Problem eater

Hello BP.Net members! I've searched the forums for a little insight on this issue and haven't found a satisfactory response. Hopefully someone can give their two cents and save this gorgeous boy.

I have a male piebald that weighed about 650g earlier this year. Around April he went off feed, as BPs tend to do, and didn't worry until about August. At that time there was a thermostat failure which resulted in scale burn. He has shed twice since then, with a little assistance, and injury is healing very nicely.

My concern is not only has he not eaten since April but now he is recovering from a burn that was nearly 3/4 of his scutes. Tried f/t and fresh prekilled rats, and live mice. There is no feeding response whatsoever. Now he is close to 400g and rather thin. Drinking normally.

Any advice? Current humidity is about 50-60%, temps 82-95. There is a second BP housed in similar fashion and she is pounding two weaned rats weekly.

250g weight lost....holly crap! Have you tried to assist feed him? Im no expert on this, but with that much weight lost I think thats what I would do.

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Originally Posted by ROACH

250g weight lost....holly crap! Have you tried to assist feed him? Im no expert on this, but with that much weight lost I think thats what I would do.

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I assist fed a pinkie rat about two weeks ago. Pinkies are about the length of his head so they are light snacks. Tried again this week with a young fuzzy rat and, although the shoulders were past his jaw hinge, he spit it out the moment I let go.

I should mention urates look normal, no labored breathing, good color in mouth and good tongue response. When he is out of the bin he will explore.

Have you checked for parasites? Internal parasites can make a BP go off feed.
What size enclosure is he in? Maybe lower your hot spot to 88. Some BPs like it a little cooler. I know some of my babies actually go off feed over 91 degrees.

Leave him completely alone. Don't assist feed. Assist feeding is highly stressful and typically only used on babies. It's not generally used on older animals. Don't handle him until he eats regularly on his own. And feed in his enclosure if you're not already.
Next time, leave a live rat pup in with him.
Have you tried ASFs?

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Originally Posted by satomi325

Have you checked for parasites? Internal parasites can make a BP go off feed.
What size enclosure is he in? Maybe lower your hot spot to 88. Some BPs like it a little cooler. I know some of my babies actually go off feed over 91 degrees.

Leave him completely alone. Don't assist feed. Assist feeding is highly stressful and typically only used on babies. It's not generally used on older animals. Don't handle him until he eats regularly on his own. And feed in his enclosure if you're not already.
Next time, leave a live rat pup in with him.
Have you tried ASFs?

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X2

That's also a LOT of wight to Loose in 6 months, try like Satomi said lowering the temp a little bit abd using life, just rememver weter it ve mouse or rat make sure its young and isnt a threat to him. if you have no luck and continue to assassiant feed and he's still loosing weight he may have parasites. Also, have you checked to see I he may have a RI? I took in a pastel BP about 2 years go who was I the early stages of a RI and he went off feed unil it cleared up.

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Originally Posted by zeion97

X2

That's also a LOT of wight to Loose in 6 months, try like Satomi said lowering the temp a little bit abd using life, just rememver weter it ve mouse or rat make sure its young and isnt a threat to him. if you have no luck and continue to assassiant feed and he's still loosing weight he may have parasites. Also, have you checked to see I he may have a RI? I took in a pastel BP about 2 years go who was I the early stages of a RI and he went off feed unil it cleared up.

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I'll try lowering the temp on the hot spot and see if that helps. He was tested with Lucky Reptile a few months ago and had no sign of parasites. I believe the extreme weight loss is probably a combination of no feeding and multiple heavy sheds to recover from the belly burn. No signs of RI but I'll check him more thoroughly at next cage cleaning.

Going to try a rat fuzzy again and leave it in overnight. They are quite blind and won't bite at this stage, maybe 12 days old. Thanks for the input, everyone.

Thought I would give an update regarding this poor piebald. He refused to feed after multiple methods with varying prey and even refused an ASF! I put him on a diet of Carnivore Care and Zilla Jump Start. After four weeks he is rapidly regaining weight and is showing hunting behavior. His scales are regrowing nicely and he stopped the repeated shed cycles. I am optimistic this snake will make a full recovery! :)

That is awesome!! I applaud you for caring enough to do whatever it took to get him better :)
My mouser won't eat asf either....
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