Problem Feeder

[ckeezer]

I have a female BP that I purchased from a pet store, she was a trade in, the owners did not want her anymore. She is about 21/2-3 yrs old and I have owned her for a little over a month.

Talking with the pet store, they had not had her long enough to feed her, only a few days before I bought her. And they were not sure if she ate live of f/t.

I have tried both f/t and live and she is not interested at all. I have tried feeding her in the dark, presenting, I even put the live rat in her feeding container for about 30 minutes prior to putting her in, then put the rat on top of the container for about another 10 minutes. Put the rat in the container, and the snake runs from it.

I always feed outside of their house, since these are pets to me and I dont want them thinking that my hand is food. I am willing to try feeding her in her enclouser, but I woudl do it under silent protest!

Should I be worried? she does seem to be a little thinner that when I got her, but not a huge amount.

Any help is appreciated.
Chuck

[JeffJ]

u bought a 21 year old snake? thats not a good buy in my eyes. but i would say live is the best way to go. but let her settle in for a week or 2 and then get her on feeding. and then u can switch to what ever method you like after she takes live a few times.

[Skiploder]

I have a female BP that I purchased from a pet store, she was a trade in, the owners did not want her anymore. She is about 21/2-3 yrs old and I have owned her for a little over a month.

Talking with the pet store, they had not had her long enough to feed her, only a few days before I bought her. And they were not sure if she ate live of f/t.

I have tried both f/t and live and she is not interested at all. I have tried feeding her in the dark, presenting, I even put the live rat in her feeding container for about 30 minutes prior to putting her in, then put the rat on top of the container for about another 10 minutes. Put the rat in the container, and the snake runs from it.

I always feed outside of their house, since these are pets to me and I dont want them thinking that my hand is food. I am willing to try feeding her in her enclouser, but I woudl do it under silent protest!

Should I be worried? she does seem to be a little thinner that when I got her, but not a huge amount.

Any help is appreciated.
Chuck

Not knowing the history of the snake, no one here can tell you to worry or not. Whether she's simply fasting, stressed or has internal parasites is anyone's guess.

However:

(1) A month is nothing for a ball to go off feed. Monitoring her weight on a regular basis will let you know whether or not she's losing an unhealthy amount of weight. Generally speaking, a month is nothing I'd lose sleep over.

(2) When possible, I would recommend getting a fecal sample in to your vet.

(3) Has she been drinking and/or passing urates?

(4) How far into owning her did you try to feed her? At what intervals since then have you attempted additional feedings?

(5) It's stressful for even an acclimated snake to be moved into a separate feeding container, let alone a newcomer. Feeding her in her enclosure isn't going to make her think you're food.

[Mike Cavanaugh]

i think the op ment 2 1/2 to 3 years old.

Before we can answer your questions, we need a total breakdown of your setup.

what are you keeping it in?
what are the temps?
how are you measuring the temps?
what substrate?
what humidity?
describe the hides in detail.

Your best bet is to simply post a pic of your setup and answer all the questions from above.

[Kaorte]

I would try feeding her in her own enclosure next time. I know you don't like this idea but trust me, she will not think you are food unless you bathe in filthy mouse bedding.

I also second more info about husbandry, the error could be there and could be an easy fix.

[PythonJiuJitsu]

Another suggestion that I have found works for me VERY well, is feeding at night. During a time in the middle of their night cycle. 11pm to midnight seems to be about a golden time for my three lovely friends.

[ckeezer]

Sorry for the confusion on the age, she is 2 and a half to 3 years old.
She is currently in a 30 gal long terrarium glass enclosure. I have kept several balls like this and never had an issue, but I also raised them all from babies. Also I am going to build a new enclosure for her and my male, because the wife wants these to be "on display" so to speake.

I have an ambient temp of 82-84 on the cool end, and a hot spot of 88-90 on the hot end. She has a half log hide, and a huge water dish. Humidity is 33-35%, she drinks all the time. I am using a under the tank heating pad at the cool end to keep it between 82-84 and a ceramic bulb at the other for the 88-90 temp, not ideal, but it is a glass enclosure. When they get into their new homes they will be living the high life with some flexwatt tape!!

I am not scared of her, I used to have a really agressive bp that a friend gave me, and he mistook my hand many times. Kind of funny really, he would bite, and then be as placid as every once you got him up.

Anyways, I will post a pic tonight when I get home from work.

Thanks,
Chuck

[evil mechanic]

Sorry for the confusion on the age, she is 2 and a half to 3 years old.
She is currently in a 30 gal long terrarium glass enclosure. I have kept several balls like this and never had an issue, but I also raised them all from babies. Also I am going to build a new enclosure for her and my male, because the wife wants these to be "on display" so to speake.

I have an ambient temp of 82-84 on the cool end, and a hot spot of 88-90 on the hot end. She has a half log hide, and a huge water dish. Humidity is 33-35%, she drinks all the time. I am using a under the tank heating pad at the cool end to keep it between 82-84 and a ceramic bulb at the other for the 88-90 temp, not ideal, but it is a glass enclosure. When they get into their new homes they will be living the high life with some flexwatt tape!!

I am not scared of her, I used to have a really agressive bp that a friend gave me, and he mistook my hand many times. Kind of funny really, he would bite, and then be as placid as every once you got him up.

Anyways, I will post a pic tonight when I get home from work.

Thanks,
Chuck

first thing you should do is move the UTH to the hot side. she has no place to thermoregulate if you have heat on both ends. also you should try to keep you humidity above 50% try to keep it around 60% at all times unless she is in blue, then id raise it to 70% or more for that time.

also try feeding her a mouse, and try it in the enclosure. she wont think you are food.

btw cover 3/4 of the screen lid with aluminum foil and ceran wrap (sp?) to help heep humidity. obviously leave the open portion on the hot side for the heat lamp.

[Kaorte]

Ditch that half log hide. Those are useless. Find some of the "rock cave" type hides or find some opaque plastic containers and cut a small opening.

What are you controlling your heat source with and how are you measuring temps? With what kind of thermometer?

Also, when you say you are building a enclosure for her and your male, you are housing them separately right? just checking

[ckeezer]

I read that all over the place, but I have two others that I keep in the same range of humidity and they are fine... I will give it a shot and see what happens though. I have not had any problems with any of my other BP's being in that range either. I let them soak when they are shedding to aide them.

For the UTH, she can thermo regulate, the UTH is kept between 82-84, the hto end is kept between 88-90, there is a heat gradient. Again, I will try this just to rule it out, maybe she is just picky?!

Also, what end of the tank do you recommend that her hide be at? I have it under the ceramic bulb right now, which I hate using by the way, but the UTH is not enough with all the glass. Also, should I try a hide that she can get all the way into, like a box or something, rather than an open ended log?

Thanks