Eat Damn you!

[catalystsupreme]

Heres the deal, its been two weeks since i got my new baby ball, still she refuses to eat. I've tried pinkies, fuzzie, live, f/t you name it. How much longer should i give before i have to force feed. Don't have scale to monitor the weight but visually i can tell he is looding his girth. What she i do? Husbandry is good the same as my other, temps are good, could he still be stressed?

[xdeus]

Can you describe or post a pic of his cage? What are the temps and how are you controlling them? How old is he and how many times has he eaten for the previous owner?

Sometimes it takes a little while to get a new snake to settle in and eat. My advice would be to make sure his environment is perfect, leave him completely alone, and try to feed only once a week. When you do try to feed him, place a live rat pup or mouse fuzzy in his cage about an hour after sunset. Leave it alone in his cage with the lights out and leave the room.

Feed him whatever he was eating before (rats or mice), and don't handle him until he starts to eat for you.

Good luck!

[Purrrfect9]

What time of day do you feed your ball? Some are really sensative to photoperiods, and may only take food closer to nightfall, or you can mimic that by shutting any blinds in your room, turning the light off, and possibly draping a towel over her tub while the prey item is in there. And when you say baby, can you give us a rough estimation of how old she is? If she's 4-5 months old and has had a few decent meals in her, she could just be letting her digestive system 'catch up'. Have you tried the paper bag method, or spraying the prey with a little bit of water? And are you feeding her in her enclosure or in another tub? Force feeding is an absolutely last resort, as it will cause even more stress to the ball then just not eating at all. I would personally take her to a vet before I would force feed, just to get her checked out and make sure that nothing else is wrong with her. Hope this helps some

[lord jackel]

Heres the deal, its been two weeks since i got my new baby ball, still she refuses to eat. I've tried pinkies, fuzzie, live, f/t you name it. How much longer should i give before i have to force feed. Don't have scale to monitor the weight but visually i can tell he is looding his girth. What she i do? Husbandry is good the same as my other, temps are good, could he still be stressed?

If you have only had him 2 weeks and have tried at least 4 times to feed him (based on what you have tried) then yes I would say you have stressed him. You say your husbandry is good...what about the tank setup? Hides? Is there plenty of hiding places?

I would recommend you leave him alone (no touching, no looking at him...even go as far as to cover his tank so it is dark) then in a week quickly open the cage insert a proper sized prey item and leave him. Check back in a little while...if you are using a pink I would recommend you just leave it in there overnight (no risk to your snake) and give him time to come out on his own.

[catalystsupreme]

I normally feed pretty late around 10ish temps are 91-95 during the day and 84-86 at night. Basically using an uth for temps. I agree to many attempts at feeding prolly stress her out a little more. The breeder clamed she ate once, a juv mouse she is about 1 1/2 old

[catalystsupreme]

What time of day do you feed your ball? Some are really sensative to photoperiods, and may only take food closer to nightfall, or you can mimic that by shutting any blinds in your room, turning the light off, and possibly draping a towel over her tub while the prey item is in there. And when you say baby, can you give us a rough estimation of how old she is? If she's 4-5 months old and has had a few decent meals in her, she could just be letting her digestive system 'catch up'. Have you tried the paper bag method, or spraying the prey with a little bit of water? And are you feeding her in her enclosure or in another tub? Force feeding is an absolutely last resort, as it will cause even more stress to the ball then just not eating at all. I would personally take her to a vet before I would force feed, just to get her checked out and make sure that nothing else is wrong with her. Hope this helps some

Right now, i leave here in the cage i dont want to handle her until she eats

[Purrrfect9]

Based off of that pic she doesn't seem too emaciated at the moment. Looks a little roomy in her tank though. have you tried crumpeling up some newspaper/paper towels to fill up the space in her tank until she gets a bit bigger?

[chris B]

Try and keep the temps consistant, 92-94 hot side day/night, 82-84 cold side day/night. Also like the above poster said only try to offer her food once per week, so if you tried last night dont try again till next tuesday etc.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

My I would switch your BP to a smaller enclosure to provide more security.


I usually house BP that age in a 12 or 15 quarts tubs.
15 Quart tubs are 17"L x 11 1/8"W x 6 3/8"H.

[TwoFor1]

A- The enclosure is to big if you can't change it add some balled up newspapper.

B- Don't drop your temps at night.