Unweight female - I'm torn

Hi all,

I have a lovely Lesser Pastel female - she'd been feeding fine until the end of September when she got mites. It's taken me this long (fingers crossed) to get rid of them but she still hasn't started eating again.

She was a good 1400g before the fast and is now down to about 1200g - she's a good length, just a bit slender, and this is her 3rd winter. I've heard tell of breeding be a good way of breaking a fast for females?

My query is whether or not you guys would start pairing her anyway, and if she takes to it will breeding likely kick start her feeding again before any possible eggs?

I have heard some do, but all my girls went on a hunger strike this season. I have one girl who went from 1550gr. to 1300 so I pulled her but she is holding eggs anyway.

I had a rescue that came with mites and wasn't eating. After a couple hour soak and a new set up, (My place didn't have the mites just the snake so that might be why it was easier to get rid of them) she ate after her next shed. If that made sense my brain is kinda frazzled from finals.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ben.L

Hi all,

I have a lovely Lesser Pastel female - she'd been feeding fine until the end of September when she got mites. It's taken me this long (fingers crossed) to get rid of them but she still hasn't started eating again.

She was a good 1400g before the fast and is now down to about 1200g - she's a good length, just a bit slender, and this is her 3rd winter. I've heard tell of breeding be a good way of breaking a fast for females?

My query is whether or not you guys would start pairing her anyway, and if she takes to it will breeding likely kick start her feeding again before any possible eggs?

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How's her set up and husbandry now?
If she's losing weight, I would not pair her.

My most aggressive feeder went off feed the moment she started breeding. She has never missed a meal ever. Even when in shed. I usually toss her all my extra uneaten feeders because I know she'll get the job done.
But ever since pairing, she's stopped eating completely. Her weight hasn't dropped, however.

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She's in the same 33 litre RUB rack as all my others, temps 32-34 degrees C. I've been misting her daily this week as she's had a really bad shed. With the mites I've treated all my snake tubs/hides/bowls several times with a hardcore mite spray and given her a good a few good soaks, though it's taken a couple of months to get rid of them (every time I think they're gone, I check on her and they're all over her again, a real pain).

Had a few bad weeks where all but a couple have not eaten - figured maybe it's the recent temperature drops (I'm in London). I might try her on a few live feeds to get her started again and see if that helps...