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Old 08-01-15, 04:52 PM   #1
spanishmoss0524
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Hello...my milk snake won't eat/shed

Hello...my name is John and I am from New Jersey. My honduran milk snake a little over 2 feet long which I've had for 2 1/2 months is very active, gentle, and inquisitive...but she has not eaten since I got her. Was waiting for her to shed but didn't...eyes got cloudy then cleared up...I know they don't eat when they are getting ready to shed. When I got her she was bright orange with black bands..now just about 4 inches from the tip of her nose back to her tail is orange...the rest of her is a very dull orange. Completely soaks in bowl all day and night into the morning and does this sometimes. I know they do that when they are ready to shed. Temperature in housing is about 80 degrees and the humidity is about 60. I noticed little pieces of shedding coming off...so I completely shedded it by hand.still not quite bright orange...still has patches on her skin...with spaces between scales. Now she spends a lot of the time under the bedding and also looks like she needs to shed again. Is it possible that it could have 1 shed under another 1 and have difficulty shedding? Has not lost any weight..thick body. Was told it would only eat thawed mice. I put a live one in there and she was afraid of it. After all this time still active and inquisitive. If anyone has any suggestions for me please let me know. I would appreciate any/all feedback. Thank you very much. John
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Old 08-02-15, 09:59 PM   #2
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Re: Hello...my milk snake won't eat/shed

Hi, and welcome.

do you have a basking spot for him/her? I once had problems with the shed of one of my snakes. I soaked her in barely warm water for some minutes and she was able to remove the skin on her own. Have you checked for mites? could be a reason for consecutive shed phases. Milks are sometimes shy eaters, try placing the thawed mouse where she usually sleeps, and she might eat it at night.
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Old 08-03-15, 06:11 AM   #3
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Re: Hello...my milk snake won't eat/shed

I find that snakes with mites sometimes act exactly like you described with the long soaks and not eating. So, you probably want to check for mites. Take your snake out and let it crawl through some clean paper towels. Hold it just tight enough so it has to gently "force" its way through the towels. Then, look at the paper towels to see if there are tiny black or reddish orange "bugs" left on the towels. If so, it has mites and you need to treat for them. Let us know what you find as there are some very knowledgeable people here who will be glad to offer their knowledge to help you get rid of them.
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Old 08-07-15, 12:55 PM   #4
spanishmoss0524
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Re: Hello...my milk snake won't eat/shed

Thank you for the feedback...I very much appreciate it! About an hour 1/2 after I read your e-mail I was out and about and came home to see her shedded skin in the housing. I had a feeling she was going to shed because she spent a lot of the time under the bedding. Also, sprayed twice a day lukewarm water on the bedding...but, did not saturate it to bring up the humidity...and noticed her skin was getting darker...was not sure at what time she would shed if at all..but she finally did! She shedded twice about 3 1/2 weeks of each other. The first time I de-shedded her and the second time she did it on her own...within the 3 1/2 week time period. She still has not eaten..had her out handling her and after I put her back in her housing...I felt something crawling on my arm..very tiny and black..it might have been a mite or from the bedding...I ran her through the paper towels with a slight resistance but, no mites. Do you have any suggestions about getting her to eat. I left a thawed mouse in her hiding spot but, she has not touched it. She's much more active now...reaching up at the top of the housing wanting to come out. Any suggestions why she did not go through the shedding process on her own because I had to shed her by hand. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you, John
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Old 08-07-15, 01:51 PM   #5
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Re: Hello...my milk snake won't eat/shed

I occasionally have a snake that decides that it wants to be fussy eater. My last one was a young female Hondo that went off her food for quite a while, to the point I was becoming concerned. I ended up buying 6 live hopper mice to feed her. I won't feed live because I don't want to take the chance of having my animals injured and I don't want the mouse to suffer either. Instead, I pick the mouse up by the tail, thump it on the head which immediately stuns it or delivers a killing blow. I then place the still twitching mouse in with the snake. Usually they can't help themselves and they attack and eat it. While they are still in the feeding mode, I add a frozen thawed hopper as a second prey item. They usually take it with little hesitation. I go through this exercise twice and that usually gets them back to eating okay. Just one method that has worked well for me...
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Old 08-07-15, 01:53 PM   #6
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Re: Hello...my milk snake won't eat/shed

Hi again, please tell us about the temperatures, humidity in the enclosure and how you measure them. It's an important thing sometimes to have the ideal range of temps to get them to eat. If you have doubts about the existence of mites, I'd suggest you to change to paper towels instead of aspen, or a really deep search for those bugs.

How big is the snake? Try offering the smallest item you consider. you can also try 'braining' the mouse, piercing its skull and letting some grey matter out. that worked for me. And lastly, (if your snake is not shy when handled) put the mouse close to his mouth. He might bite and eat. But first let us know your temps.
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