few weeks and make sure you provide a substrate that will allow him to burrow and hide. Dumeril's naturally hide under substrate for security and for feeding. Most people who keep them don't provide them with that allows them to behave in this manner. When I had mine i used fir bark and a layer of spagnum moss. She was under there 24/7.

[lovemyskittles]

He's about 20inches long and weighs 109g (on 11/21) which is up from when we bought him but down from his highest weight. Just took a picture of his enclosure - a few of him in his tree hide that he loves (used to be for Skittles, but he got too big for it). He has two hides (one on the "hot" end, one on the cool end), about 1.5 inches of aspen bedding, a hide with sphagnum moss, water dish and a plant (not real) in the corner (it's a 20 gal). He spends most of his time out and about, and the rest either under his bedding, in his hide on the cool end and occasionally in his humid hide. He spent a lot of time under his bedding at first but doesn't spend too much time under it anymore. Hottest spot is 90F and cool side is 79F. Humidity is around 60%.

Our plan was to just skip this week and maybe another or two but he's already missed so many feedings - I really wish he would eat, it really stresses me out. But since it's recommended we will give that a try - give him 2 or 3 weeks.

[Marica]

I agree with Rob, that is a lot to be putting the snake through in that amount of time. Offering food too often when they're not interested can cause them stress, which some suggest can lead to the association of food with stress. If he's otherwise healthy he could probably go a couple months without food without it causing any harm. Force-feeding should really be a last resort when all else fails as it can be very dangerous. We had troubles with one of our Dums this year and he didn't eat for almost 2 months. Definitely give him a break from feedings and handling as suggested above. There are plenty of tricks for scenting, cleaning, heating of the prey and location to try as well as tinkering with his environment. Also, not sure if it helped, but I was concerned that my snake could sense my stress, so I tried not to get too worked up about the situation.

[lovemyskittles]

As I stated, we are going to give him a break for a few weeks but I definitely won't be getting my hopes up about him eating afterwards. I'd feel better about it if he wasn't loosing weight during this time. And trying to feed him once a week was information straight from our vet.

[Marica]

Sorry, I had started typing before your previous post, didn't mean to sound pushy. Hope he eats for you soon, he's a good looking boy.

[lovemyskittles]

No worries. Thanks :) We've had our fingers crossed for over two months now - so hopefully skipping a few meals will do the trick for us/him. I think he's so pretty and has such a great demeanor, if only he'd eat for us. I'll post and let everyone know how it goes in a few weeks.

[Lankyrob]

Snakes will go a lot longer without food than we would ever expect. I agree with the "try to relax" standpoint. I am sure taht as a predator the snake will detectthe smell of stress on you which could raise his stress levels also.

I hope after a relaxing break for you and the snake he will pound that next feed for you. Let us know how it goes.

[hauntedone]

He'll be fine once left alone for a bit. Dumerils are good feeders. Give him a little time and he'll be hitting his prey nice and hard for you.

[lovemyskittles]

Thanks guys :) Hope he's like a "normal" Dumeril's and will eat well for us after this. By the way - I don't feed him, my boyfriend does - it's "his" snake but I will definitely mention the frustration/stress he feels may affect the snake.

[lovemyskittles]

Feeding update on Rhino.... we gave him 5 weeks without attempting to feed. And... nothing :(

We haven't been taking him out of his cage and only opening the cage to clean his water dish and wet/change his moss in his humid hide. We didn't take him out to feed either - figured that would cause some stress... we just showed to mouse to him (like we do the rest of our boas/python and they take it right away from us), he kind of sniffed it and didn't really go for it but didn't back away so I left it in his cage kind of near him.... went back about 2 hours later and he had gone to another part of the cage and hid under his hide. (Before he was in this little tree thing that he loves - and pictured above)

[Steph]

my snake won't eat as well so i'm leaving him alone for a week when i tried feeding him i grabbed him and he went in defense mode and tried to take a snap at me he probably got confused you should try to use tongs and wiggle the mouse in front of him well a couple of inches away and see if he'll eat it hopefully he will and i hope it'll work for my snake as well when i feed him on friday

[TeaNinja]

maybe just the time of year, my 5 1/2 foot dum eats pretty normally about once every week or two, and he hasn't seemed interested in food in the last 2-3 weeks whatsoever.

[lovemyskittles]

When I showed him the mouse that's what I did - wiggle it and whatnot. I held it there for him to "sniff" for a while before putting it down in front of him. I've heard that it does work for some so good luck to you!! I hope your snake starts to eat for you again :)

@Ninja - At this point we're hoping that it is just the time of year since it does cool off quite a bit here - but since we keep his cage at a constant temperature you'd think the seasons wouldn't affect him/them so much. We'll give him another break and try again down the road.

Thanks for the replies... as unfortunate as it is that your snakes aren't eating during this time of the year it is slightly nice to know we're not the only ones experiencing difficulties. I only hope that it is the season and not him....

[citysnakes]

A 20" dumerils is a young snake and most young snakes eat through the entire winter so i wouldnt attribute his not eating to the season.

i think your tank is too big for him and his hides do not provide the sense of security that a little dumerils needs. i would move him out of that 20gal tank and put him in a no larger than a 10gal tank(if you must use tanks and not tubs) for now. i would also give him two identical hides on each end of the smaller tank. also get rid of that branch thing, with those holes in it, it looks like it can be dangerous.

from the pics, it doesnt look like his hot spot can be 90F. his hot spot must be 90F on the floor of the enclosure where the animal will have access to it. you need to put a digital thermometer probe inside the hide on the hot end and make sure you get a reading of 90F in that location. if youre getting a reading of 90F on that dial thermometer stuck on the side of the tank under the heat lamp then there is no way that it is 90F at his basking area.

a sense of security and proper temps are very important when trying to get a non feeder feeding again. i think that if you continue to keep him in his oversized and most likely too cold enclosure then he will continue to not eat.

goodluck.

[lovemyskittles]

Thank you for your response. I do not agree with what you said and found a bit of what you said to be slightly rude but I appreciate the concern :)

[marvelfreak]

Digital thermometer with probe are only like $8.00 at Walmart.They're a 100 better than the dial stick on. :)

[lovemyskittles]

Thanks marvelfreak, we actually have had one for a while now and his tank is at the appropriate temperature.

[citysnakes]

Thank you for your response. I do not agree with what you said and found a bit of what you said to be slightly rude but I appreciate the concern :)

...seriously...?

it was not my intention to come off as rude as i genuinely wanted to provide you with some useful advice.

you do not have to agree but keep in mind that i have a room full of eating, healthy snakes and you have a non-feeding dumerils with a cloudy future. (<-- this may have been slightly rude, see the diff?)

goodluck, again...

[Reptile_Reptile]

no need for that... a storms a brewin

[mokeyloke]

I have two Dumeril's. In my opinion they can be some of the pickiest snakes to get feeding again once they've had their routine disrupted. When I got my last one it took almost 3 months to get her to eat something and another 3 to get her eating regularly. Now she'll take anything offered. Just be patient. Your snake knows it needs to eat to survive. It'll happen. It's not really an issue until you see noticeable weight loss.