Will a BP starve itself to death?

[ranapipiens89]

I'm starting to get a tiny bit anxious because of all the threads and care sheets and what not that talk about how difficult a BP is to convert from live to f/t.... When I bought her yesterday, the people at the pet store told me she (I've decided to name her Artemis) wouldn't eat f/t. I just assumed that that was because they were a petstore and besides 6 baby bp's, they had all the other animals to care for and couldn't stand around for hours dangling dead mice in front of snakes... I also thought that surely I could wait her out, I mean, starving dogs eat sheet rock and gravel, so SURELY a snake would eventually eat it if it got hungry enough.... But am I wrong? WILL a snake literally starve itself to death before it will eat an f/t if it REALLY doesn't want to? I mean, I suppose I wouldn't have a problem eventually (I would really have problems at first) feeding live to it, my parents would probably disown me because the f/t thing was one of the only selling points that convinced them to let me have one.... I am an animal lover and though it would hurt me a LOT I could feed live if it absolutely came down to that or death for my beautiful Artemis..... But..... That would be my last choice.... What do you think.... And please be nice, I don't want to read "If you don't want to feed live animals to something, why'd you get a carnivore?" People don't want to feed live chickens and fish to their cat, but they don't have a problem with owning THAT carnivore, they just found a way around it.... I was of the understanding that snakes could and would eat f/t when I decided I wanted one 8 years ago. And let me reiterate something, I will not let my snake starve herself to death or go without food, but I would really hate to have to feed her live, but I WILL do it if it's the only course of action available....

[j_kszb]

I am sure some one with more expirience will chime in soon, but i have heard Bps will starve them self if not comfortable. So check you temps hides ect. Also make sure you are heating the mouse up enough for bp. So tips i read before was to warm it up with a hair dryer or warm water. Another was not to dangle it by its tail but some where on the back. <-- might want some one to try and clarify this because im not to sure about it. Well i hope this helps, im also new and learning the ropes of hunger strikes.

[h00blah]

I'm starting to get a tiny bit anxious because of all the threads and care sheets and what not that talk about how difficult a BP is to convert from live to f/t.... When I bought her yesterday, the people at the pet store told me she (I've decided to name her Artemis) wouldn't eat f/t. I just assumed that that was because they were a petstore and besides 6 baby bp's, they had all the other animals to care for and couldn't stand around for hours dangling dead mice in front of snakes... I also thought that surely I could wait her out, I mean, starving dogs eat sheet rock and gravel, so SURELY a snake would eventually eat it if it got hungry enough.... But am I wrong? WILL a snake literally starve itself to death before it will eat an f/t if it REALLY doesn't want to? I mean, I suppose I wouldn't have a problem eventually (I would really have problems at first) feeding live to it, my parents would probably disown me because the f/t thing was one of the only selling points that convinced them to let me have one.... I am an animal lover and though it would hurt me a LOT I could feed live if it absolutely came down to that or death for my beautiful Artemis..... But..... That would be my last choice.... What do you think.... And please be nice, I don't want to read "If you don't want to feed live animals to something, why'd you get a carnivore?" People don't want to feed live chickens and fish to their cat, but they don't have a problem with owning THAT carnivore, they just found a way around it.... I was of the understanding that snakes could and would eat f/t when I decided I wanted one 8 years ago. And let me reiterate something, I will not let my snake starve herself to death or go without food, but I would really hate to have to feed her live, but I WILL do it if it's the only course of action available....

i dont think a bp would starve itself, as one of the methods of switching a bp from live to f/t is "tough love" which is basically, attempt f/t one week, if it doesnt accept, try again the next week, and so on until it accepts f/t. i imagine it'll just give up and take wut it can get at some point.

and well, although the pet stores might not have time to dangle a dead mouse in front of a snake bc of the other animals, i imagine u have better luck YOU can spend the extra time switching to f/t, dangling a dead mouse in front of it. GL on ur attempts btw. they can be very stubborn

[h00blah]

I am sure some one with more expirience will chime in soon, but i have heard Bps will starve them self if not comfortable.

this has some truth to it, they will sometimes refuse to eat bc they do not feel secure enough to eat, which can be a result of por husbandry.

Another was not to dangle it by its tail but some where on the back. <-- might want some one to try and clarify this because im not to sure about it. Well i hope this helps, im also new and learning the ropes of hunger strikes.

by "the back" u mean the scruff where the spine is (behind the neck)
for holding a dead mouse with tongs, i just grab it by its side fat, i find it easier to zombie dance that way

[ranapipiens89]

The reason I ask this is because so many people are like "my ball python hasn't eaten in 2 months" and some people say that's okay as long as the snake seems healthy and active still and not losing too much weight, but I don't know what is okay and what is TOO long and..... Just a little nervous. You can tell I've never owned a snake before, can't you? I'm probably going to be fretting over a LOT of things in the future................ OH!!!! another thing, when I got my snake, the bedding was this white little ball things that I thought was tiny gravel, come to find out, via Artemis herself, that it was in fact White Proso Millet!!!! OMG WTF? She had 4 little seeds stuck in her mouth, which I removed with some tweezers, the mouth looks okay, but a small blood spot where one had poked her, will she be okay? She's acting like she's feeling better though, she yawned a couple times and flicked her tongue a lot when I put her back in the tank and was generally more interested in the tank... Probably was hurting my poor baby's mouth!

[mainbutter]

A healthy BP will not starve itself to death but may go off feed for a while.

An unhealthy BP (notably youngsters) have been known to die after never eating, or get to the point where assist feeding is needed to give them a chance to survive.

[Kaorte]

99% of the time peoples snakes go off feed or don't eat because their husbandry is off. Two months is not a long time for an adult ball python. Breeding females will fast yearly for up to 8 months with no ill effects. It is mostly a problem when people get baby snakes and THEY go off feed. People don't know how to take care of them right and they get stressed and that can lead to sickness and even death.

If you want to double check your husbandry, post some details or a picture of your setup. We are all more than willing to help you refine your husbandry to prevent your snake from going off feed.

As for the millet seed, get the snake off of that and onto aspen, paper towels, or newspaper. I am sure she will be okay though as long as nothing is profusely bleeding.

Generally, over activity is a sign of stress. Slow cruising at night or around feeding day is normal. But day time roaming, climbing the walls, and general "get me out of here" movements are usually an indicator of improper husbandry.

[ranapipiens89]

this has some truth to it, they will sometimes refuse to eat bc they do not feel secure enough to eat, which can be a result of por husbandry.



by "the back" u mean the scruff where the spine is (behind the neck)
for holding a dead mouse with tongs, i just grab it by its side fat, i find it easier to zombie dance that way

I can see how this would help, lol, live mice don't hop around on their heads, so I'm sure a more horizontal prey shape would fool them into thinking it was more alive than it actuallly way,

[ranapipiens89]

99% of the time peoples snakes go off feed or don't eat because their husbandry is off. Two months is not a long time for an adult ball python. Breeding females will fast yearly for up to 8 months with no ill effects. It is mostly a problem when people get baby snakes and THEY go off feed. People don't know how to take care of them right and they get stressed and that can lead to sickness and even death.

If you want to double check your husbandry, post some details or a picture of your setup. We are all more than willing to help you refine your husbandry to prevent your snake from going off feed.

As for the millet seed, get the snake off of that and onto aspen, paper towels, or newspaper. I am sure she will be okay though as long as nothing is profusely bleeding.

Generally, over activity is a sign of stress. Slow cruising at night or around feeding day is normal. But day time roaming, climbing the walls, and general "get me out of here" movements are usually an indicator of improper husbandry.

Oh, no no... *I* don't have her on millet, lord not, the PETSTORE did... I have her on aspen. I have her in a 10g tank with 2 small hides, one on the warm side and one on the cool side, I have a large glazed terra cotta water dish to soak in (it's big enough for 3 snakes her size all balled up) I have a grapevine reptile limb thing for climbing. During the day she does stay in the hides, she only explored the tank today because she was soaking some and I noticed one side of her mouth looked funny (which was the millet)... I currently have a heat lamp which will be donated to my iguana when I get a heat mat which will be very very soon.... I also only have little stick on thermometers, one reads 82 and the other reads 78, but again, I don't know how accurate they are, I'm going to walmart in the next couple days and will get one of those acurite things everyone mentions..... I only got her yesterday and have not had to feed her yet, since they fed her yesterday (they SAY) so I don't know if she'll eat for me or if she's even that against f/t, I don't know, but I wanted to get some info before I freak out on feeding day and she doesn't eat or something... just trying to be prepared.

[h00blah]

I currently have a heat lamp which will be donated to my iguana when I get a heat mat which will be very very soon.... I also only have little stick on thermometers, one reads 82 and the other reads 78, but again, I don't know how accurate they are, I'm going to walmart in the next couple days and will get one of those acurite things everyone mentions.....

make sure u get a thermostat / rheostat or dimmer to control that UTH (undertank heater) and yes, stick ons are notorious for being HORRIBLY inaccurate.

I only got her yesterday and have not had to feed her yet, since they fed her yesterday (they SAY) so I don't know if she'll eat for me or if she's even that against f/t, I don't know, but I wanted to get some info before I freak out on feeding day and she doesn't eat or something... just trying to be prepared.

i would wait a week anyways to let her get used to her enclosure before a feeding attempt. that way, she'll be hungry (which could increase ur chances of a successful feeding), and hopefully she'll feel more secure.


EDIT: the BP is not a climbing snake. it could potentially harm the snake if it climbs and falls. u can always swap that out for some nice looking foliage! looks nice, AND it can clutter up an enclosure to add bonus security!