Not eating

I have a female that weighs 350g at 1 YEAR old….She eats every now and then which is not often… She ate a dead ASF one week and was offered 1 ASF the following two weeks(all the same size) with no luck….Then I offered her 3 live rat pinkie which she ate and since I’ve offered her live rat pinkie, Live ASF fuzzys and she’s just not interested. I’m finding it READY hard to get this lady eating…. She was in a 335 x 210 x 140mm tub and now she’s in a 228 x 121 x 86mm size tub… She’s only been in there for about a week and I’ve offered her food with no successes… Should I give her longer to settle in?? I have frozen chicks ordered to see if I can kick start her eating.
Temps range from 84f-88f and the humidity ranges from 45%-50%.

Any ideas what I can try with her?

Tub sizes converted if you prefer inches.

335 x 210 x 140mm
13.1 x 8.2 x 5.5”

228 x 121 x 86mm
8.9 x 4.7 x 3.3”


Thanks:gj:

Was she an import or captive bred? The ASF references are kind of pointing to import...When did you get her and what was she eating prior to you getting her? How long have you had her?

I would really stick to either mice or rats and try all the different methods of feeding...i.e. putting her in a paper bag over night with f/t prey, late night feeding, different substrate, live vs f/t...etc. This is a fairly common problem so there's tons of feeding advise on the net for Balls...

Also, it's not unusual to go off feed this time of year...

She's CB from NERD (I live in England)
I have had her about 1 year and 1 month.

She was eating prior to me owning her but she kept eating for a while when I got her... funny thing is I had her in a viv that was to big and she ate ok in it. She’s on newspaper now... I will offer her food this weekend and then change her back to aspen if not luck getting her eating.

Thanks.

I know that some bp tend to go off food in the winter but would a bp of her weight do it?

Only had a bp's over 600g do it.

Thanks:gj:

Anyone???

Hi,

I would say give her another 2 weeks to settle in offering food once per week. Assuming she doesn't start losing a lot of weight she should be fine.

Every change you make to her enclosure (such as changing substrate) may be enough to unsettle some snakes so leaving it a little longer might be the best course.

Does she have any nice dark hides in the tub? You might also try bumping up the hot end temps slightly if the extra settling in period doesn't help.

Just my 2c.


dr del

If you don't have any hides put in a hide for a week then try feeding.

Does she act hungry, does come out at night and stalk around her tub? When presented with food does she act interested then just not actually go for it?

Thanks for the replies, I appreciate it.

Since moving her to this smaller tub there's not really space for her old hide unless I turn it long ways (to wide for the tub) but then I would have to cut a new opening but I might cut it the same size as the old opening and tape it over the hole? I can't find other hides that would fit into this small tub.

Some times she looks interested in the food but then shy’s away.
(I have left food over night many times with no luck.)

Thanks.