[Willz0r2010]

My MBK is being a real pain atm. About a month and a half ago she was offered a rat pup which COMPLETELY freaked her out - went crazy rattling her tail, striking at everything that moved etc etc.

She then stopped eating completely. She's a year and half old at least, and TINY. Only weighs 52 grams which is vastly underweight. I've now tried every single trick - braining, heating, waiting, different feeding times, leaving overnight etc etc. The only thing that's worked so far is removing her water bowl for 5 days, then getting a pinkie soaking wet and putting it in her bowl and leaving it overnight, covered with a towel.

I tried again yesterday to feed her normally with a fresh pinkie, and as usual she sniffed, then coiled up and went running away. She needs to start putting on weight soon otherwise it's going to get unhealthy for her, but she just won't take any food no matter what I do.

Also, I've a feeling she won't take anything bigger than a pinkie, so I'm fighting what seems to be a losing battle here!

She's in the Large Flat Exo Terra faunarium, with a heat mat under one end. The thermometer probe is buried under the substrate at the hot end, and is showing a constant temp reading of 86. She is on aspen, and has a cold end hide as well.

ANY tips or advice would be much appreciated, as I'm losing hope at this point!

 

[Plugg]

Have you tried scenting the pinky by rubbing it on a lizard or snake? Using a fresh shed if you have too... I've heard of it working with Kings before...

Good Luck! :2thumb:

 

[UncleRusty]

one of my mates told me about using tuna (dab its head in it) havn't tryed this yet as i still have my live to rub fresh defrost onto, but the live are going this weekend so i may well be trying it soon.

 

[pirez]

Not really sure but good luck anyway, fingers crossed for the wee guy!

 

[Willz0r2010]

Cheers for the tips so far, will be trying the tuna thing in 2 weeks if she's not taken, and as soon as one of my Agamas sheds I'll try that as well.

Anybody know how long it takes for a non-eating snake to just give up and bite the dust?

 

[pirez]

I've heard that you can put the snake in a small tub (inside the faunarium) with the pinkie or fluff over night, a non-feeding royal trick.

 

[Willz0r2010]

I've tried that one! She just flew out the next morning like a burnt giraffe and didn't speak to me for a week.

 

[Plugg]

Have you tried warming the pinky/fluff's head up and braining it (Sharp Knife or Needle)? It's normally like well... smelling Banana Bread baking to us I guess... irresistible! :2thumb:

 

[Marti3P]

I've heard cutting a larger prey item in two works? like a chick, lizard & mice, you could also try moving her into a really small living space instead of the Large Flat Faunarium... she might just be stressed with the first large predator (she thinks) and is to high strung, she'll need to feel secure again... i hear royals are quite bad for this as well.

 

[shep6413]

You tried live feeding?

 

[Marti3P]

You tried live feeding?

If it's stress related putting a live prey in won't help the problem, i say smaller viv and drop feed like you did with the water bowl.

 

[Willz0r2010]

I've put her back into her old Faunarium, which is quite a bit smaller. It's dead cramped in there now, which should help her feel a bit more secure.

I'm gonna leave her water bowl out for 5 days, then try the wet drop feed again. If she doesn't take it, I'll try cutting a large mouse in half. Don't wanna resort to live feeding, she used to strike with F/T so I can't see it helping much. Of course, if I exhaust every other option I'll give it a go!

 

[pirez]

Last week my JCP wouldn't feed, just kept striking the rat until it actually burst it open (guts everywhere) then it took it which was quite disgusting.
Probably the same idea as braining, I think it must have been the blood that made it change its mind.

 

[claire_e_dodd]

If you do manage to get her feeding and she'll only take pinkies, just up the amount of prey items rather than the size. I had a problems with a corn for a long time who regurged anything slightly bigger than her girth, for 8 months while another corn of similar size was on small adults, I worked her up from one pink to two, to three, to four and when she finally started putting on weight and should have been on small adults, she then got moved to fuzzies on the smae basis, it took me 8 months to get her to take small adults and now she's fine, just had to be gradual with the build up.

 

[Willz0r2010]

Yeah that's my plan of action at the moment. The problem is, getting her to take one pinky is hard enough! I may just be being negative but I get the feeling if she only just takes one, when left alone long enough, getting her to take two is going to be impossible. If both pinkies are left with her, she'll think it's too much food and won't take either. If she takes one over night, giving her another one the next day (or night) will disrupt her digestive process and it'll do more harm than good.

I may be wrong! I guess I'll see how it goes.