Running out of tricks, need advice

[Stefan-A]

Trout is getting a lot of tongue-flicks right now, but no success yet.

[Stefan-A]

Got it to strike a strip of trout and hold on. The snake started chewing on the piece, but decided to spit it out after about 10 seconds.

It's now 5 weeks since its last meal. Shows no interest in mice, but at least trout gets a lot of tongue-flicks..

[anji1971]

Sounds promising, Stefan! Maybe the stubborn little thing will finally get hungry enough to eat! Have you tried salmon?

[anji1971]

Sorry, just read through the last few pages of the thread -- you have tried salmon!
Guess we'll just keep hoping on the trout, then!

[Cazador]

How frustrating. It may sound like I'm crazy, but try sprinkling A FEW sugar crystals on the fish next time. I've done so on meat, and my snakes have gone nuts. Also, even if the snake doesn't swallow the fish, some of the sugar may dissolve in the saliva and provide calories indirectly.

Yes, I'm really stretching, here, but I would have already taken the other route (force feeding) or decided for brumation.

Rick

[Stefan-A]

Brumation.. Should probably have switched off the heat, instead of turning it up. The question is, which of the remaining tricks is the best. I'm not convinced force feeding will reset it, I did manage to sneak down a small scented mouse and that didn't do it.

So it's either sugar or brumation, and it has already been 5 weeks off feed, but at normal temps. So, how fast can you get it from normal to brumation under these conditions?


I'm really getting curious about how far it's willing to take the hunger strike.

[Snaky]

If it hasn't eaten for 5 weeks at normal temperature, you can prepare brumation immediately. I do about 1,5 week to lower temperature and light duration. But I've recently heard from Fons (Thamnophis) that he tried several things, from overnight brumation to slowly lowering the temperature and he didn't see any difference. Still, I would go for the slow method

[Stefan-A]

If I shut off the lights and heating now, would you say it's okay to brumate her in about a week?

How long should the brumation last?

[Snaky]

I always decrease light/heat on a day by day basis. But within a week, that should be no problem.

For juveniles, I only brumate them 4 weeks. And that really the minimum for an adult, I would more say 6 weeks. Of course, for a healthy adult snake, 2,5 months or even more is no problem.

[Cazador]

If you were planning to do a brumation with a snake that eats regularily, then I'd decrease the light and temp a lot slower, but as Fons told Hans, there are no adverse effects when you simply pull the plug on the heat and light all at once. I'd give them at least three days before putting it in the fridge, and I'd insulate the hibernaculum (wrap it in a blanket or something) to help slow the temperature change. Obviously, this isn't the normal way, but most people don't have a snake that hasn't eaten in 5 weeks, either.

By way of comparison, I've had snakes out of brumation for a month. Then I've brought them right back down to 4C for 24 hours without any acclimation and had no adverse effects.