Reptile Forum, Reptile Classifieds - CaptiveBred

[goldenburm]

my female royal I have had the longest who is a sporadic eater has in the past had 8 month sabaticals was in the middle of a 3 month one yesterday, I had tried all the usual feed methods so thought right thats it lets try this!

So I picked her up uncoiled her head from th middle of the ball, and put a warm large mouse in front of her nose, and BAM! she struck and ate on my hands!! Did I call her a few choice names!! LOL

Well lets see how long till her next feed then???


Peter
_________________
1.0 striped supersalmon DEAD
0.1 salmon poss TH moonglow DEAD
0.1 Orangasm DH ghost DEAD
1.0 pastel motley DEAD
2.0 sunglows 1.0 LIVING
1.1 pastel het snow 0.1 LIVING
2.2 albino boas DEAD
0.2 albino ara's DEAD
0.4 boa constrictors 0.2 LIVING

[Dan]

Right, in NO WAY AT ALL am i being an arse here but something that has often made me think is................. why do you bother?

The way i look at it the snake has stopped feeding for a reason. Either you are doing something wrong husbandry wise, the snake isnt feeling to great, it just doesnt want to eat or it is following a plan that is laid out genetically for it to follow unknown to you.
As long as it isnt a husbandry or sickness issue then all you need to do is sit back and wait for her to switch on again.

I know you dont keep snakes just to breed them so i think you should just sit back and enjoy the marvel that is her digestive and metabolic system.

This isn't just aimed at Pete, it is for anyone reading this thread. Too many people worry about snakes following a set routine for feeding, these are highly evolved predators that have survived on the planet a lot longer than we have. Please note the signature
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TFA

The future is bright, the future is a net like pattern.................

I'm NOT an expert, so if you don't want to know my opinion don't ask!!

[Stuart]

Its the same with one of my bloods..its certainly not husbandry or sickness so when she feeds she feeds I do not worry about her as she is healthy..when she is ready she takes if she doesnt i try again in the near future..

[Lady Python]

Mine haven't gone off feed - yet (no doubt that is to come in the future). I sometimes wonder if it's their way of making sure they don't get overweight (they do tend to be chunky snakes) or perhaps conserving energy through certain times of the year. Until the day comes when a snake learns to talk, we're going to have to keep on guessing and pondering.
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3 Royal Pythons - Byron, Bobby & Rosie
3 Boas - Zig, Zag & Sevvy
1 BRB - Sunny
1 Milksnake - Ringo
2 Cali Kingsnakes - Nigel & Sally
7 Cornsnakes - Kai, Ryoko, Kiyone, Charlie, Onyx, Jake & Barney
1 Pinesnake X Bullsnake - Joe

RIP Sammy Snake

[Dan]

[Lady Python]

{/quote}Not so much guessing as forming educated solutions to the problem at hand. The late and VERY great Martin Eustace spent a lot of time reading about temperature, rain levels and wind speeds etc in an attempt to understand what his snakes were up to.[/quote]

...but did he succeed? I doubt it because we still don't know why they do it. What is also interesting is that only some Royals do it - others don't. It's a secret the snake's keeping to himself for the time being . My Royals are still young and, being growing snakes, like their food (it was feeding time tonight - something I love watching is the snakes striking then obviously enjoying their meal) so I will be watching their behaviour patterns very closely over the next couple of years. I know Royals can be extremely fussy eaters. I tried my younger Royal, Byron with a weaner rat tonight. He shot of backwards from it and gave me a look of sheer disgust He ate 3 medium sized mice no problem though Definitely got their likes and dislikes.
_________________
3 Royal Pythons - Byron, Bobby & Rosie
3 Boas - Zig, Zag & Sevvy
1 BRB - Sunny
1 Milksnake - Ringo
2 Cali Kingsnakes - Nigel & Sally
7 Cornsnakes - Kai, Ryoko, Kiyone, Charlie, Onyx, Jake & Barney
1 Pinesnake X Bullsnake - Joe

RIP Sammy Snake

[Dan]

Without wanting to sound to rude, i suggest you look into this more before commenting on a subject that you are uneducated in. It is worth bearing in mind that just because you or your friends don't know something doesnt mean everybody else doesnt know.

Martin was very succesful and despite what can only be seen as a strange feeding regime by those who didnt understand what he was doing he still produced royals every other year which is suspected to be an average for wild snakes (depending on certain variables).
_________________
TFA

The future is bright, the future is a net like pattern.................

I'm NOT an expert, so if you don't want to know my opinion don't ask!!

[Lady Python]

Umm, Dan, are you taking a side-swipe at me? If so, first I've never heard of Martin Eustace before. so can't even comment on what he did or didn't do until I've run a search and read up about him.

Second, my post was written tongue-in-cheek.

Third, read through all the forums on the net, read as many books as you like and the bottom line is no-one knows why they go off feed, they just do. There are many theories, but no hard and fast answers.

As for being uneducated. why do you think people come on these forums? To learn and read about other people's points of view and to discuss and find solutions to problems or just share in the beauty and wonder of their reptiles, not to be pilloried because someone thinks they've got an "uneducated opinion"

And yes, I do think you're being rude!
_________________
3 Royal Pythons - Byron, Bobby & Rosie
3 Boas - Zig, Zag & Sevvy
1 BRB - Sunny
1 Milksnake - Ringo
2 Cali Kingsnakes - Nigel & Sally
7 Cornsnakes - Kai, Ryoko, Kiyone, Charlie, Onyx, Jake & Barney
1 Pinesnake X Bullsnake - Joe

RIP Sammy Snake

[goldenburm]

I wish Martin was still here I missed our late night exchanges re royals, and many other snakes! I miss his wit and I am looking forward to meeting his wife on sunday!

Fiona, dan and I do not see eye to eye on a lot of things but in this case he is spot on, I remember all the problems you had with your royals via RC, remember all the advice many people offered to you and a lot of it being ignored. When people like jaymc, chris gillam, wendy, etc offer me advice I listen appraise and use what is necessary not dismiss out of hand! I have kept royals for 10 years on and off and most of mine have fed for 9-10 months a year with jan and feb off, this one I got in february and took till november to eat, then fed quite well for 4 months then went off for four months. I have had that snake for nearly 2 years and am only just starting to see a 4 on and 4 off cycle. Ever snake is an individual, my big female eats every week aprt from now as she is in season and is being mated by my high gold, he eats very well normally now after a 4 month sabatical also I have only had him for about 16 months so I am still learning his pattern!

I read and read and read and I do not discount anyones posts where the person has enough knowledge for me to respect their opinion. With tics I would listen to dan and jon griffen to name a few, boas mainly chris gillam, burms is michael and hopefully i have enough knowledge to be asked! leos matt lusty and rich and sue. I have been keeping for almost 20 years now and I still know sod all in the scheme of things!!!!

I consider myself to be an avid learner!!!


Everyone,
listen take advice when offered u dont have to agree but respect the person offering it!!!!


Peter
_________________
1.0 striped supersalmon DEAD
0.1 salmon poss TH moonglow DEAD
0.1 Orangasm DH ghost DEAD
1.0 pastel motley DEAD
2.0 sunglows 1.0 LIVING
1.1 pastel het snow 0.1 LIVING
2.2 albino boas DEAD
0.2 albino ara's DEAD
0.4 boa constrictors 0.2 LIVING

[Lady Python]

Hi Goldenburm.

I take it from your post that Martin Eustace was a gentleman you used to talk with on the forums who's passed away? If this is the case, then I didn't know and apologise unreservedly if I've upset anyone. My two posts were intended to be light-hearted and never intended to insult or offend.

When I first got my Royal, for two weeks he didn't eat and I asked for advice from the people on RC. Having never had a Royal before, yes, I needed advice, and far from ignoring it, I did what I was advised to and left him alone to settle in. Even doing everything I was advised to, he still wouldn't eat. I even brained the rat-pup and that didn't work. He seemed to just not like it. He would sniff at it, lick it then recoil away from it. To see what he would do, I offered him a fuzzy mouse. Bang! He went for it like lightening. You've never seen anything disappear so fast. So far, he's never refused food, even when in shed. I tried him with a smallish weaner rat this weekend. He just backed away from it. Offered him his usual mice and at the moment we have one rather fat Royal sleeping it off!!!

When I got Bobby my rescue Royal, he was grossly underweight. The first time he shed after I got him he got the head part off and didn't bother with the rest so I gently helped him with it by letting him have a swim round the bath then a slither through a wet towel. He shed again last week and did it all himself with absolutely no interference from me. All off in one piece, eyecaps included. He is a good feeder (is on 2 weaner rats at the moment) and in the 9 weeks I've had him he's shot up from 304g to 590g. I will be weighing him again this Friday and expect he'll be well over 600g so I must be doing something right.

Any opinions I've expressed have been based on my two Royals. What is working for my Royals may not work for someone else and that's something I make clear.

Recently I've sought advice about a Bali Dwarf Retic I considered buying. I've listened carefully to what everyone has advised, and although somewhat disappointed because it is a truly beautiful snake, I will not be buying the Bali. I've been given good advice, both pro and con, but have gone with my own instinct that the snake in question has too much of a temperament problem to safely handle (especially when it gets bigger).

So yes, I do listen to advice and take it provided it's good, sound advice, and yes I'm still learning and willing to learn otherwise I wouldn't be reading the forums.
_________________
3 Royal Pythons - Byron, Bobby & Rosie
3 Boas - Zig, Zag & Sevvy
1 BRB - Sunny
1 Milksnake - Ringo
2 Cali Kingsnakes - Nigel & Sally
7 Cornsnakes - Kai, Ryoko, Kiyone, Charlie, Onyx, Jake & Barney
1 Pinesnake X Bullsnake - Joe

RIP Sammy Snake