Springtime must be here cuz Saoirse ate!

[frankykeno]

Okay folks, only you will understand why a grown man and woman are dancing around like crazy fools, high fiving and grinning like idiots but after a full 5 months of refusals....SAOIRSE ATE!

Not a big meal, just a nice wean rat but considering she's refused to eat since her last meal on October 8/05, though every week she was offered (heck begged, I begged LOL) - we are just thrilled!

I don't care if they say the signs of spring are melting snow and buds on trees....nah...it's Saoirse eating! LOL

Saoirse for those of you that don't know was a WC adult female that had been through it all....imported, pet store (they lied at first and said she was CB), couple of private owners then Mike and I agreed to adopt her and try to get her eating. She hadn't eaten successfully in captivity as far as we know and had been refusing to eat at least 6 to 8 months or longer when we got her. She'd also been treated for a parasite load and has a pretty impressive scar on her side.

She's not the world's prettiest ball python female but we love this snake and worry over her more than the rest of the collection all together. We did get her eating with a lot of advice from Adam and she ate steady for 6 weeks after we settled her in, going from a VERY skinny 620 to 900 grams then just....stopped. Needless to say I was upset (Mike is much more calm about such things) but we understood that she's a wild born snake and all we can do is give her the best environment and offer the food and wait. She only lost 100 grams this past 5 months so is now 800 grams and has a rat in her belly!

She's still awfully underweight. For her length and approximate age she should be well into breeding weight range but we'll just continue to work with her and if she never breeds or not for another year or two, so be it. We just feel blessed that this WC female decided to live. When she does eat, she's a good eater with a strong response to her live prey and over this winter she's learned to trust us enough so that she doesn't ball up in fear when we handle her. I was on the phone with another BPNet member one evening and had Saoirse on my lap. She reached over and grabbed my standing reading lamp and nearly yanked it over! Only another snake person can understand why anyone would be thrilled to have a snake nearly wreck a nice lamp but it was like....she's finally not scared!...she's being confident enough to finally mess around with stuff....yay for Saoirse! LOL

Okay I'm babbling...I know this! LOL Please cross your fingers that Saoirse will eat again next week. I really want to see this snake at her full glory someday.

[rabernet]

Wooooo Hooooo! I know how much you've worried over little Ms. Saoirse and I'm so happy that she ate again! Four months is hand wringing (Kash went 4.5 months! LOL). It's such a great feeling to know that our babies are doing well in our care, and feeding is one of those things that always feels like a victory!


Sending positive snakey vibes that she'll continue eating now that she ate last night!

[iceman25]

Woohooooooo! Wait a go Saoirse!(I can never pronouce your name)

[jglass38]

Awesome Jo! Now I feel confident that my 3 fasters will eat soon!

[ladywhipple02]

Who needs a groundhog when you've got a BP... whoot! Spring is here, spring is here... lalalalalala!

[4theSNAKElady]

Sending some of my "snake magic" to assist Saoirse with a strong and healthy appetite......for the whole season....How do you pronuonce the name..? It's a nifty one though......

[cassandra]

Yayay! Happy Snake dance...er...Slither!

[JLC]

How exciting!! I'm really happy for you and her!

[frankykeno]

Saoirse which is pronounced as "shar-sha" (shar like it rhymes with hair). It's a lovely Irish name meaning freedom and liberty. We picked it for her as she was wild born and our first WC rescue, so we wanted to honor her that way with a very special name.

http://www.babynamesofireland.com/pa...names-n-z.html

You can listen to a lovely Irish gentleman say her name at this link. His accent is sooooo lovely I wish I could say her name that way (all our other snakes names came from this site as well).

We couldn't be happier and thank you for all your good wishes! We'll just continue to offer her just weaned rats and even fuzzies till she's back on track a bit more and can one day handle a big more appropriate sized prey. Our thanks always to Adam for his advice and continuing support as we learn to care for Saoirse (she is so different than the CB's).

[Ironhead]

Awesome Jo! Now I feel confident that my 3 fasters will eat soon!

Im happy for ya Jo!

I've got two on fast. Monty Jo has fasted for a little over 5 months and Cheetah is going on 4. Last year Monty Jo went almost 7 months fasting, but this is a first for Cheetah.