BP won't eat

[Draco D Tegu]

Ok so it appears that not eating in my house has become contagious.

I have 2 BP's, the one I asked about his color, and a normal. I got the normal on 2-6-11. It had been fed 2 days before I picked it up. The guy was feeding it every 10-14 days. Caveat, it had only been fed live small rats.

So I figured I would try again on the 16th, giving it plenty of time to get hungry, and I'd try a frozen thawed rat.

No go.

So, I went to petco and bought a live rat.


No go, and now I'm stuck with "Lucky", which my other half is adamant cannot be re-offered as food at this point.

Contacted the seller, and he said he never had any issues with him/her eating before but they simply left the rat in the enclosure overnight and it was gone in the a.m. I'm not comfortable with that.

So I figure, eh, well I've read how finicky they can be, maybe it's the stress of the move. Give him/her another couple days.

So I went and got another feeder tonight (after re-trying lucky without my other half's knowledge) and I notice that Puff is now shedding and has very opague eye caps.

My question is, is this unheard of for BP's to go off feed after a new move?

I have it's original enclosure so everything in there is the same. It's now going on a month since i got her/him. If it gets hungry enough it will eat correct?

 

[Strange_Evil]

Trying to wait a ball python out will never work when it comes to food,there have been ball pythons who went off feed well over 7months.

Even if the enclosure is not changed,a move is a move and they still know they are in a new enviorment,so it's best to give them the one week alone settle in time.

Ball pythons in shed most of the time will not take food,so it is best to not offer during shed and to leave them alone,bump your humidity to 60-70%.

Did the seller use to leave the live rat in with him over night?

What is the set up like from temps to cage size and decor?

 

[Guest]

There are a few things you can do. I have had a ball python for 4 yrs of so and I am all to familiar with their finickey eating habits. My ball python has gone for 5 months without food and was totally fine.

My ball python will only eat live, medium to small size rats. They also have to be dark in color, she wont touch a white lab rat.

I have had small sucess getting her to eat with a technique called braining. Its gorrey, but it works for many people. You cut the dead rats skull open and smear the brain matter over the face of the rat. They will get very interested with this smell and will often cause them to take the prey.

Another thing I have had sucess with is feeding them gerbils and soft fured rats. These prey items are closer to the ball pythons natural prey in the wild. Soft Furr rats are not super easy to find, but I do know a guy in Michigan that sells them for the same price as regular rats. The soft furred rats will play dead when threatened, this is not the case with the New England rats.

Good luck, let me know what works for you

 

[Toby_H]

Good advice so far...

Ball Pythons can survive many months without food. So while it is best to get them back on a feeding schedule, you are along way away from needing to worry.

It is very natural for Ball Pythons to go off feed this time of year. This is the time of year to cool and stop feeding females to prepare them for breeding season (replicating natural conditions).

Snakes in shed will rarely eat, so I would not be trying to feed until after he peels. Offering a humid hide as well as a soaking bowl can help them shed (though raising the humidity in the entire enclosure creates the risk of upper respritory infection).

Rotating prey items can help find something they are more apt to eat, but you also run the risk of them finding that one prey item they really like then refusing to eat anything else. I would not do this unless/until they have been off feed for a few months.


After your snake sheds I would certainly continue trying to feed him. But I would not worry about it not taking food for quite some time.

 

[Draco D Tegu]

Thanks guys! Been kinda busy the next few days. It is reassuring to know that I don't have to worry JUST yet (although I will).

How long after her eyes go milky is it before she starts shedding?

The rats he fed were white, and that's what I'm feeding right now.

As for the humidity, would handling her to soak her in the tub also be a help? She's too big to fit into any bowls. She has a hide, but not a moist hide.

 

[Bubblz Calhoun]

What kind of set up do you have? If you're having issues with keeping the humidity up you can make a humid hide out a plastic container. As long is it's big enough for it to fit in. Depending on the type of hide you have now you may be able to use that also.

What do you use for heating? If you use a UTH or a Thermal Pad, place the hide over that with moist substrate inside. Make sure there's only one opening to keep the humidity up. If you use one of those tree bark hides where they're open on each side. Position it so that one opening is up against the wall and use substrate to cover the back.

By that I mean push substrate up against the wall or glass at the back of the hide to cover it (wall or glass) and cover the back as well on the outside of the hide to help hold moisture in. There should also be a second hide on the cool side. But with a humid hide you don't have to worry about the humidity inside the enclosure itself being too low or too high since they will use it as needed.

 

[Guest]

check its mouth.. if its red and inflamed it probably has an URI. so youll need antibiotics. whens the last time they were wormed?

 

[Draco D Tegu]

Hi,

His enclosure is an open air enclosure with a balcony, built in hide and climbing branches. I did make her/him another hide yesterday witn some mulch in it and wet the mulch down.

She's on under the tank heater, which unfortunately is not removable because they built it under the tile (OSB/tile sandwhich).

My reptile room stays a good 80 degrees year round (ambient) because it's right over the furnace.

Her mouth seems fine. I wormed with fenbendazole when I got her home and then again 2 wks later.

I don't think this is a health issue, it's either a stress issue or a shed issue.

 

[slideaboot]

Balls can be a pain...They're cool and all, just too finicky about eating for me.

 

[Guest]

I have heard the same thing ....

Not to worry tho as they seem to go back to eating when they are ready ..

Many owners worry about them tho...

Having enough worry's already I have left BPs for all you guys ...

 

[Strange_Evil]

Yeah,his not eating is prob a "time of the year" thing or he is still just getting use to it all,how big is the enclosure though?

 

[Draco D Tegu]

His enclosure is I would say a good 5 feet tall, by about 3 wide by 3 deep. Whoever built it did a really swell job. It's unfortunately hardware cloth on the sides, which the previous owner swears was good for his shedding.

I checked on her today and now she doesn't look like she's gonna shed (he, she whatever). Eyes were clear and skin was shiny. From what I read online, they go through that where they stop looking like they're going to shed. Is that true? My other guy shed already, albeit a bad shed and I had to help him with some of it and took a switch from live to F/T immediately.

Puff is ACTING hungry very interested in movement. And has been drinking I think based on the amount of water in her bowl.

I never thought I would be a snake person, but I have grown quite fond of the problem child.

 

[Guest]

Its normal for them to clear up. S/He will probably shed within 2 or 3 days. The drinking is normal after they clear up. I gave up on BP a long time ago for the eating issues as well but I had luck putting them in a paperbag, with the rat overnight in there cage. Bag size depending on how big the snake is. Or offer a live pinky and follow it with a f/t, once you have them eating they will continue to eat.

 

[Strange_Evil]

The LxW sounds good. But ball pythons are terrestrial snakes,and to much over head space well to much space in general could be stressful for them. If you could try possibly cutting off some of the height down to around 2ft that would be good,ball pythons like the enclosure nice and tight and spend a considerable amount of there time hiding. Try tighten things up a bit add some more decor and a extra hide and see what happens over the next week.

Yeah they usually appear to clear up the night or day before shed,i got tricked into thinking my Bp shed ounce because of that,but when they do shed you will notice how much there colors stand out.

Oh and they are really not to big on drinking. Most of the water just evaporates. Yours is prob soaking though to aid with the shed ,just check on him daily and see.

 

[Draco D Tegu]

Well that's true, except she's been living in this cage since the old owner got her as a baby. After she sheds I'll look into making another habitat....right now I fear moving her.

Is there an easy way to determine the gender of these guys without probing them? I am not experienced in probing so would not do it (although I had never given a reptile an enema before my guy impacted either!)

I read something about the way the tail tapers?

It doesnt matter enough to me to know, other than curiosity and whether I'll have to worry about egg binding.

 

[Bubblz Calhoun]

There are a few methods that people use to sex snakes the most definitive are popping and probing. But you can also go by Spurs, tail length and I've seen a couple of videos on rolling your thumb down the snakes tail to see if you can feel the hemipenes. The rolling thing depends on the age,size of the snake and how much muscle they have

You can also take your snake to a local Vet or pet store that knows how to sex snakes,.. the shops usually do it for free.

Ball-pythons.net is a great forum for Bp info :-D .

 

[Strange_Evil]

x2^ i agree. Bp.net is great :-D ,

Yeah ounce they hit a certain age they gain control,making popping basically impossible. You should go with probing it is really accurate when done by a pro or just someone who knows what they are doing,take him/her to a local vet or breeder and have them do it.

 

[Guest]

Vets will usually have no problem only doing a visit just to probe. It cost me 30 an animal but they generally will teach you how to probe if you ask which makes it a one time ever fee. Then you can do it yourself.

 

[Draco D Tegu]

(Sigh) Another rat left untouched. She did shed marvelously, looks very healthy still....she just won't eat. I'm getting SO FRUSTRATED with her!

 

[Bubblz Calhoun]

(Sigh) Another rat left untouched. She did shed marvelously, looks very healthy still....she just won't eat. I'm getting SO FRUSTRATED with her!

[size=large]How big is your snake and what size are the rats that you're using? If their meals are too big then they don't need to and won't eat as often. Most people feed smaller meals more often to keep them on a feeding schedule. You may have to wait a couple of weeks to try and feed her again, with a smaller meal and get her back on schedule.[/size]