Hello everybody, here is my guide to problematic feeding snakes. It has helped many people, and appeared in an issue of Reptile Care in 2006. I have a range of other articles on our web site PetClub UK.

Problematic Snake Feeding

Unfortunately, snake keepers do not often think of the possible troubles they may have to go through just to feed their snake. Most snake keepers will not encounter great difficulties, primarily because the majority of snakes in captivity make good pets and are well accustomed to captivity.
Sometimes though, feeding a snake is not always as simple as putting a mouse in the tank to find it gone the next morning. Occasionally the snake will refuse to feed and it may be tricky to get going again. There are all sorts of feeding hints and tips; however there is always a reason why a snake is not eating. This reason should be found and dealt with before the snake is likely to feed again.
Security

Snakes like to feel secure; they will stress easily if there is a possible threat to them and will refuse food because of this.
The first thing you should consider, especially if the snake has recently been purchased is if the environment is correct. Is your vivarium too large? (It is possible to have something too small but this is rarely the case, as snakes often prefer tighter surroundings.) Many keepers are so eager to put their hatchling snake in a 3 or 4ft vivarium that they are shocked to hear that this sort of treatment is extremely stressful and can eventually lead to the death of the snake. The vivarium should gradually get larger as the snake grows. For a hatchling snake, a tupperware box no larger than the length of the snake should be provided.
When keeping snakes in a tupperware box, a hiding place may not be totally necessary, especially if you have a deep layer of substrate for the snake to hide in. However, most of the time you will need to offer more than one hiding area within the snake's vivarium. Whether you decide to use an ice cream tub, a cereal box or a naturalistic piece of cork bark, the snake must have an area to retreat where it feels safe. The size of the hiding area is also important. It must be large enough to fit the snake in, with very little room for anything else. You may also use artificial plants and branches which cover a higher area in the vivarium. Some snakes may feel more secure among the leaves and branches.
If the snake refuses to feed with all these hiding places provided, it is worth placing the food in the hiding place itself, or in its entrance. The snake may feel secure, but not secure enough to venture out to feed. This technique often works with newly acquired specimens. Over time, these especially timid snakes may venture further and further out to feed.
Wild caught snakes may need extra security measures taken, particularly for the first few months in captivity. A dark, small, cramped and confined space may be exactly what is needed to make the snake feel secure and feed properly. Over time, more space and light can be given.
Environment

All snakes should have a thermal gradient, meaning they can go to one end of the enclosure to warm up, and move to the opposite end to cool off again. If the snake is kept too warm, its metabolic rate will speed up which will generally not cause it to go off its food; but it will need more food to keep it going. If the snake is kept too cool, it may go off its food. Not only that, its metabolic rate will have slowed down causing the digestive system to function slower than usual, which may cause the snake to regurgitate any food already eaten.
All species of snake should be treated as individual. Corn snakes originate from the South Eastern United States and therefore should have a temperature and humidity range to match its natural habitat. Reticulated Pythons have a large range in South East Asia, and different subspecies and locality variations should also be treated differently. It is important that you fully research the species you intend to acquire and build its environment to suit it.
Food

Snakes have personalities like many other animals; and with personality come likes and dislikes. Some snakes will only eat certain types of food, perhaps a particular texture, size, colour, scent or temperature will determine whether it should eat or not. Perhaps the food item itself is not the issue; rather, it may be the way you offer the food to your snake that puts it off eating.
Firstly you need to figure out the size food item it needs. A rule of thumb is that the size of food offered should be no wider than the girth of the snake. If the snake refuses the food, try offering mice and rats of varying sizes. If these fail, try chicks, gerbils, hamsters or similar sized rodents or birds. Many keepers believe certain snakes will only take particular coloured rodents. Try white, brown and black rodents or any other colours you can find.
Often, mice may be the easiest and likely food source for you to offer. However, if your snake does not like the smell, it won't eat it. To get around this, there are a number of 'scenting' methods which can be used to mask the smell of the mouse and overlay it with a preferable scent. Many times, scenting the food item with a lizard, frog, chick, fish, canned fish oil or a live mouse may stimulate its feeding response. Try using freshly killed mice, this will have more scent and should also still be warm. This method works in many cases and is worth considering. Although slightly grotesque, cutting the tip of the nose off the rodent to expose the flesh slightly will stimulate snakes, particularly hatchlings. Braining is another method - this works by using a pin or a sharp knife and slicing the top of the rodent's head, exposing the brain. For some reason brain smells real good to snakes! You should also not forget that you have a scent; pet snakes will often associate this scent with 'handling time' and become un-interested in food. Try wearing gloves when handling the food to make sure your scent is not masking the food smell.
When snakes feed in the wild, they will usually be attracted to the heat of their prey. Try heating up the rodent; put it on a heat mat for a few minutes, or dipping the head in boiling water. Be careful not to overheat the food item, as it may be so hot it will literally split the stomach, which is not pretty!
The way in which you offer the food to your snake is a key issue. Tease feeding is a method commonly used by many keepers; this involves a pair of long forceps or tweezers, and literally wriggling the food around in front of the snake, acting as if it was alive. If this fails, try lightly tapping the snake on the nose with the food, sometimes they appear to strike out of anger, then if it connects with the rodents head it will often coil round and constrict as a natural reaction. Alternatively, if you usually use these methods, try just placing the food on the floor or the vivarium or in a hiding place and then leave the snake along for the night.
The time of day may also affect its feeding response. Most snakes are nocturnal, and will eat at some point during the night. Many snakes however will be more active in the early hours of the morning and some snakes are primarily diurnal, feeding in the middle of the day. Try offering the food to your snake at different times of the day; and leave the food in the vivarium for up to 24 hours. Although leaving food in for this length of time is not usually recommended, some snakes may prefer the more pungent smell.
Hatchling or young snakes are often harder to try the different methods on; as their small size limits the various food items you can offer. There are however some alternatives, try offering the tails of rodents, or chick legs. These are easier to swallow and may stimulate them to feed. If it will only eat these food items instead of pinky mice, you must coat them in a vitamin and calcium supplement.
One particular method which has worked for many breeders is to place the hatchling snake into a small, confined, dark tub with a secure lid and place a pinky mouse in with it. The snake should literally have to coil up a couple of times to fit in this tub. Leave the snake in there over night in a warm area. Although it sounds harsh, it often works. This method combined with the braining method should be the next step if this alone doesn't work.
Many species of snake native to more arid environments, such as sand boas or desert kingsnakes may need certain times of the year to 'dry out' a little. This method stimulates the snake to look for moisture which can be within a food item. Take the water bowl out for about a week and move the temperature up just a couple of degrees. After a week, soak an appropriate sized rodent in water to defrost, and offer it to the snake dripping wet. Make sure the snake is not offered the food item on a substrate such as wood chips or aspen. You should keep your snake on newspaper for this whole process. If the snake begins to look at all emaciated, place the water back in immediately. This whole process should be monitored extremely carefully.
Live feeding is a method which should be the last resort. There are many keepers which are capable of getting almost any snake feeding without resorting to feeding live. However the more novice keepers may not be capable of trying all the tricks of the trade. Before resorting to feeding live, phone around a few known herpetologists and ask for help. Many reptile clubs have member help-lines and specialist contacts for those in need of advice. Live feeding is not a bad thing in its own right, but often a snake will take to live food and begin to refuse anything else. Unless you have easy access to live mice, this should be avoided. You must also be extremely careful when resorting to feed live. Rodents have large teeth and can inflict serious damage. Watch the feed at all times and do not leave the rodent alone with the snake at any time.
A wild caught snake will have been feeding on live animals all of its life. So, to take it out of its natural environment into unfamiliar surroundings and offer it a dead mouse is often just asking too much! Not only will it have only fed on live, but it will have come across almost every animal which it naturally co-habitates with, such frogs, lizards, small rodents, birds and bird eggs, plus other smaller snakes and many more potential food sources. Not only could it have fed on lizards for example, but a particular species of lizard may have been its staple diet. This particular species will probably have a scent, colour, size and texture specific to that species. The snake could have been feeding on a dozen or so food items throughout its life, so be sure to try as much as possible.
Breeding

Breeding season is a common time when snakes will go off their food. Males very often refuse to feed because they are thinking more about mating than anything else. This is well known with many snakes and generally starts from February through to May depending on the breeding cycle of the snake in question. Females rarely go off their food when it comes to breeding, as they need all the fat reserves to produce the eggs. It is not uncommon however for the female to stop feeding about a month or so before she lays her eggs. The reason for this is not quite clear, it could be because the eggs take up so much room in the snake's body, it may become hard to digest and process the food. The only solution to this is to wait and keep trying, it should not last longer than 2-3 months and for a healthy snake, it will not be affected.
Other

Stress is a big killer in snakes, and it can be bought on by many reasons. One major factor is over handling. Many owners buy a pet snake and all they want to do is play with it. This is commonplace, but the snake needs its own time just like anyone else. I suggest for a newly acquired hatchling snake it should be handled for no more than 20 minutes per day. This can be spread out into 10 minute intervals if you wish, but the less you handle it the better. As it grows older and becomes more accustomed to you; you can gradually handle it more and more. If the snake refuses to feed, the first thing you should do is to stop handling it as it just adds more stress.
'Human Traffic' is another cause of stress. Human traffic will depend on where the vivarium is situated in relation to the household. Is the vivarium in the living room, where the whole family and dog gather every day? Or is it placed in a spare room where only you see it from time to time? For timid snakes, the quieter the surroundings, the better. Moving the vivarium should be considered if placed in a high traffic zone and many feeding methods have already been tried.
If Nothing Works?

Force feeding is an option, but should not be attempted by a beginner. There are two main methods of forcing food into your snake. The first and preferable method is 'Tube' feeding. This is when minced up food is syringed down the snakes throat and into the stomach. The second method is to literally force a small food item down the snake's throat. Often, once the food has started entering the throat, the snake will continue to swallow. I recommend you consult a veterinarian or experienced snake keeper to further help you in this scenario.

By Chris Jones
Director of PetClub UK Ltd.
http://www.petclubuk.com/view/page.do?id=256

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