Hey guys so I was just curious to what y’all think. Two of my snakes have currently been on a hunger strike for 3 months. The last time they both ate was November 27th. Before that they never missed a meal. I fed them (live) every 7 days and once they reached 700 grams I fed every 10-11 days. They are only two weeks apart in age and I got them when they were 6 weeks old. They will be 2 years old in June. All of there husbandry needs are met and I haven’t changed anything. I have been buying rats from the same breeder the entire time.
My female comes out and follows/hunts it around and acts she is going to strike but never does. And my male just hides and is terrified of it lol.
My rat supplier said its pretty common for them to go off food during winter, but they didn’t do this last winter. And I currently have a 6 month old that’s always ready to eat.
Is this pretty common for everyone during this time of year (for older snakes)? Should I wait it out or do I need to try something different?
Note: They haven’t lost any weight and both shed in January.
I’ll have males occasionally “hunger strike” during the winter as a result of breeding season, but never females. It’s usually the opposite as they approach sexual maturity
The female a 60ish gram rat even though she weighs 950 grams and the male usually a 40ish gram rat and he weighs 630 grams. The first year I was feeding 10% body weight, but I have never fed over a 60 gram rat. Thats what the breeder always gives me, and I never argue it because they seem the right size. Honestly I think if I upped the rat size they would be terrified of them lol. My female has always been a great eater. She would always come out and strike instantly. So this is out of character for her. My male however has always been finicky and shy.
This might be a stupid question, but have you double checked your temps? And if so, what are you using to check those temps?
I’m just wondering if perhaps it’s dropped to a colder temp than you realize. It’s been a cold winter in a lot of places, and your house may be cooler than usual. I recently had to bump up the heat in my room so my snakes’ heating elements could keep up.
It can be normal to not eat as often during winter.
I would double check temps as @jawramik stated.
Do to age and size, this is also a normal process they tend to go through. I would move eating to 14 days, and for now skip a feeding or two, dont try to feed and give them some time to relax and unstress. When they start their eating habit change, trying to get them to eat could stress then out and it could take longer for then to eat again.
Don’t worry to much as they will eat when they are ready. It can be stressful for you to go through this the first time. If it hits a year without eating, then would be to them to start stressing. And if it happens again, you will be use to it. Just don’t try to force then to start eating and let them rest for a while before trying again.
Hey, I just wanted to upate on here. I waited a whole month and tried to feed them Asfs last night. Still nothing lol. This makes 3 months without feeding. They come out to hunt and they follow the pray but they never strike. I took a pic of both snakes yesterday. Overall they seem and look healthy to me, but both have lost weight in grams. The female has lost about 100 grams and the Male has lost around 50 grams. This is the first time they both have lost weight. I know hunger strikes are common and all, but the weight loss is what has me concerned. Do you think I should continue to wait it out, or should I have a vet check them out? I’ll post some pics
Have you tried to breed them?
This can cause then to stop eating.
The pictures look good for weight. There could be many things going on. But to do size and age, i would say it is probably just a strike, that is if you did not pair them.
Since you are worried, you can try this to see if it stimulates then to start eating.
Get some “Reptile Electrolyte Soak”. Follow the directions on mixture.
Soak each one for 30 min.
Repeat on the thrid day.
Repeat on the 5th day
Try to feed a much smaller live rat on the 6th day. (You just want to try and get it started again, not fill it up. By small i mean still feeding by mother, walking but not moving around fast).
Repeat this for a few weeks, but skip the feeding for a week in-between.
If it starts to eat, cut back the soaks to day 1 and day 3 and feed on day 5.
Hello, you’ve already gotten really great advice. I had a boy in a long hunger strike before and I feel like I had tried pretty much every suggestion I had read about bjt still no luck. I was successful, finally, with an adult mouse. Completely bizarre. Also, one of my girls refuses to eat white rats. Such drama queens.
This here i have also heard of and tried. Great idea @gina5678 .
I personally tried this but did not have any luck. Several others did have good luck doing it. But everything is worth trying at least once @rachaell .
My longest strike was 1 week shy of a year. That is when i tried the soak. I though it was a long shot and most likely would not work, but it did in my case. I found this trick on YouTube. It was a very old post and only from one source.
The above behaviors are indicative of the fact that they just aren’t hungry. They are growing up and coming into their own wills. The terrible twos! One of my girls is going on three and she is on strike, again, as well. I feed ft and every few weeks I will offer her something small so if she doesn’t want it I can just give it to one of my garbage disposals.
Don’t let them get the best of you. Trust me they will eat when they get hungry……
Thank you for responding! Sorry it takes me so long to respond back, I don’t get on here everyday.
No I haven’t ever paired them. I’m not sure that I ever will. And I know you are not supposed to breed a female until she is at least 1800 grams. So I def wouldn’t want to pair them now. My kids like to get them out and hold them, and I won’t even let the kids get them out together because I dont want them to think they are gonna mate. Their enclosures are stacked on top of one another but I didn’t think that would make any difference since lots of snakes are in racks.
Its funny because the lady I buy my rats from also recommended an electrolyte soak. But hers wasn’t as thorough. I am definitely gonna try that! Thank you so much for that info!
Update #2: I did the soak like you instructed and I got the female to eat but not the male.
Where do I go from here? Do I skip a week and then start the whole soaking process again on both of the snakes? Or do I not need to just soak the male since the female ate?
Am I just attempting to feed every two weeks or should I feed every week, since the meals are small? TIA!!!
What i did was soak the following week, without feeding, then repeated the next week and try to feed again.
For the ones that eat, i do it again (week soak, skip feeding, then soak and feed) *just like the none eater. Then i start skipping soaks (further from feeding. If feed on sat, i skip Monday, soak wed, soak Friday, feed Saturday.) Then i keep skipping a soak until you soak then feed next day. Then stop all together.
