Snake not eating but very active at night

[Mikoh4792]

So this would be the third time my jungle carpet python refused a rat pinkie. I already tried a fuzzy mouse with the same results. However it still roams around at night. What does this mean? Is it looking for something alive to kill and eat? It doesn't really move fast and urgently like it's trying to find either a cooler or warmer area and my temp/humidity is in check so I know that isn't the problem. It just roams around slowly and inquisitively.

I left a rat pinkie in there for 5 hours and just ended up taking it out since it showed no interest at all. I did everything from wiggling it around to make it look like a live rat, to laying it on the cliff that he usually hangs out on.

[SnakeyJay]

Are you heating the rat up by dipping it in warm water?

[Mikoh4792]

Are you heating the rat up by dipping it in warm water?

That's actually how I thaw it out. So once it's ready be fed to my snake it's all warmed up. I tried feeding it wet and dry(probably doesn't make a difference but I try different variables to see what works and what doesn't). I also actually brained it tonight to see if it would trigger a response. My carpet python did seem to flick it's tongue a lot more with the braining but became disinterested after a minute or two. I figured braining it would do nothing since a few days ago I tried with a rat that had it's head chopped off(It came like that. I didn't cut it's head off lol)

[iBaman]

is it male or female and how old? It honestly sounds like a male who wants to breed...my retic just got out of this, took nearly 4 months. nothing to do with food...

[Mikoh4792]

is it male or female and how old? It honestly sounds like a male who wants to breed...my retic just got out of this, took nearly 4 months. nothing to do with food...

It's a 2 ft male. Owner said it's almost 6 months old.

[Starbuck]

I would leave it alone- like, completely. Put it in a closet if you have to. Ignore it -COMPLETELY- for a week, other than to make sure it has water.

AFTER 1 week, 7 full days, i would put a very hot (90 degrees) rat pup in its enclosure at dusk, dont worry about braining it. Then, walk away. Walk away. shut the door, turn out the light, just leave the snake alone for 24 hours. Come back in the morning/the following afternoon, and if the rat is still there, discard it, and we can offer more assistance from there. If the snake has eaten, congrats! Now continue to leave it alone for another week, and repeat again to see if it eats.

You're snake is young, and still very new to you. i'm guessing it just needs some more time to settle in. Best of luck.

[Mikoh4792]

I would leave it alone- like, completely. Put it in a closet if you have to. Ignore it -COMPLETELY- for a week, other than to make sure it has water.

AFTER 1 week, 7 full days, i would put a very hot (90 degrees) rat pup in its enclosure at dusk, dont worry about braining it. Then, walk away. Walk away. shut the door, turn out the light, just leave the snake alone for 24 hours. Come back in the morning/the following afternoon, and if the rat is still there, discard it, and we can offer more assistance from there. If the snake has eaten, congrats! Now continue to leave it alone for another week, and repeat again to see if it eats.

You're snake is young, and still very new to you. i'm guessing it just needs some more time to settle in. Best of luck.

Thanks I was just contemplating this. It's enclosure isn't too big for him but maybe he's just nervous by nature. I covered all three sides of his exo-terra with black chalk-board paper. (It's kind of like thick black tape. One dry side, one adhesive side). He should feel more secure. I'm going to leave him be for a week except for changing the water.

however don't you think it would be better to wiggle the rat when it comes to the next feeding to trigger a response? I feel like leaving it there would cause him to ignore it again. The owner did tell me to jump start his feeding response by going live. Maybe he wants something that's moving about or alive.

[Lankyrob]

Personally i would do as starbuck said before trying live

[KORBIN5895]

That's actually how I thaw it out. So once it's ready be fed to my snake it's all warmed up. I tried feeding it wet and dry(probably doesn't make a difference but I try different variables to see what works and what doesn't). I also actually brained it tonight to see if it would trigger a response. My carpet python did seem to flick it's tongue a lot more with the braining but became disinterested after a minute or two. I figured braining it would do nothing since a few days ago I tried with a rat that had it's head chopped off(It came like that. I didn't cut it's head off lol)

How hot is your water? I found that if the water was too hot it would cook the smaller rodents and my snakes wouldn't eat them.

Next time you feed take the rodent and put it on top of your cage for 3-4 hours. Then right before you feed get the head up to 100°f. Drop it directly in front of the snake then leave. You don't ever want to be in the habit of dangle feeding a larger collection.

[NBLADE]

Some good points already been mentioned, but could always try scenting a mouse fuzzie or rat pink with a chick, or even offer a chick thigh to get him going, carpets tend to love chicks, and can be helpful getting fussy feeders to take. I'm not sure how long you've had him or if he has fed for you in the past, but if he is new, could be the settling in period still, and just needs to be left to settle in his own time.

[possum]

I totally agree with Starbuck's post....and before trying live. (once they get used to live it might be harder to get them to accept f/t) Instead of "braining" just pinch/damage the nose on the f/t rodent to release more scent...remember there is less scent when thawed in water since it gets washed off.

How long have you had this snake? It's usually advised (and ignored!?) to skip feeding any new snake for at least a week, & preferably 2 weeks, so they have time to settle in & focus on their appetite. (it's scary for them to be in a new place, & worse still if they were shipped)

Also, you should not handle a new snake until they have fed easily for 3 times at least. Handling often interferes with their feeding instincts. Anything you can do to add privacy may help as well.

[Concept9]

I dont have much to add here except that when I thaw my rats I put them in a zip lock bag and put thw bag in a bowl of warm water. I find this helps to keep the stinky rat scent on the rat. I have noticed when I thaw them in water loose they dont smell as rattish. :)

[possum]

I dont have much to add here except that when I thaw my rats I put them in a zip lock bag and put thw bag in a bowl of warm water. I find this helps to keep the stinky rat scent on the rat. I have noticed when I thaw them in water loose they dont smell as rattish. :)
I've tried that but it takes SO much longer...& for the most part, snakes adapt to "cleaner" rats or so it seems to me? But for sure, that's an option, hey whatever works!?

[KORBIN5895]

I totally agree with Starbuck's post....and before trying live. (once they get used to live it might be harder to get them to accept f/t) Instead of "braining" just pinch/damage the nose on the f/t rodent to release more scent...remember there is less scent when thawed in water since it gets washed off.

How long have you had this snake? It's usually advised (and ignored!?) to skip feeding any new snake for at least a week, & preferably 2 weeks, so they have time to settle in & focus on their appetite. (it's scary for them to be in a new place, & worse still if they were shipped)

Also, you should not handle a new snake until they have fed easily for 3 times at least. Handling often interferes with their feeding instincts. Anything you can do to add privacy may help as well.

I feed all of my snakes within two days of getting them regardless if they've been shipped or not. As a matter of fact I usually feed them that night. I don't think it bothers a healthy snake that much.

[possum]

I feed all of my snakes within two days of getting them regardless if they've been shipped or not. As a matter of fact I usually feed them that night. I don't think it bothers a healthy snake that much.

What I do & what I recommend are actually 2 different things, only because I have plenty of experience to cope in the event of a feeding-"fail" (regurge). I think it's better for less-experienced keepers not to risk it because they often don't have the least stressful setups down pat either, or can't resist handling...(I was "new" once too, LOL)

When I got my spotted python shipped to me, I fed her a couple HOURS after I got her delivered to me, because while the previous owner was unable to get her to eat*, I could see she was hungry & looking for food. She took 3 pinkies before I said "enough" for now. In the wild they are shy & eat lizards first, graduating to small rodents later...so as captive-bred snakes, they often do best on pre-killed or f/t as they are afraid of live pinkies for quite some time. But I couldn't convince her owner of that & when he said he was going to "stick her in the freezer" because he was tired of her refusing food, I decided to buy her...he didn't have anything to lose, so I offered to pre-pay the shipping, and said I would pay him for the snake once I could verify she was fairly healthy (as I believed). It worked out great, this snake is wonderful (& has never turned down food!) & he got his $50 pretty fast. (<well, along with a few snide remarks for nearly killing a nice snake for no reason! I mean this guy supposedly "rescued" snakes!?)

[smy_749]

Maybe he's just not hungry...Like the others said, just wait for a bit. (I don't know if he needs to "settle" in his new home, lots of snakes will prob eat in the shipping box they arrive in if you offered, but maybe hes just not interested in food atm. Also about feeding live, I would say give it a shot if hes only eating pinkys anyways, leaving a live pinky in his enclosure won't be any danger to him, and if he eats it atleast you will know he is hungry just doesn't prefer F/T)

[Mikoh4792]

What I do & what I recommend are actually 2 different things, only because I have plenty of experience to cope in the event of a feeding-"fail" (regurge). I think it's better for less-experienced keepers not to risk it because they often don't have the least stressful setups down pat either, or can't resist handling...(I was "new" once too, LOL)

When I got my spotted python shipped to me, I fed her a couple HOURS after I got her delivered to me, because while the previous owner was unable to get her to eat*, I could see she was hungry & looking for food. She took 3 pinkies before I said "enough" for now. In the wild they are shy & eat lizards first, graduating to small rodents later...so as captive-bred snakes, they often do best on pre-killed or f/t as they are afraid of live pinkies for quite some time. But I couldn't convince her owner of that & when he said he was going to "stick her in the freezer" because he was tired of her refusing food, I decided to buy her...he didn't have anything to lose, so I offered to pre-pay the shipping, and said I would pay him for the snake once I could verify she was fairly healthy (as I believed). It worked out great, this snake is wonderful (& has never turned down food!) & he got his $50 pretty fast. (<well, along with a few snide remarks for nearly killing a nice snake for no reason! I mean this guy supposedly "rescued" snakes!?)

My kingsnake actually downed a rat pup as soon as I got her cause she has a crazy feeding response(I can't handle her without her trying to swallow one of my fingers). My baby cornsnake just downed a rat pinky yesterday night(I only had him about two days).

[possum]

My kingsnake actually downed a rat pup as soon as I got her cause she has a crazy feeding response(I can't handle her without her trying to swallow one of my fingers). My baby cornsnake just downed a rat pinky yesterday night(I only had him about two days).
I know many snakes come through shipping just fine, but others get chilled (heat packs often fail before their flight ends) so as a result they either don't feed or regurge if they do. My advice was cautionary only, because many other ppl will read what is posted here, not just those responding in the thread. Also, when you've kept literally hundreds of snakes for decades, you begin to see things differently, as far as waiting to feed new snakes. You won't always 'get away with it', that's all I'm saying.

[Mikoh4792]

I know many snakes come through shipping just fine, but others get chilled (heat packs often fail before their flight ends) so as a result they either don't feed or regurge if they do. My advice was cautionary only, because many other ppl will read what is posted here, not just those responding in the thread. Also, when you've kept literally hundreds of snakes for decades, you begin to see things differently, as far as waiting to feed new snakes. You won't always 'get away with it', that's all I'm saying.

? I wasn't arguing with you. I was agreeing with you that some snakes start feeding right out of the box. I find that colubrids are the easiest in terms of getting them to start feeding. I've noticed that boidae in general are a lot more sensitive to the shipping process. That's just my observation.

[possum]

? I wasn't arguing with you. I was agreeing with you that some snakes start feeding right out of the box. I find that colubrids are the easiest in terms of getting them to start feeding. I've noticed that boidae in general are a lot more sensitive to the shipping process. That's just my observation.
Thanks for clarifying...& I was just saying that even if they do feed, it's safer not to rush into feeding. I think the snakes are better at waiting than we are? lol...