BP off food, losing weight.

So my '10 Spider Female that I picked up from CL in November has been off food for the past few weeks and is starting to losing some weight. I am posting the activity report from Degei Husbandry Database for the entire time I have had her. I figure it might be more 'enlightening' to know previous activity as well.

As a note, I was told originally that she was a 'he'. so you will see me refer to her as 'him' in the notes.


10SF2 Aragog Ball Python (F)

11/18/201 Measurements Arrival
698.70 g

11/22/201 Feed L 1Rat Small First time feeding
since I got him. Missed a
few times, but was actively
searching right away.

11/24/201 Opaque

11/28/201 Measurements Weighed @ Vet using
different scale
752.00 g

11/28/201 Vet Visit Went for checkup and
possible RI. Heard slight
'popping' while breathing.
No RI. Only slight excess
saliva in mouth. Monitor to
see if condition improves.
Return visit might be
required. No antibiotics
were given.

11/29/201 Feed L 1Rat Small Rat managed to get
in a small bite. Nothing
serious, barely a mark.
62.00 g

11/30/201 Shed 2 pieces

11/30/20 Urate With Shed

12/2/2011 Defecate

12/4/2011 Defecate

12/5/2011 Defecate Very small, looked
to be 'leftovers'

12/6/2011 Feed L 1Rat Medium Rat bite him again.
Pre-Killed from here on out.
Slight Wobble affects strike aim
and doesn't allow him to get
the rat where he needs to be
safe.
105.80 g

12/13/201 Feed PK 1Rat Medium
125.10 g

12/19/201 Defecate Large

12/19/201 Measurements Empty
805.00 g

12/20/201 Defecate Average size..

12/20/201 Feed PK 1Rat Small

12/23/20 Urate

12/27/201 Feed PK 1Rat Medium
94.60 g

12/30/201 Urate

12/31/201 Defecate

12/31/201 Measurements
866.00 g

1/3/2012 Feed PK 1Rat Medium Refused

1/3/2012 Opaque

1/8/2012 Shed One piece !

1/8/2012 Defecate

1/8/2012 Measurements Fully Empty
813.50 g

1/10/2012 Feed PK 1Rat Medium Refused
119.20 g

1/11/2012 Urate

1/11/2012 Measurements No food since shed.
Fully empty, 2 weeks off
food.
782.70 g

1/21/2012 Feed FT 1Rat Medium She Ate !

1/28/2012 Feed PK 1Rat Medium Refused
123.60 g

2/1/2012 Measurements
816.00 g

2/2/2012 Defecate

2/4/2012 Feed L 1Rat Medium Refused
164.60 g

2/11/2012 Feed FT 1Rat Medium Refused

2/19/2012 Measurements Did not offer food
this week in hopes of
getting her to eat next week
763.20 g

End Activity Report for: 10SF2

Mainly wondering if I should be worried yet or make another vet visit. I haven't been worried that she has been off food being that is what 'they' do from time to time until I weighed her today. I have been trying to get a weight on a regular basis though to check for weight change.

Also should be noted that she is being kept in a steralite tub with the proper temps and humidity. It is kept dark at all times so no hide was given after mid-December. No abnormal roaming. No wheezing, open mouth breathing, or mites. When she first went off food, she seemed interested at first, but then turned away. Since then, she has had no interest at all. Have tried live, pre-killed, and F/T. Even set some mice in a box near an air hole for about an hour to try and entice a 'feed mode'. I have not tried scenting yet as I wasn't worried about it before.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I would not be to worried about it yet My normal little guy was off feed for almost 3 months and he lost a little weight but is finally back on feed. You could try going to slightly smaller prey maybe she is a little intimidated by the prey or as you are feeding Prekilled leave it in her cage overnight. My big normal girl wont eat if we are watching so we leave it overnight and it is always gone in the morning:) Hope this helps :D

I was planning next week to step down in prey size. I have tried leaving it overnight. It worked the one time she ate in-between refusals. When I tried it again ( twice ), it didn't work. I also added a hide into her tub in hopes of that possibly helping even though it stays dark at all times.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by RichL

I was planning next week to step down in prey size. I have tried leaving it overnight. It worked the one time she ate in-between refusals. When I tried it again ( twice ), it didn't work. I also added a hide into her tub in hopes of that possibly helping even though it stays dark at all times.

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I would definitely go back to small rats. I don't feed mediums to any of mine except the 1800g+ girls, and that's usually only every third meal or so. It sounds like you're just hitting the feeding strike that females tend to when they reach ~1000g, and it doesn't help that it's winter, when older BPs tend to go off feed anyway. Feeding the larger meals probably "helped" her not be as interested in food - especially since you noted the large defecations, meaning she's passing a lot of nutrients instead of digetsing them. Long story short, I'd reduce offered size and not worry any time soon.

That's not enough weight for me to worry. If the snake was close to half its body weight I would be very concerned, but until that happens, just wait it out. I had a juvenile girl that stopped eating for 6 months and she was very thin. She had bug eyes, lost about half her weight, and even lost all her browns/yellows. She looked like an axanthic. I kept talking to a friend of mine and he kept telling me to wait it out before considering assist feeding her. I'm glad he did because I eventually figured out what she wanted from me. Just keep trying different methods of feeding, f/t or live, mice or rats, day or night, smaller tub, smaller hide, etc.

Thanks for the replies. You have set my mind at ease. I have never had one that wouldn't eat for this long. I knew it was always a possibility and no big deal as long as they weren't losing a lot of weight. I just wasn't sure how much was a lot. I guess I expected a minimum lose of about 10-30g at most.

She is looking a little thin, but I will continue to try and not worry..haha.. It's hard though.. Always want everyone eating on a regular basis. Oh well, can't always have what you want..lol

Thanks again for the help =)

Forgot to say welcome to owning Balls and the please eat dance we tend to do around them :) My normal girl went off feed for about 6 weeks and lost about 40g I was really worried about my sons young boy he was only 287G went off feed for nearly 3 months and lost almost 50g but both are back on feed now. One thing that really helped is making sure the room/enclosure is good and dark for both of mine they hate to be watched. My Pied doesn't care watch, don't watch, in cage, in tube, morning, night she is a pig I love that girl and she loves when the others done eat she gets seconds :)

Thanks.. Yea I have been lucky.. I have had a few BP's over the years and never had one refuse with the exception of occasionally during shed.

I have done multiple checks to make sure everything was 'comfortable'. Everyone is kept in separate tubs but on the same shelf system. I have 2 tubs per shelf. To keep the ambient temps up in my fairly drafty and cool apartment, I have a heating blanket that stays on 24/7 that is draped over the front of them. It keeps the ambient temps @ about 79 on the bottom shelf and about 81 on the top. Plus it keeps everything nice and dark all the time.

My room is dark anyways, I have covered the windows because I work swing shifts. I only have one that doesn't like to be watched and that's the little fire. She is always kinda feisty anyways though =) Maybe I'll get lucky this week and smaller prey item coupled with a hide in the already dark tub will put her at ease enough to eat.

****UPDATE****

I know most like to know if something worked or has improved, or even gotten worse. I would like to say that she ate not 1, but 2 meals ( went for live instead of F/T to get her back to eating ) today. The first was a barely weaned rat, when she took that down in a hurry, I decided to try a little bit bigger as well, and she took it also =) Maybe she won't refuse next week either.. I will try and stick with just one appropriate size next week instead of two.. She did seem hungry though... Didn't take long to stick her head out of the hide to hunt them down =)

I guess it could have been a combination of not having a hide in the always dark tub and the prey size being a bit too big. I always tried to get smaller meals but didn't always have the option. At least I know now that I should stick with smaller prey for her as well as my 'big' normal. I dropped my normal down in size as well, not that she EVER has a problem eating anything fluffy that 'steps' into her domain. haha.

Either way, I'm a happy camper today !! No refusals this week.. Lets Go for Week 2 !!

Thanks again for the support and advice. You guys/gals are awesome !

Thanks for the update that is what it took to get my sons back on feed was a live mouse so hopefully it continues:)