Injured Rescue/Eating problems (fairly long)

[OhBalls]

Awhile ago I posted a photo of one of my rescues, Scar

http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...ad.php?t=60260

He is horribly scarred. I was told he had a burn by the previous owner. Although after watching him for quite awhile, I have come to the conclusion that Heather (LadyOhh) was correct in her observation that it may have been rat bites.(thanks Heather!) He seems terrified of food. Rats, mice, live or killed...just terrified...no matter how I offer the rodent, once he smells it, he wants nothing to do with it. He WILL show interest, but once he knows what it is, he immediately shys away....sometimes gets very angry, knocking over his water and trashing his enclosure.

I have tried everything...

in cage
out of cage
live
FT
fresh killed
brained (can you say gross?)
gutted (see above)
pre scented
daytime
nighttime

his entire back has a scar, as you can see...but once he was out of quarantine and I got to take a real good look....I noticed he only has one nostril....there is no sign of scar where it should be and it does not seem to bother him

he shed perfectly about two weeks after we got him, including over his nostril area....

he's been here for two months...i was told he had not eaten three months previous.....i suspect more as he's a HUGE BOY and rapidly losing weight...

I hate to see this guy suffer....he's been through so much....any help would be really appreciated
Thanks!

[Tosha_Mc]

Unfortunately his history seems to be limited to that time of year that balls go off feed so you really don't have any gauge to go by whether this is an injury related fast or a seasonal thing. Keep fresh water available, offer him something small and non threatening every couple of weeks. And just let him mellow - keep an eye on his weight and activity level and hopefully come spring time he'll pick up feeding again.

[missi182]

Poor little guy. I am so glad there are people like you that will rescue these precious animals from torture. Spring is here in less than a month so maybe he will eat with the season change. As mentioned, maybe try a little hopper (I know that's small but its better than nothing) Or even a little fuzzy mouse? If you can get him to at least eat that you can give him something bigger right after when he's in the mood after the "snack offering".

[littleindiangirl]

Hmm... I wonder if changing the prey items too often is not helping the situation.

I would also recommend you giving us a very detailed description of your set up for him, including where he is in your home etc.

How often you offer feed, what size and weight.

Also, one more thing, have you ever considered African soft furred?

Hopefully some one else has a better idea, I'm just covering the basics....

[frankykeno]

Poor thing, what a life he's probably led. Like others have said, I might just make him as comfortable and secure as possible. Even set him up by himself in a quiet back room with low light (even a big walk-in closet you don't use much works nicely).

VPI has a discussion in their book about getting these snakes to settle into captivity or to a major change in their life. They refer to it as "the-lights-are-on-but-nobody's-home syndrome" (LONHS). Here's a small excerpt from their invaluable advice on these types of snakes....

"Actually, it's easy to start a wild-caught snake. It just takes time, perserverance, and patience. When we receive any wild-caught adult snake, we automatically assume that it is suffering from some degree of LONHS. We first examine the snake closely to be certainthere are no medical problems requiring our immediate attention. We then set up the snake in a cage. We use either newspaper or aspen bedding, a hide boxx, and a water bowl. We then put the cage in a quiet place, away from noise and activity. From that point on, we do not disturb the snake, we don't handle it, we don't touch it. We lift its hide box to look at it once a week, just a quick peek. We keep its water clean. If the snake is out, active and exploring (usually only young adults do this), we offer it a dead small rat. If the snake stays in the hide box, then after a week or so, we place a dead rodent in the cage near the entrance to the hide box. In some cases the rat is eaten, but more commonly it is not.

At this point, we start peeking in the cage, looking at the doorway of the hide box. Eventually, usually two to four months after the arrival of the snake, when you peek in you will see the snake, inside the hide bos with its head in the doorway, peeking out. It's hunting. It's awake. It has shaken off the bonds of LONHS. When we see it peering out, we open the cage - quietly as possible - and lay a dead small rat at the door to the hide box. We then close the cage and leave the area for at least twelve hours. Invariably the rat is gone when we check back. Four or five days later, we lay another rat at th edoor, and usually it will disappear as well. After we have succeeded in getting the snake to eat three meals, we begin to handle it - minimally at first - working to acclimate it to us and our collection. Once it has fed, it's on its way to a very successful stay."

From Ball Pythons - The History, Natural History, Care and Breeding - David G. Barker and Tracy M. Barker

You might want to consider their ideas on this. Also you might want to, after a time, try a live rat fuzzy (aka crawler) left in overnight. This age of rat cannot harm your snake as it has no erupted teeth. Some of ours that were iffy feeders seemed not to be able to resist this little "snack" type offering and gradually moved up thereafter to more appropriately sized prey. I would still consider first how this specific snake is housed, managed, etc. and see if there's ways to change that to encourage this snake to feed.

[OhBalls]

Thanks everyone! Lots of good suggestions. Time will tell and I'll keep you updated.

[snakelady]

good luck with him! I hope he comes around. If a rodent did that to me. I'd be terrified of them too. I hope that's not the case.

[OhBalls]

UPDATE:

FINALLY!!!

This guy had me soooo worried but he finally started to eat. I completely covered his cage with a black sheet and left him alone for a week....without making much noise and opening up just enough to dangle a mouse from a pair of tongs...I sat there, cage still mostly covered, ddangling the mouse....and WHAM!!!

knocked the tongs right our of my hand!! He took the one mouse and no more than that (three days ago)...today he ate two small mice....I'll up his feedings slowly

Looks like Scar isn't afraid anymore!

Thanks for everyone's help and suggestions...it really helped

[starmom]

Yea you for seeing it through with this guy and not giving up
Major kudos!!

[OhBalls]

Yea you for seeing it through with this guy and not giving up
Major kudos!!

Thanks so much!! He's got a special place in my heart for sure!