defensive strike

[Slcburm]

I have never seen this in my burms before. I was trying to feed the retic tonight and it was dark in the room..she struck at it 2 or 3 times with no intention of eating. So I turned a light on and shes blue and in shed..explains why she wont eat but when the burm is in shed he would just look and back away.

Damn she is fiesty lol

[snake man12]

Yeah when in a molt it is very uncomfortable and they don't take any ****!!

[Slcburm]

yea time her leave her alone for a week or so lol

[iBaman]

Usually Pajamas is dying to come out of his tank, and yesterday he refused. didn't strike or anything, but was def uncomfortable with coming out. His belly is pink, so I expect him to go blue sometime tonight or tomorrow. Wonder if he'll still eat...Oliver eats regardless of what's going on, as long as it's mice

[Rogue628]

Alot of snakes won't eat while in shed. I don't know the exact semantics but shedding makes alot of them grumpy as hell. I imagine their skin is probably sensitive and touching them is like being touched when you have a bad sunburn. I guess the irritation curbs their appetite as well. My burms are evil bluffers in shed...there's a definite personality change. I leave all my animals alone when I notice them going into shed (although they'll eat so I feed them) unless it's absolutely necessary (cage cleaning) and then it's very minimal contact. I absolutely HATE having to deal with my burms in shed. Lotsa of bluffing, blowing, and hissing so I leave them alone as much as possible.

[iBaman]

It's almost like they're on their periods in shed xD

[Slcburm]

But I thought girls on their period eat everything. Lol

[millertime89]

Hit and miss with retics, both of mine eat while in shed but the breeders I've spoken with have said that it just depends on the snake.

[Slcburm]

She shed perfect this morning so she will eat later today or tomorrow

[Slcburm]

So an update and I tried a small rat instead of a weaned rat and got the same results. She finished shedding yesterday and gave the rat 3-4 defensive strikes. Now over the last 10 days, pre shed I gave her 2 weaned rats per feeding so all I can think is

A) she isn't hungry and I should stick to once a week feeding

B) the small rat is too big

[Hillsberry]

Every 7 days should be enough for her. My retic never refuses. I give her small rats because I could never find weaned near me. So I have her on small rats, the rats are a little big for her but it doesn't stop her. 48 hours after feeding she is looking for food again.

[Slcburm]

Ok I will probably wait til Tuesday or Wednesday then