Feeding help...

[towelie4365]

I am not sure why I can't get one of my bp's to eat... I've had problems in the past but this has been pretty bad. Temps are fine (90/80), humidity is fine, and I use a 28qt rack system with two hides, one on each side.

The last meals I managed to get were a f/t rat pup on 3/29, and then I got a f/t small rat on 4/3... before that was 12/6 for a small rat, and before that was 11/18, 11/3, 9/26... I thought I got her started again, but then she wouldn't eat yet again. She just doesn't want to eat consistently for me.

I offer her every 5-7 days when she isn't eating with no luck. I try smaller meals too.

I'm offering her a live mouse right now, and she wont even eat that. She was interested, but then backed off after being startled (and she did this a few times). Its been in there with her over an hour (under constant supervision), and it just doesn't look like shes going to eat it.

I just don't know what else to try. My other snakes are eating just fine.

Also, if I fed the live mouse to one of my piggy eaters, would she be inclined to stop eating f/t?

[towelie4365]

Also, I'll get her weight tomorrow when she isn't stressed from this, but she is around 1000g. I weighed her back when she was eating consistently, so I will compare the weight to how she was then to see if she lost a significant amount. She is approximately 2 years old now.

[kylearmbar]

Your husbandry sounds fine. Coincidently I just read an article by Justin Kobylka on ball python eating habniys in the wild and how we can try to mimmick it in captivity to get trouble eaters to eat. I'll do my best to sum up what I got from it with some of my thoughts thrown in to. Wild ball pythons are ambush predators, they do not hunt their prey. They seek out empty termite mounds and other burrows. And wait for a rodent to come along. The element of surprise is very important, so if a rodent smells snake feces, urine or see's a shed it will not come in and if it dose will be on edge. The snake knows this instinctivly so when it does go to the bathroom or shed it will leave and go to a new burrow because it will not expect food, and even if a rodent does come it may suspect something so it will be on edge and may not even try to eat to avoid injury. We can mimmick going to a new burrow by thoroughly cleaning the cage when a snake goes to the bathroom by thoroughly cleaning instead of spot cleaning, and re arranging a little bit, maybe add a few pieces of newspaper or whatever to make things look different and possible use a different kind of bedding as well. He also hit on points about them being wary to eat while a human is near by as they are a possible threat, so try hiding yourself by turning off the lights and doing your best to stay out of sight may also help. Goodluck! I would try these methods and maybe give it a week or sobefore your next feeding. There are more tips in the actual article if you wish to look it up.

[olivv]

My snake was off feed for quite a while.. It worried me, until I thought of an extremely easy and simple solution. Here's how you do it.

Get a box that is small, but not too small. It's okay if all four-corners of the box is up against the snake. Snakes feel more secure and satisfied in a smaller, more secluded area.

After you place him in the box, turn out the lights. Turning out the lights will make the snake even more secure, and will stimulate how and when he would eat in the wild.

Lastly, just drop the mouse/rat in and wait for him to eat.

Good luck, and I hope this helps.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

[olivv]

Doing it at night, too will help because of his internal clock.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

[Pyrate81]

Here's the sticky kyle was talking about: http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...ghlight=justin



Also, the snake is at 1000grams. Some snakes will hit what's called the "1000 gram wall" where they stop eating for awhile or don't eat consistantly. Then bam, they start eating like monsters again out of nowhere.

[Morris Reese]

After studying the natural feeding of BP's in the wild I changed the way I feed and it's working quite well.
I used to wait until it was dark and my snake came out like she was searching for food. She would eat, but it was like I had to do the zombie dance for a while. I decided to change it up a bit.
BP's in the wild don't go searching for food. They lay in the den of rodents and termites and patiently wait. This is what sparked my thinking to change the way I feed.
I wait until late afternoon or early evening before I change to the night cycle. I feed while she is still in her hide. I will take the f/t and do the zombie dance at the opening of her hide, then pull it back a little ways. She will come crawling out in search of the prey and attack very quick. She seems to ingest it quicker as well.
It really seems to have changed her feeding response during the last 2 feedings.

[CORBIN911]

Which bedding do you use? My pied girl will not eat on anything but kraft paper or empty tub,

[Morris Reese]

Which bedding do you use? My pied girl will not eat on anything but kraft paper or empty tub,

I use coconut. She was on reptibark but I changed it to help with humidity.

[towelie4365]

I have them on paper towels, and clean the cage as soon as I notice anything (usually day of).

Also, just weighed her at 1095g. She has lost a whopping -26g since September (she gained weight lol, weighed 1069g on 9/12). I guess I'm less concerned, but its still frustrating. She has eaten 6 or 7 times since I weighed her then in mid September. Next time I feed her will be at night, but that's when I usually try anyways...