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Copperhead quit feeding...trying to figure out why
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by vampire on June 6, 2005
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Last Oct. at the Greenville SC show, I bought a CB neonate A.c. laticinctus. It ate every 7 days like clockwork, up until 5 weeks ago. It did eat once in the 5 week span. I have always fed F/T pinkies and now large fuzzies, as it grew. It always bit the pink or fuzzy, until 5 weeks ago. It acted hungry but refused to strike and eat. I have tried braining, scenting with fish, frogs,and even caught a small wild mouse, which it did envenomate, but refused to eat. The one time it did eat was a fish scented fuzzy, but refused them since. The temps and humidity have remained the same as always, substrate is newspaper. It hasn`t lost any girth to speak of, but I am confused as to WHY it stopped eating on a regular basis. Any ideas or suggestions are greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Mike
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RE: Copperhead quit feeding...trying to figure out
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by ALA_herp31 on June 6, 2005
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Mickael, after what you have told us about the keeping environment. All I can come up with is that the baby could very well be nervous. I have know some Snakes to take food for a long period of time then just up and stop. This act always confused me, then it donned on me that it mite be the old shy bone acting up “LOL”. Just a suggestion , but why not try putting a towel over the front of the cage, or maybe put the baby in a feeding box that it cant see out of. This method has worked for me a lot of times. Good luck, I hope the little fighter dose well........ Be safe ya’ll happy herping Wally
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RE: Copperhead quit feeding...trying to figure out
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by emtnurse on June 7, 2005
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Hey Mike, I have had many copperheads that do this. Why?? I have no clue. Eat like clockwork one week, then stop for several. Then they start again. Sometines they are very picky eaters. I had a copperhead not eat for 6 months. She drank water, shed, had no weight loss. Then she started eating again. I know it is frustraiting. Just keep offering her what you have been feeding her. She will pick back up on her own time if she is a healthy snake. Bryan
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RE: Copperhead quit feeding...trying to figure out
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by agkistrodude on June 7, 2005
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Hey Mike,
I too have had several copperheads behave like this.It's not uncommon for one of mine to go 4 or 5 months and then pick up again.I just keep offering the food on a regular schedual along with the other snakes,sooner or later he starts again.He never apeared to loose much if any weight.Has it pooped lately?You could try soaking it in luke warm water for an hour or so. This usually makes them poop.Maybe its a litle constipated? Then try feeding again.I've seen that work on occasion.But I wouldn't get too worried yet. Marty
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RE: Copperhead quit feeding...trying to figure out
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by Dadee on June 7, 2005
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Michael,
I assume you've kept your records...feedings, defecations, etc. If you can say that what goes in, has come out, you can be pretty certain that constipation isn't in the game. A lot of Aggies, including A.P's...do this little stop feeding antic. I had a A.C.M that didn't eat for (brace yourself for this one) 10 months. One day out of the blue, he started eating again. I had gone through several different ideas of getting him to eat, but none worked. 10 months later, the same routine that he had worked from, worked again. He started eating like a champ. I did take the "freshly killed" mice and pump some Calcium and other supplements into them, prior to offering, making sure that none of the "goo" was on the outside of the mouse. A small syringe worked great for this.
This gave the copperhead some of the lacking ingredients that he would need to restore to full levels.
I also had a beauty of a A.P.P that was a sweet girl that never failed to behave, ate ONLY in complete darkness. She would ride a hook like a GTP, but when it came to feeding, I had to put her into the trash can, drop in her food and close the lid...no light what so ever, or she wouldn't eat.
Just bide your time, keep offering and time will take over. If he's hungry, he'll eat. What ever you do, don't use the force feeding method, until ALL other methods have been exhausted. I lost a 4 month old A.P.P X A.P.M. from force feeding...waited too long and over stressed him.
Best of luck,
Matt
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RE: Copperhead quit feeding...trying to figure out
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by Cro on June 7, 2005
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I also have had copperheads and other snakes go off food for several months - only to have them start eating again. This seems to be a fairly common behavior.
What I am wondering is if anyone has ever considered that the snakes might be going through aestivation? This is a a state of inactivity and reduced metabolic activity, usually associated with hot weather or the dry season, kind of like hibernation in reverse.
Have any of you who keep excellent records noticed anything in the time of year that might indicate that the stopping of feeding is a seasonal thing?
As keepers, we get used to snakes eating once a week, or two weeks, or 10 days, and tend to freak out if they stop doing this.
But just maybee, they are responding to nature which is telling them not to eat in the winter or in the hot, dry summer months?
JohnZ
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RE: Copperhead quit feeding...trying to figure out
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by Dadee on June 8, 2005
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Excuse my last post. I meant to say my 4 month old A.P.P X A.C.M., just an over sight on the typos.
I've kept good records on the heating/lighting cycles, but the funny thing is, the 10 months encompassed them both. When he started eating again, his cage was well back up into the daily high 80's. I could see the reverse hibernation being a good idea, but wonder if such a thing could be proven. I'm sure it would take a vast amount of us who keep aggies to start to track this and over a long period of time, be able to come up with any certainty.
I'll be willing to start, John, if any one else would like to chime in on this and join the "mapping". I wish we could have some of our professional crew jump in on this, since they would obviously be able to give some background already, that may have already been put into place.
I would also like to ask them, while I have their attention, if there's any skeletal differences in the aggies, versus other crots. I ask this only because I see these almost all the time basking with the heads at a tilt up. I've looked at a lot of the resources out there and can't really find anything that would point to this "natural tendency". I don't see it in my rattlesnakes, nor any of the other species I've worked with. That's not to say that they DON'T, but I've never seen it. I did have a C.Atrox that would follow my hand movements and would often be found gazing at her enclosures' lid...but that was more of a feeding nature. Anyone?
Cheers,
Matt
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RE: Copperhead quit feeding...trying to figure out
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by Cro on June 8, 2005
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Matt: I am not sure if there are skeletal differences or not, but I think there are some. I have also observed the "head up" basking / hunting? behavior many times in copperheads and cottonmouths. I have not seen it in rattlesnakes, but have seen similar behavior in old world vipers. I believe that many other snake keepers have seen this also, even if it has not been published. Might be that no one has yet thought of writing about it.
I am planning to keep better seasonal records concerning feeding / going off feed, to see if I can determine any aestivation behavior. I agree it would take a lot of research and record keeping, and should be conducted on wild snakes as well as captive ones. I think it might be worth looking into though, as the going off feed for a few months is a fairly common observation for many keepers. I know it is very common in winter months, but could also be part of the warm weather cycle. When we take snakes out of the wild, and put them under artificial light cycles, and non-seasonal feeding and temperature cycles, there is no telling how that messes with their minds and behavior. Best Regards JohnZ
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