Help, biting snake isn't eating

[scorpio]

Hi,

In October this year I bought a 9month old garter snake as DNZ. The breeder said it's a male animal, but I'm not sure.

I keep the 70cm long snake in a terrarian 84x80x50 with room-temperature and a 25 Watt UV-lampe . And took it for 6 Weeks in a cold room for winter-sleeping. But it doesn't get normal now.

It bits me everytime I open the doors. But it doesn't eat something. Now it is very thin. It just ate my frogs (Hymenichyrus boettgery) and Guppys as long as they are fresh. It doesn't eat frosted things. No stints, no mouses, nothing. Only one time, in my despair I gave the animal fish from paella, it has eaten the paella.

But my snake doesn't eat thinks with vitamins. The veteran said, the animal is o.k.. I've got the stupids snake in the whole world.Till now I can feed it with guppys, but the frogs are too expensive it has been eaten my whole breeding. And I'm in sorrow about that the animal vitaminsdeficiency and I'm not able to get guppys everytime my snake is hungry.

Please help me, I'm despairing

[adamanteus]

How long is it since you took the snake out of brumation? Sometimes snakes will not eat for a week or two after brumation. This is not a problem.
If I understand you correctly, your snake will eat frogs and guppies, am I right? Have you tried 'scenting' pinky mice (rubbing frogs or fish onto the mouse so that it takes on the smell of the frog or fish)?

[scorpio]

Hi,

thanks for your answer. Yes I've tried scenting pinky mice without success. The snake finnished than 5 days completly burmation. Till it's in my home, since 06.10.07 it has eaten a small male guppie on 09.10.07 a frog on 17.10.07, Paella on 19.10.07. Than I prapered it for brumation and on Tuesday tze 25.10.07 it ate another male guppie and a frog.

I tried all to get my snake, it's called "Mephisto", eating other thinks. I even defrosted a stint and threw it into my aquarium before feeding, without success. I've dipped a stint in a fishsoup I moved a defrosted mouse on the ground, that it looks alive, and the only success was, that Mephisto bitten my finger. I've moved it with tweezers too, with the same success. I even opened Mephistos mouth and put the head of the stint in.


The most difficut is every third day Mephisto is sneaking on the floor and looks obviously hungry. I'm nearly going to be crazy with this animal.

[adamanteus]

If he is so obviously keen to eat, I'm sure scenting will work. If you thoroughly rinse the pinky first, then get it really scented with frog, I'm sure he'll take it. If not, you could try 'posting' a pinky down his throat as he is swallowing one of favoured foods, such as a guppy or a frog.

[scorpio]

Hi,

yesterday I've got him to eat. I put in the stamach of a defrosted fish an fresh dead Guppy. And Mephisto has eaten the half Stint with the Guppy. In the other half he wasn't interessted. I rubbed the guppie at the stint before but it didn't work enough.

If you know another food he will eat and I can buy somewhere?

Oh, and @ adamanteus, can you tell me please what's a pinky?

Good bye, Irina

[KITKAT]

Originally Posted by scorpio

Hi,

yesterday I've got him to eat. I put in the stamach of a defrosted fish an fresh dead Guppy. And Mephisto has eaten the half Stint with the Guppy. In the other half he wasn't interessted. I rubbed the guppie at the stint before but it didn't work enough.

If you know another food he will eat and I can buy somewhere?

Oh, and @ adamanteus, can you tell me please what's a pinky?

Good bye, Irina

LOL! I am not adamanteus, but a pinky is a newborn baby mouse... but what is a stint?

[Stefan-A]

It's a fish. Osmerus sp.

[scorpio]

Oh no,

I looked in my dictionary and tried to find pinky. Of course we in Germany say pinky too, but I have not tought at a mouse; I don't know why. Very stupid. I've got pinkys in my freezer, but Mephisto won't eat it, like everything out of the freezer.

But I can't get a newborn pinky, my mother would kill me. This in the freezer is a mouse too, but killed by another person. My mother would never allows me to kill such a nice beautyful and helpless mouse. Perhaps I can get one and kill it secretly without her knowledge.

[KITKAT]

Originally Posted by scorpio

Oh no,

I looked in my dictionary and tried to find pinky. Of course we in Germany say pinky too, but I have not thought of a mouse; I don't know why. Very stupid. I've got pinkys in my freezer, but Mephisto won't eat it, like everything out of the freezer.

But I can't get a newborn pinky, my mother would kill me. This in the freezer is a mouse too, but killed by another person. My mother would never allows me to kill such a nice beautyful and helpless mouse. Perhaps I can get one and kill it secretly without her knowledge.

Here, we can get pinkies already killed and frozen, at the reptile shows. To train a garter to eat a pinkie, you must put a pinky and a fish (or a piece of a fish) together in a small container, cover the container, and shake it a bit, so that the pinkie picks up the scent of the fish.

[drache]

I think the issue is that Mephisto won't take frozen/thawed
Irina
I din't think this was going to work, because my snake was so adamantly opposed to dead food, but she actually did take frozen/thawed pinkies when they were floating in a very small bowl with some live fish that supplied the movement
after a while she didn't eat the fish any more, but she wouldn't eat the pinky without the live fish
now she's fine with having dead fish floating with her pinkies - soon I'll remove the water and then the pinkies, but it's a slow process
ich hoffe, das hilft
good luck