My take on assist feeding.

[envy_ld50]

I have had some trouble recently with 2 out of 50 ball pythons. One was a large female so I wasn't to worried about her. The other was a early 07 female who is about 254 grams. Which is tiny for her size! Shes had been on and off feed but on her last stretch went about three months off feed.

Needless to say I tried everything with her, before hand she was only eating rat pups but had stopped taking even those. The bigger female I was only offer pre killed rats. I offered her live and she took. The little fire girl I decided to assist feed.

The assist feed stressed me out the snake was flailing around and she was deathly thin and weak. I used a live rat pup that had just started to get hair. She ended up taking it. Three days later I tried a live small rat and she took it instantly! Now she is eating small rats regularly. I see allot of bigger guys on here saying don't assist and that it's not a good idea. But it may just turn your ball around and get them to feed I would recommend it to anyone as a last resort.

[MDB]

I agree a 150% but defintely as a last resort. I have used this method before and the next time I offered food to them they took instantly,

[Stewart_Reptiles]

I see allot of bigger guys on here saying don't assist and that it's not a good idea. But it may just turn your ball around and get them to feed I would recommend it to anyone as a last resort.

No one ever said not to assist, people say it should be done as a last resort and last resort only.

Sadly over the years the majority of the people coming to forums wanting to assist a snake that is not eating want to do it even though if the animal is not a good candidate for assist feeding.

People coming here wanting to assist 1000 grams females, hatchlings because he will not eat f/t or a BP house with improper husbandry should not assist their snakes but look for the solution that will get their snake back on tract first.

Sadly I have seen my share of new owner thinking they have tried everything and rather than listen to suggestions would rather assist an animal that does not need it.

Do some need to be assisted absolutely but again only when everything else has failed.

[JohnNJ]

Sadly I have seen my share of new owner thinking they have tried everything and rather than listen to suggestions would rather assist an animal that does not need it.

Do some need to be assisted absolutely but again only when everything else has failed.

What's the downside if the snake eats when assisted and continues to eat after? I understand you want to find the root cause but is there something bad (other than stress) about assisting?

JohnNJ

[nixer]

What's the downside if the snake eats when assisted and continues to eat after? I understand you want to find the root cause but is there something bad (other than stress) about assisting?

JohnNJ

read what she said!
ppl have been wanting to assist feed animals that are obviously well started!
if there is husbandry problems i dont care if its a hatchling or a 4000 grams female they will not eat! period!

sometimes a hatchling just dont catch on to what those those litte white things are and those are the only snake that should be assisted and ONLY if its loosing weight!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[West Coast Jungle]

I think the real confusion is assist feeding as opposed to force feeding. One(force) being much more stressful to the animal.

Assist feeding is done primarily to hatchling or young small BP's. They dont yet have the body weight to survive long fasting periods and usually have not yet learned how to feed correctly. Once they have been assist fed their metabolism kicks in and usually wakes up the feeding response.


I had a hatchling last year(my prettiest pastel) that would not feed after several months and every trick in the book. After one assist feeding her metabolism kicked in and today she is one of my best feeders. I had a hatchling (albino) this year that refused(live mouse hoppers) 5 weeks in a row. I thought I was gonna need to assist her eventually but I tried a rat pink and she took it down by herself(yeah!). Sometimes they are picky and you need to try different things. She still wont touch a mouse.

I always reccomend live rodents for hatchlings and problem feeders. Once they are established and healthy then you can try to switch over to PK or FT. They may refuse a few times or never switch over so you want them to be healthy enough to miss a few meals.

Bp's that are well started and then stop feeding are usually telling you something about husbandry problems. I see alot of these posts in the winter time and cant help but think the ambient temps have dropped and caused them to go off feed. My thought is not to check the temps during the day but see what the nighttime low is. Snakes that are 200+ grams obviously have been eating and should continue unless there is a husbandry problem.