wont eat!!

[Jay]

my jcp wont eat im feeding he small rats and its feeding day and she wont eat it any tips?

[dragunov.762]

are they live or f/t? is this the first meal it has skipped? i wouldn't be too worried about it. if you are feeding f/t (highly recommended) try warming it up with a blow dryer or dunk it in boiling water for 30 sec or so. if that doesn't work try braining the mouse, that is were you cut open the skull to expose brain matter. if those fail after a few months try and feed a fresh killed one. i personally have used a mouse trap before to break the neck, you could wring its neck also, if this still doesn't work try with a live rat pup followed by a f/t small rat. his may trick them into taking f/t if he is not now.

[shaunyboy]

is this the first time he would'nt eat ?

if so it could be due to him heading into shed

have you changed anything regarding how you keep him ?

ive had carpet hatchlings that would not eat until they were 10 months old so dont panic mate these things happen.

cheers shaun

[Jay]

this is the first meal he wont take i bought him a couple months ago he wont eat f/t because the guy always fed him live im trying to switch but he wont i think he is going into shed he is about 4.5 feet lon any ideas on how i can get him to eat F/T

[shaunyboy]

Originally Posted by jay0133

this is the first meal he wont take i bought him a couple months ago he wont eat f/t because the guy always fed him live im trying to switch but he wont i think he is going into shed he is about 4.5 feet lon any ideas on how i can get him to eat F/T

try offering fresh killed to start with,once he starts eating them it should be easier to get him on frozen thawed food items

i would'nt worry too much about him not eating what with him coming up to shed.some of my carpets eat during shed some dont.

you will learn to read your carpet soon enough mate once you've had him a bit longer

cheers shaun

[Grimleo]

My JCP only likes mice, so when I feed rats I have to scent them with a mouse first. I thought F/T was the problem at first but as soon as he smelled a mouse he went nuts. xD Maybe you could try that? Just another suggestion, hope it helps.

[presspirate]

Mine will not eat unless he is sure he is not being watched. If feeding in a different enclosure, do it in a dark room away from people, or cover it with a towel. If feeding him in his enclosure, try waiting until after dark. Other than that, listen to Shaunyboy. The master of all things carpet.

[Jay]

Originally Posted by shaunyboy

try offering fresh killed to start with,once he starts eating them it should be easier to get him on frozen thawed food items

i would'nt worry too much about him not eating what with him coming up to shed.some of my carpets eat during shed some dont.

you will learn to read your carpet soon enough mate once you've had him a bit longer

cheers shaun

How long can they go without eating

[gonesnakee]

Originally Posted by jay0133

How long can they go without eating

A Carpet eating small rats that is that size could likely go 8-10 months easy.
As for switching over I would not feed it anything for a good month or so & try FT heated right up to 100F+ & do so at night & it will likley eat.
If not wait another month & try again.
Snakes that never get hungry will always refuse what they do not want or are not accusstomed too, a hungry snake is far less picky.
Keep in mind that the same snake in the wild may only eat 4 or 5 times a year & would be far less picky than a captive kept one that gets prey offered to it weekly.
Most ALL captive kept snakes are overfed specially in comparision to their wild counterparts, Mark
P.S. ensure husbandry is correct & if so "starve" it out for a while will help the switch

[shaunyboy]

Originally Posted by jay0133

How long can they go without eating

ive had hatchling carpets go 10 month before they started eating

the general concencious is a snake can go a year without eating

i would stick with rats for now mate

it can be really hard to get them off mice.the older the snake the harder it is

reason for this is nothing more than the phyisical size of the food item

an adult carpet will take a medium rat and that will do him

where as it may take 5 to 10 mice to match that rat in meal size and nutritional value

id wait and see if he's heading into shed.usually once they've went through the shedding proccess they go right back to eating again

cheers shaun