Childrens' With odd behavior/lack of eating...insite please

[Khel]

I have a Childrens Python that is over a year old and a good eater as far as i knew though i have only owned the snake for going on 3 monthes. The previous owner claims he never had issues and Stumpy even ate when i first brought him home. now it has been 2+monthes no food and he is begining to exhibit some odd behaviors like rubbin his head around as if he was trying to shed an eyecap or something when in reality his last shed was a couple weeks back and went perfectly. between the not eatting and the kinda odd behavior for him...i am worried a bit about him. Other than those 2 things he seems to still be healthy if not a bit...thin. I keep him in a 40gal tank with plenty of spots to hide in as well as i keep the warm end/basking spot around 85-90 degrees and a color end of his tank that run 78-82 normally. I keep his humidity low normally unles he is shedding though i use plantation soil mixed up with cyprus mulch that is quite damp in itself normally. i hope this info helps some thanks everyone

[Chu'Wuti]

Have you checked for mites? Sounds like he's trying to get rid of something that's irritating him; if it isn't an eyecap, it could be mites.

[Kmef07]

My bp did that when i had it. but it was because it was unhealthy.

[Khel]

i checked for the eyecaps they r all gone...he does not have mites from what i can see....now he is jus completely lethargic......and still has 0 interest in food....maybe i just need to get him a female =)

[Chu'Wuti]

What kind of substrate are you using? Mites can be difficult to see, as they are only about the size of the period at the end of this sentence. They're most easily detected by putting in only white paper toweling for substrate and checking that for what looks like pepper grains after the snake has been on it for awhile.

Other than mites, if the snake does not appear to have any symptoms of a respiratory infection, such as gaping or wheezing, it may just be that he's still adjusting to his new environment. Some snakes go off their feed for awhile after moving, or in the winter, or for what may appear to us to be no good reason every once in awhile.

You might read through the "snake won't eat" or "BP won't eat" or other feeding issues threads for some ideas on how to tempt him to eat. I wish I had the time to post more, but I have an exam tomorrow and have to get back to studying . . .

Good luck!

[crystalc]

is there any salivia coming from mouth, clicking when breathing? like the other guy said about a resp infection, could be a sign. also sometimes snakes fast to grow in length, i had one go 4 monthes without eating, grew about 6 inches in length then ate, but if the snake is lethargic it needs to get to a specialist. check for the clicking sound when breathing, that is the 1st thing i would check on.

[Khel]

FINALLY!!!!!! 3 monthes and 2 sheds later our lil girl finally ate a very good meal today....in about 5 mins she scarfed down 2 nice sized adult mice =) after having shed in the late nite sometime again. I ended up using freshly killed(literally still twitching mice) and enticing her to strike for it with the mouse being held at the end of a long pair of tongs =). But both myself and wife are overjoyed that our little "Stumpy" is eating again and is getting back to normal. Thanks to all who posted and gave some pointers and tips...we tried many of them....Crystalc.....thank you for descr5ibing what i was looking for sorta with the respitory issue..i did check for it and didn't notice it but when i checked for that i noticed she had paled considerably like she was gonna shed again so we decided to let her go through the shed cycle once more and then try feeding her again....if she hadn't eaten this time she would have gone to a local vet or someone at least that knows considerably more than i did. BUT ALAS she shed and ate much to our delight in fact she is quite active again suddenly even after the meal she is still cruising around her enclousre checking everything out again being the curious python we were used too.

[Chu'Wuti]

Excellent! and Congratulations! I'm so glad she ate and is getting back to normal for you.