no eating after 6 weeks

[CanadianEryx]

Attached are 5 pictures of Eryx, my ksb. She has not eaten for six weeks and has just finished a difficult shed for which she needed my assistance. Does she look too skinny or ill or should I simply stop worrying and attempt to feed her once per week until she eats? Prior to this she has eaten f/t pinkies with no problem. She has gone through quite a bit of stress as she was stabbed by a cat's claw at the start of this 6 week period (shedding has done away with any residual claw marks and she is acting pretty normal right now).

[serpentshideawa]

does she appear to have lost weight? how often is she held? i would if no to the first and infrequent due to the stress you shouldnt worry too much just try feeding when you normally would if she has lost weight im not sure what to do other than pass on advice id received for my youngest boa that wouldnt eat for a while which these tips are try "scenting" the prey item or splitting the head or dipping it in chicken broth but also chechk to make sure ur temps and humidity are correct

[CanadianEryx]

Since I helped her shed four days ago she's only been held once (by my 18 year old daughter who still doesn't know what the word "no" means). I hope to leave her untouched until Friday when I will try to feed her again. On the warm side (with an under tank heater)the temp is 90 and on the cool side, 78. She has a heat lamp which goes off at night for 12 hours and the temp goes down to 70. She has a small water dish which she can drink from and/or soak in which stays in the tank and the humidity is 50%. I've tried braining her pinkies and it's a no go. Maybe I'll try the chicken broth next although I am wondering if that might not add too much salt? I don't want her to become dehydrated.

[serpentshideawa]

try scenting the prey by rubbing it on another furry critter such as a larger rodent of you have one or cat or dog or some such see if that may work

[Steph]

try feeding him in a tub drill some holes on the lid and cover it up to give him some privacy it worked for my snake that wouldnt eat for a whole month

[NennaMeerkat]

Yeah I got a stubborn eater right now...I wish I had some advice unfortunately I do not. All I can say it hope you get your snake to eat soon, and please keep us posted! I am sure if your snake gets hungry enough it will eat.

[Damion930]

Not sure if it will help but I was reading today that a warmer nite time temp can be advantageous to younger ksb and promote a better feeding response try keeping em a lil warmer at nite 75-78 ish best of luck to u

[Lankyrob]

Am no KSB expert by any means but the snake looks like a healthy specimen from the pictures. I would say Zero interaction apart from water and necessary cleaning until it has fed at least twice for you.

Nice looking snake tho!!

[Shmoges]

In reguards to its difficult shed I recommend having a little moist hide for Eryx to crawl into or be placed in to soften and hydrate up just for shedding. I am no expert but when I first got my KSBs the male anery had a spot on the back of his tail and after a few minutes in the moist hide it came off easily with a gentle finger nail rub.

[CanadianEryx]

Thanks for all the advice! I keep the warm side at 88-90 throughout the day and night and only the cool side changes so I don't think it's a heat thing. She's really been zipping around the last two nights so I think she is feeling a lot less stressed. I will try to keep her "unhandled" for a couple more days and then try to feed her. I have a separate feeding cage so it's easy to put her in the laundry room with the door closed for a couple of hours while she feeds. I can't scent the mice since the only other pets in the house right now are salt water fish. I will, however, try the braining again as well as the isolation and see what happens. I'll keep you all posted.

[edens]

i would try to feed her in her tank, moving her into a separate feeding area might stress her out needlessly, try to feed on a plate in her tank, that way no substrate problems and less stressful for your snake :-) also, try turning off the light and leave her be for a bit, don't watch to see if shes eating (i know how hard it is!!!!) i hope she eats!!! now that she is done her shed, it might go better!!! let us know!

[NennaMeerkat]

i would try to feed her in her tank, moving her into a separate feeding area might stress her out needlessly, try to feed on a plate in her tank, that way no substrate problems and less stressful for your snake :-) also, try turning off the light and leave her be for a bit, don't watch to see if shes eating (i know how hard it is!!!!) i hope she eats!!! now that she is done her shed, it might go better!!! let us know!

I totally agree to try with feeding in her tank. Having a finicky eater and I know removing her from her tank would cause her not to eat at all. So I have to feed her inside. Just try and see what happens.

[CanadianEryx]

Prior to her shed I always removed her to a feeding cage and she had no problem with it, but I will try to feed her in her cage this week and see what happens. Thanks for responding!