Still No Change! :(

Hey everyone,
Well I don't know what else I should do. My ball is going on six weeks and still refuses to eat. I guess what ever I am doing is wrong and I don't want him to die. So I am going to give my little guy away to anyone that knows how to handle snakes. This is a very hard thing for me to do but again it would kill me to see him die because of something I did or didn't do. So if anyone lives out in the Chicago area or northwest suburbs of Chicago drop me a line and we can go from there. If anyone out there thinks I should just let him be then I will do that. If anyone thinks I should try live mice let me know. But one thing is for sure I don't want him to die. :confused:

You should try many different feeders and presentations (including live) before you just give up.

Don't give up hope!

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Originally Posted by thedigi1

Hey everyone,
Well I don't know what else I should do. My ball is going on six weeks and still refuses to eat. I guess what ever I am doing is wrong and I don't want him to die. So I am going to give my little guy away to anyone that knows how to handle snakes. This is a very hard thing for me to do but again it would kill me to see him die because of something I did or didn't do. So if anyone lives out in the Chicago area or northwest suburbs of Chicago drop me a line and we can go from there. If anyone out there thinks I should just let him be then I will do that. If anyone thinks I should try live mice let me know. But one thing is for sure I don't want him to die. :confused:

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Before you go giving him away.

Can we get some background. If you have another thread that explains the background link it.

If you have not tried live. TRY IT. It does not make you a bad person. Do not feel guilty for feeding live it is part of ownership. If you can not feed live then you should consider giving your baby to some one who knows what they are doing. (not saying that you don't)

We also need husbandry details. If your husbandry is off then that could be causing it also.

Hope this helps some. Also LenaStorms lives in Chicago.

Mike

Yep there will be something out there he likes. Try several sizes of mice and rats live. If that doesn't work get some gerbels.

Go ahead and try live. 6 weeks not eating (especially in colder weather) is nothing, especially if he doesn't appear to be losing a lot of weight.

Keep trying!

Okay I will try live then. Just some FYI cause some one asked.
I have him in a glass habitat with two wooden hides and a bowl for water. He never had an issue eating till it got really cold I suppose. I have his temps at 83 and humidity at 65 now that its colder its down to 55 but all in all still maintains.

You said his temps are at 83, is that ambient temp or his basking spot temp?

Also besides trying to feed live, you may want to try a variety of live meals ranging from mice, rats, african soft furred rats, and gerbils. All of appropriate size of course.

Ball pythons can go a long time without eating and many people including myself have some that go off of feed in the winter. The biggest point is not to offer food more than every 5-7 days, offering every couple of days because the snake won't eat will just stress it out more. Also if you don't have a scale I would strongly recommend getting one and keeping an eye on his weight. If the weight seems to be staying pretty consistent then I wouldn't worry too much, now if his weight seems to be dropping then I'd be a bit more concerned.

He isn't going to die b/c he has missed a few meals. 6 weeks isn't that long for a ball to go without eating.

How are you measuring your temps? A nice warm spot of about 90-93ish may help with getting him to eat. Once you get a warm spot of 90 something and the rest of your tank at 83 or so, it could help encourage him. Ball pythons need heat to digest their food.

If you post a picture of your set up we may be able to help you more, but I wouldn't give up now, it's just going to take a bit more work.

My snake has been an eater from day one, So it's not a problem but I did figure a way to make it warm for him when he eats and he wolfs down the food. I've only had him for 3 weeks or so, but he's already eating adult mice.

I got a sterilite 16qt container and attached a under tank heater to one side and plug it in for a little while before putting him into the tub for eating. After thawing out the mouse I place it directly above the under tank heater and he pounds it down.

My room temps are always a bit cold so I had to make the transition into the tub better and thats what I did.

Works great try it out.

I have a pastel that will not eat f\t , i'll put it in his mouth roll it around in live small he still will not eat it. Put a live mouse or rat in his home and hi'll eat like kid whit candy! Try live.