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A LOOOOONG Time Coming.

Joba

Joba

New member
Dexter, my juvee dumerils boa, had last eaten on November 28th. Yes, that's four months ago. Week after frustrating week he has refused all forms of rats and mice, but mostly I tried to replicate the last time he actually ate: small rat, thawed and blow-dried, belly sliced open, brained, given to Dex in a small container in a dark, quiet room under a blanket. Yeah, the lengths we'll go. Four freakin' months! I finally thought to try a day-old chick since I know dums will quite often eat birds in the wild. I didn't have that chick in there for five seconds, and BAM!! STIKE!! COIL!! NAM NAM NAM NAM. Even in the dozen or so time he has eaten for me in the last year and a half, he never once struck his prey in front of me. Day old chick! Have I finally found the key for my Dex? Why did it take me so long? Anyway, whew! what a relief!
 
Wow, I'm glad you got him to eat! Can you get chicks frozen/thawed? Feeding a live one to a snake would be a huge problem for me...they are way too freaking cute...I bet it's a huge weight off your shoulders that it finally ate something!
 
So glad you got him to eat!! I know how anxious it can be when they refuse meal after meal. My GTP just started eating again after about a 3-4 month hiatus. But he seems to do this every year , so I expected it this time. His appetite is back, with a vengeance. Now he tries to eat anything that moves, including shadows.
 
I just ordered from Big Cheese Rodents because I needed rats, and they have 25 f/t chicks for $10, so I thought I'd give it a try. I hope this is the key and not just a fluke.
 
ZoologyGirl said:
But he seems to do this every year , so I expected it this time.
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Same here. He did this last year too; same time of year and everything. Last time I ended up taking him to the vet, who gave him a few shots and he ended up eating for a while after that. I was less anxious this year because of that experience, but it was still very frustrating and a little nerve wracking.
 
I usually have a bunch of chicks in the freezer if you should need a few to tide you over. But once he is eating chicks every time offered, you should be able to use them for scenting and get him onto rodents pretty quickly.
 
kathylove said:
I usually have a bunch of chicks in the freezer if you should need a few to tide you over. But once he is eating chicks every time offered, you should be able to use them for scenting and get him onto rodents pretty quickly.
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I can vouch for her chick collection!

Glad he finally ate, it is always such a worry then a big relief.
 
That's cool!

My big Florida king enjoys chicks. They used to be 25 cents each at Gourmet Rodent, but I don't even know what happened to GR- I don't buy from them any more. But I _do_ buy from BC!
 
kathylove said:
I usually have a bunch of chicks in the freezer if you should need a few to tide you over. But once he is eating chicks every time offered, you should be able to use them for scenting and get him onto rodents pretty quickly.
Click to expand...

Thanks Kathy, and everyone else too. I'm still just all grins thinking about him eating like that.
 
I'm glad he finally ate for you! It is so nerve-wracking when they go on hunger strikes.

I will try chicks next time - one of my male carpets ate just last week, after refusing since November 15th. He was active, drinking, and was a little fat going into fall, so I let him do his thing. My males have all done this in the past, but I still worry after about 12 weeks.

Kathy
 
Tip for anyone with chick (or other non rodent) loving snakes...

If you have a chick eater, or even a snake that MIGHT eat chicks, but you have no chicks...try using a piece of chicken from the grocery store to scent your rodents. I have had it work for me before. I have also given chicken hearts and gizzards to chick feeders and it worked (not as a complete diet, but a supplement until you can get them whole animals). I have even cut up a small piece of chicken and stuck a piece into the mouth of the rodent to get a snake started.

In a similar way, lizard or snake feeders can sometimes be induced to eat a mouse by wrapping the thawed rodent in snake or lizard shed skins, breaking a lizard's tail off and dripping the few drops of blood that come out of it onto the rodent, or sticking the lizard tail in the rodent's mouth. Or keeping a dead snake or lizard in the freezer, thawing it just enough to rub a rodent into the "gooey stuff" in the guts.

Yucky, but often works. Necessity is the mother of creativity, lol!
 
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