BP won't eat

[Draco D Tegu]

Well she was being fed small white rats every ten to 14 days. So that's what I'm offering her now that she's not shedding. She is I would say about 4ft long. She doesn't appear dehydrated but she IS losing weight (I could tell it when I picked her up today).

 

[Bubblz Calhoun]

You can try a smaller size, if she's lost a lot of weight she may not be as strong as she use to be. There fore able to handle a rat that size. Does she still strike and coil when you feed but doesn't eat after wards or is there no response at all?

My Bumble Bee was very finicky, she would go off feed for a while and lose weight. As she lost weight she still tried to eat what I offered but wasn't able to until I tried smaller rats. Once she started to gain weight and her strength back I got her back up to sm/m rats and kept it at that.

Do you have a male bp also? We're in the middle of breeding season and some snakes go off feed, while others don't mind and continue to do so.

 

[Rhetoric]

They won't starve themselves, it'll eat when it gets hungry enough. If you aren't noticing any signs if sickness it could very well be shedding or stress or the time of year. I watched my brothers BP for a while last year when he was at basic and it stopped eating around Jan and didn't eat again until May. I never came to a conclusion why it stopped eating but its been fine ever since!

It very well could have been the move, there could be new sounds, smells, new scenery, even just the movement of being moved could have caused some stress.

Have you tried feeding it a mouse or a gerbil instead? Have you tried poking a hole in the skull or making a cut? It can help release some of the smell (it sounds gross but I had to do that with my tegus first few mice and it worked magically). I'm sorry if I missed any mention of this but have you made sure your temps and humidity are where they should be (I'm assuming you've checked by now but you never know).

Since s/hes not eating I wouldn't be too concerned about some weight loss, if you think its a significant amount or if you notice signs of illness I would get it checked out by a vet.

 

[Draco D Tegu]

Thanks! I joined the website ball-python.net and am going to work on making it a new enclosure today. Hopefully this will work.

No, I'm going to try feeding a mouse today. Someone suggested the previous owner might have mistaken a mouse for a rat.

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You can try a smaller size, if she's lost a lot of weight she may not be as strong as she use to be. There fore able to handle a rat that size. Does she still strike and coil when you feed but doesn't eat after wards or is there no response at all?

My Bumble Bee was very finicky, she would go off feed for a while and lose weight. As she lost weight she still tried to eat what I offered but wasn't able to until I tried smaller rats. Once she started to gain weight and her strength back I got her back up to sm/m rats and kept it at that.

Do you have a male bp also? We're in the middle of breeding season and some snakes go off feed, while others don't mind and continue to do so.

Yep, I do have a male BP, a young small one.

He's eating like a pig.

No, she doesn't strike or coil at all. In fact she pretty much ignores the rattie when presented.

The old owners were just dumping the rat in the cage and leaving it overnight and it would be gone in the a.m.

I am not comfortable doing that because I fear the rat will turn aggressive on the snake, but I did try it, to no avail.

There are several factors I'm thinking may also be causing it. In addition to the caging situation, I have red and blue lights for my night time heat in my rep room. I am thinking it might not be getting dark enough in there for her. The old owners had her in a corner and no other reptiles that had lights.

So I am going to work on a new enclosure with the stock tank that didn't work for my tegu and see if I can't move her to the basement where it does get totally dark at night.

 

[Strange_Evil]

Its prob the enclosure,like i said. Its huge for a BP and could very well be stressing her out and causing her to go off feed. Maybe even your temps,80 is low.I would feed gerbils as a last resort,ball pythons are well known for getting addicted to those mean little rodents.

Try a 28qt around that size.I could give a pic of mines if you need one.

Thank god you have not tried leaving a live rodent in there with her again.

Good luck with him though,really hope he eats for you!

 

[Draco D Tegu]

Its prob the enclosure,like i said. Its huge for a BP and could very well be stressing her out and causing her to go off feed. Maybe even your temps,80 is low.I would feed gerbils as a last resort,ball pythons are well known for getting addicted to those mean little rodents.

Try a 28qt around that size.I could give a pic of mines if you need one.

Thank god you have not tried leaving a live rodent in there with her again.

Good luck with him though,really hope he eats for you!

Well I found a rubbermaid storage trunk I had in the attic and turned it into a pen for her. Had a little issue with the underbelly heat but temporarily resolved it.

We'll see how it goes. I'll offer again Monday.