I need advice and help.

Hi. I have a brand new BP I'm very fond of but according to the feed sheet I received from the pet store it hadent eaten the week previous to me getting it and it hasn't eaten in the two weeks I've had it.

I am fanatical about insuring the best possible climate for the BP and during the day its normally a nice 88-96 on the warm end and 80 to 86 on the cooler end.

Every time I try to feed it, it recoil from the offered food. I've been doing a ton of reading and I have a sneaky suspicion that it may be somewhat dehydrated but I'm careful to change the water at least every other day and I'm careful that the humidity is at least 50. He is only just over 50 grams and is certainly a juvenile. Is my snake sick? Please help me!

I will post pictures in just a moment.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Absorbentgene

Hi. I have a brand new BP I'm very fond of but according to the feed sheet I received from the pet store it hadent eaten the week previous to me getting it and it hasn't eaten in the two weeks I've had it.

I am fanatical about insuring the best possible climate for the BP and during the day its normally a nice 88-96 on the warm end and 80 to 86 on the cooler end.

Every time I try to feed it, it recoil from the offered food. I've been doing a ton of reading and I have a sneaky suspicion that it may be somewhat dehydrated but I'm careful to change the water at least every other day and I'm careful that the humidity is at least 50. He is only just over 50 grams and is certainly a juvenile. Is my snake sick? Please help me!

I will post pictures in just a moment.

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96 on the hot end seems high.

It could be a number of things. Posting a pic so we can see how the tank is set up could help us get things straight.

Also telling us how you are preparing and then presenting the feeders could help us see any issues with that.

Knowing those things would get us up and running.

First, relax.

http://s38.photobucket.com/user/Ghou...nql5i.jpg.html
http://s38.photobucket.com/user/Ghou...rgtjw.jpg.html
http://s38.photobucket.com/user/Ghou...uotk5.jpg.html
http://s38.photobucket.com/user/Ghou...mp0ma.jpg.html

There finally have the pictures... As for the feeding, I have fuzzies for it, that I typically take out of the freezer the previous night, let it thaw in the fridge through the day, and put them into a glass of warm water (Just warm from the tap) and once it's all thawed out and decent temperature, I move the snake over to a small cardboard box and dangle it in front by it's tail using a pair of tweezers.

There is no need to move it. All it does is add stress.

Thawing like that is fine but it needs to be hot when presented to the snake. I accomplish this by using water as hot as it will come out of the tap.

A mouse body temp is just over 100F and the feeder need to reflect near the same.

I cant really see the tank pic. Its dark and my tablet hates photobucket's site.


Just from what you have said it seems the feeder is not hot enough.

When the snakes has refused what did you do with the feeder? Any time I thawed one and it was refused I would only refreeze it if it had only been out an hour or so. Any longer and Ill feed it to another snake or toss it. I will only refreeze once as well.

Are we talking about a mouse fuzzy ? If so, that is to small of a meal.

Granted, this snake is SKINNY. But if it had its normal girth, it could easily eat a small adult mouse.

I would offer a rat fuzzy. Also, do NOT move the snake out of the cage to feed. Best if its actually in its hide and you hold the fuzz right at the opening of the hide...move it around a bit, put its head in the hide. If the snake don't go for it, leave the fuzz laying half way in the hide and LEAVE IT. Move away. It might just eat once everything is dark and quiet (aka safe)

That snake seems majorly stressed. You might have to try a live fuzz. Only try every 3 days or so. I would say a week in between, but that snake desperately needs some food.

If NOTHING works, a visit to the vet might be in order to check for internal parasites etc. Assist feeding "may" need to be attempted. But that should be very last ditch effort and only done by someone experienced. Also, only after internal parasites have been ruled out and the husbandry double and tripple checked.

Good luck. Once he/she starts eating, they pack the weight on fast !

If you do want to try frozen thawed again, here is a trick...has worked for me every time. Thaw out in cold water. Should only take an hour at the most, at the size of that rodent. Then use hot water for 5 minutes. Pour out and use fresh hot water for another 5 minutes. When I say hot, I mean hot but not boiling...you don't want to cook the fuzz. Do the "hot/5 minutes" 3 times in a row, then rub the fuzz dry and immediately stick its head into the hide where the snake is. It has to feel VERY warm to the touch. If yours were wet and only lukewarm, they were actually cold by the time they are presented to the snake. Again, if not taken immediately, leave it and walk away and check in the morning !

I would typically refreeze it once and try to feed it again. I don't think warming it up is an issue. I'm using the hottest tap water possible, and I've actually boiled water and then left the fuzzy in it afterwards, letting it cool off with the water. I've tried heating it up, leaving it next to the heatlamp and letting that heat it up...

To hot of water and re-using can actually speed up cell degeneration, "spoil" it. We might not actually realize it yet, but the snake does.

If you do not think the heat is the issue, then the factor that you take the snake out of its enclosure might very well be the problem. He feels exposed and unsafe. Try waiting till the Ball is in its hide and presenting the food by sticking its head into the hide.

Try live.

Again, are they mouse fuzzies ? if so, try rat fuzzies or at least mouse hoppers.

Yeah they're mouse fuzzies not rats. I haven't tried feeding it within it's own tank. I want to try to avoid using live as well. supposedly it was fed using thawed fuzzies prior to my acquisition of it.