Have you ever had a ball starve to death?

I went to a seminar recently that had Brian Gundy as the guest speaker.
He stated that he has lost many breeding males in the past due to starvation. Apparently they went off feed in the fall and just never ate again.

Has this ever happened to you?

That's very sad to hear. I haven't heard many cases voluntary starvation. That would be a very long, painful death... wouldn't one euthanize the snake before it got to the point of starvation, after all attempts to force feed?

I haven't had a breeder male die from starvation, but I could see it as a possibility. That's why I think it's very important to pull a male after he has refused enough to start losing weight. For the past two years my males have not gone off feed during breeding season. I feed them small meals once every two weeks. They maintain their weight, and they keep eating.

I have had babies die from starvation even after assist feeding several times. It's just something you have to expect when breeding.

I guess i could see this happening but idk if its as common as brian made it seem. Like theyre just so focused on sexing up the lady balls that they refuse to eat until their itch is scratched?
Someone with alot of experience should definetly weigh in here...

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Originally Posted by rebelrachel13

wouldn't one euthanize the snake before it got to the point of starvation, after all attempts to force feed?

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He never said anything about assist feeding. But from what I've heard from other breeders, assist feeding is more for babies. I haven't heard of anyone assist feeding an adult yet. Hopefully someone will comment on this.

I've assist fed a baby and I found it pretty challenging. I would imagine forcing an adult would take secondary help and what not.

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Originally Posted by Mike41793

I guess i could see this happening but idk if its as common as brian made it seem. Like theyre just so focused on sexing up the lady balls that they refuse to eat until their itch is scratched?
Someone with alot of experience should definetly weigh in here...

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I didn't think it was common either.

I lost a rescue ball to starvation--it was given to us completely emaciated, and after a day of rehydrating it, we assist-fed it. It did not survive the night after that--too far gone to digest the meal. Very sad.

I see no reason to allow a ball python to get into that condition in the first place. The solution is a big syringe, a rubber tube, and a package of 'Carnivore Care'.

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Originally Posted by satomi325

He never said anything about assist feeding. But from what I've heard from other breeders, assist feeding is more for babies. I haven't heard of anyone assist feeding an adult yet. Hopefully someone will comment on this.

I've assist fed a baby and I found it pretty challenging. I would imagine forcing an adult would take secondary help and what not.

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I've had to assist on babies and once I assist fed a normal adult male, and it was not fun at all. Bigger snakes simply put up a bigger fight, but with patience it works on adults just as well.

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Originally Posted by WingedWolfPsion

I see no reason to allow a ball python to get into that condition in the first place. The solution is a big syringe, a rubber tube, and a package of 'Carnivore Care'.

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I've used Carnivore care on mammals.
Great stuff!:gj:

How much would you use to feed a snake?

Assist feeding or even force feeding a baby is not an easy task, and not for the weak of heart or stomach.

Assist feeding or force feeding an adult is even worse. I got in a big imported female who was gravid. She laid for me within a week, but being wild caught, she wouldn't eat. I tried every two weeks for 6 months straight. She simply did not recognize what I offered as food. I tried rats, mice, gerbils and was debating chicks. She was scary thin, and I didn't know what to do.

With assistance from both my husband and my daughter, we managed to get 1 small rat into her stomach. I waited three weeks and offered her food again. Nothing doing. Eventually I did it again. She still did not seem to recognize anything I offered as food. I have no doubt she would have starved to death without intervention.

I eventually offered her a hamster out of desperation, and she took it. After three hamsters in a row, she went to rats and started packing on weight.

Gale

Breeding males that are off feed for a long time, should not continue to breed. Ive nver lost a male and dont ever expect to either from breeding.

If they loose weight too fast, i stop breeding them till they eat again regardless if its a prized pairing or not.